Darts star Luke Humphries has hit back at fans who criticised him for saying that the punishing schedule is taking an emotional toll on him. The world No1 suggested on Saturday – having defeated Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 in the second round of the International Darts Open – that stepping on to the oche was beginning to feel like a “chore” because he was playing so much.
But after some criticism on social media for opening up on the impact, Humphries responded on X by saying he will now keep his feelings to himself in future.
“Considering the comments and people not understanding what I meant, it will be the last time I ever confess my real feelings to the public,” he said.
“Everything I say or ever do just never seems to be good enough for anybody. As long as no one complains when we all give the same answers in interviews like robots and not our true feelings, then everyone I guess will be happy, or usually will still find a way to moan at us.”
On Saturday he said: “When I’m up on stage I am just feeling emotionless. It’s weird and it’s me being honest to all the fans. I feel like my emotions are just all over the place.
“It’s not that I don’t want to be here – it just seems a chore for me at the moment. It’s just too much darts. I’m playing too much. I think I need a break. I’m emotionless and it is not good for my mental state.”
Humphries has previously opened up on feeling anxious before competing, while admitting that he previously considered quitting the sport entirely.
“It makes it more incredible for myself mentally because there was a time in my life when I was really depressed and I didn’t think this was going to be it for me,” the Englishman told Sky Sports after winning the 2024 world title.
“I couldn’t do it up on the big stage – I went through a lot of problems. To go on to be world number one and world champion has proved a lot in terms of my mental ability.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £192 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.