Former BDO world champion Scott Mitchell has made an extraordinary claim about teenage sensation Luke Littler, alleging that the 19-year-old asked him to “cover him up” during a heated moment when suspicions of cheating were running high in the professional circuit.
Speaking exclusively to The Darts Insider, Mitchell, who lifted the Lakeside trophy in 2015, described an incident he says took place behind the scenes at a major ranking event late last year.
According to Mitchell, tensions had been simmering for weeks among senior players who privately questioned the rapid, almost unnatural rise of the then-16-year-old Littler. Whispers of irregular scoring patterns and “too-perfect” checkouts had allegedly reached boiling point in the players’ lounge.
“The cheating heat was high – I’ve never known anything like it,” Mitchell said. “Three or four top-32 lads were openly saying they wanted him investigated. Then Littler comes up to me in the corridor, as white as a sheet, and says: ‘Scott, please, just cover me up. Get them off my back.’
“I was stunned. A world-class talent asking me to run interference? That’s not something you hear every day.”
Mitchell claims Littler was referring to a specific request: to physically stand in front of him during walk-ons and post-match interviews to block the view of cameras and certain officials whom Littler allegedly believed were “watching too closely” for irregularities in his dart grip and release.
“He said, ‘Just walk two paces ahead and to my right. Don’t let them see my shoulder dip.’ I told him, ‘Luke, if you’re clean, you’ve got nothing to hide.’ But he just kept repeating: ‘Cover me up, Scott. The heat’s too high.’”
The former champion says he refused the request and later distanced himself from Littler’s inner circle. “I’m not anyone’s shield. If you’re cheating, that’s on you. If you’re not, then let them watch all they want.”
When contacted for comment, Littler’s management team dismissed Mitchell’s account as “complete fabrication” and pointed to the teenager’s clean disciplinary record with the PDC and Darts Regulation Authority. A spokesperson said: “Luke has never asked any player to ‘cover him up.’ He has volunteered for extra scanning of his darts and grip technique. This is sour grapes from a former champion who no longer competes at Luke’s level.”
The PDC has so far declined to comment on what it called “unsubstantiated hearsay.”
However, Mitchell remains adamant. “I’m not saying he definitely cheated. I’m saying he asked to be covered up. In this sport, that’s almost as bad. When the cheating heat is high, innocent players don’t hide – they stand in the light.”
The darts world now waits to see whether the DRA will open an inquiry based on Mitchell’s claims, or whether this will be dismissed as yet another dressing-room ghost story from a bygone era of the sport.
