During their embrace on stage at Minehead, James Wade gave Luke Humphries a strange lick on his neck in a now viral video
When the strange moment occurred, the two darts stars Luke Humphries and James Wade were competing in the UK Open Darts quarterfinals.
Luke Humphries entered the stage to the well-known I Predict a Riot anthem by the Kaiser Chiefs, and James Wade was the first to step on.
James Wade licks Luke Humphries’s neck during UK Open Darts 2025, video goes viral
Watching some UK Open darts finals over the last couple days. Very strange greeting from James Wade to Luke Humphries in quarterfinal 😲 pic.twitter.com/iuuljaEeTY
— Simon Sharp (@sharpman87) March 3, 2025
Cameras captured The Machine sticking his tongue out as he approached Cool Hand Luke during their embrace. James Wade then gave Luke Humphries a strange lick on the nape of his neck before they greeted each other politely in front of the oche. Interestingly, Wade’s activities appeared to go unnoticed by the world No. 1.
But as the game started, it really appeared to have an impact. Wade shocked everyone by stomping into the tournament’s last four with an incredible triumph.
In the final three legs, the three-time champion had a purple patch and threw SIX 180s.
LITTLER IS THE UK OPEN CHAMPION! 🏆
Darting domination from Luke Littler!
The World Champion demolishes three-time winner James Wade 11-2 to lift the UK Open title for the very first time! 👏
📺 https://t.co/NoQ0dOaEl5 #UKOpenDarts pic.twitter.com/VSpv4i0X4U
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) March 2, 2025
With scores of 9–9, the match went to a decisive leg. After a 180, Wade finally crossed the finish line by pinning 45 to win 10-9. He is one of the last four, along with Josh Rock, Jonny Clayton, and Luke Littler.
Despite the fact that Littler and Humphries have had a significant role in the surge in popularity of darts, the world No. 14 recently expressed his worries about the lack of “big numbers” and “magical games” at the highest level.
Wade told media, “When the easier games are coming my way when I should be doing something, I’m not performing. But it seems to be my timing is awful at the moment and that’s what I need to get right. I don’t think the standard is particularly great at the moment. The high end is good but it’s not what I feel people are talking about.”
Luke Littler’s victory
Luke Littler defeated James Wade 11-2 in the final on Sunday to win the UK Open with a resounding victory.
Littler, 18, is winning the tournament for the first time, but it’s just the most recent in a long string of victories in his early career. Littler stormed out to a 9-0 lead in the first to 11 match, seemingly on track to whitewash Wade.
Wade put up a fight in the tenth leg, but Littl er was too strong to stop and won handily with an average of 101.51 to Wade’s 88.06.