Teenage sensation Luke Littler confessed he “lost his head” after unleashing a furious outburst at the Ally Pally crowd. The world number one ought to have been celebrating after weathering a stern test from former world champion Rob Cross, but he instead erupted during his post-match interview on stage. ‘The Nuke’ won 4-2 in the fourth round of the PDC World Darts Championship with an extraordinary 106.58 average and 17 180s, yet took exception to sections of the packed audience who jeered him throughout the encounter.

The 18-year-old has previously enjoyed adoration from punters at Ally Pally but there may now be doubts over crowd allegiance during his upcoming match in north London. Clearly irritated by the hostility, Littler turned on the spectators and said: “I’m not bothered, I’m not bothered, really, I’m not bothered. Can I just say one thing? You guys pay for tickets and pay for my prize money so thank you for money, thank you for booing me!”

After regaining his composure backstage, the reigning world champion subsequently acknowledged that he had allowed his emotions to overwhelm him. When questioned about what it would require for him to lose his head at the oche, Littler said: “I think I lost it, I think it’s still on there.

“The fans have done what they have done and I’ve reacted as any other player would really. I think I might have reacted a bit early on after that first set and when I came on for the second set and they were still at it, I said to myself, ‘You’ve done it a bit too early here.’

“But I just had to get on with the job and when I went 3-1 up I felt like I was really in it. Rob found his feet, but I just had to get rid of him.”

Littler’s prize-money jibe hasn’t sat well with some supporters on social media, with fans swift to highlight that the teenager has already accumulated a small fortune since exploding onto the darting scene two years ago. According to bet365, the Warrington-born thrower boasts a net worth of approximately £6.5m courtesy of prize money and profitable endorsement agreements with leading brands.

The prodigy has banked over £2.7m in prize money alone throughout his short career thus far, enhanced by victories at this year’s UK Open, World Matchplay, Grand Slam, World Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals. This sum excludes supplementary revenue streams including merchandise sales and sponsorship partnerships with firms such as Xbox and boohooMAN.

That wealth could swell considerably over the forthcoming days should Littler become only the third player in history to successfully defend their world crown, with £1million now available to the champion. Littler will next face Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski in the quarter-finals on New Year’s Day.