Former darts star Peter Manley has told Luke Littler to lose weight because he 'won't last long' if he doesn't.
The 17-year-old has become a national treasure over the past month, having performed excellently at the World Darts Championship, Bahrain Masters and Dutch Masters.
Littler has made no secret of the fact he loves a kebab, regularly talking up the meal at Alexandra Palace earlier in January.
But Manley thinks the teenager should follow the example of Luke Humphries.
Luke Littler has been told to lose weight by a former darts star amid his sensational exploits in recent weeks
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Humphries decided to lose weight during the coronavirus pandemic and, in the end, shredded four-and-a-half stone.
His career has been on an upwards trajectory in the time since, with the 28-year-old recently winning the World Championship.
And Manley, speaking to the Daily Star, would like to see Littler also slim down because 'he won't last long if he doesn't'.
“Luke Humphries reminds me so, so much of Luke Littler," the chairman of the Professional Darts Players Association said.
“When Luke Humphries first came onto the scene, he was so natural, like Adrian Lewis, who you always knew was going to win something.
“I’m a big fella as well and I knew straight away that he’d have to lose some weight.
"And look at Luke Humphries now, he looks good, he feels fit. I know he had a problem with anxiety and how to deal with pressure, but he’s come through that.
“Luke Littler, to me, just looks a big unit. If he isn’t careful and doesn’t look after himself, he won’t last long because of that.
"And it won’t look good. You want to look good.
“Darts players used to be the fat people who drunk beer. That’s changing.
"Look at Gerwyn Price coming from rugby. They’re able to last.
"They might playing at 10 in the morning and then the final at six at night.
“They’re long old days and the fitter you are, the more able you are to have the same levels of concentration at the end of the day as you did at the start.”
Manley himself has made changes to his lifestyle.
The 61-year-old was diagnosed with heart failure when he was in his 40s, something that sparked him into action.
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Luke Littler has been told to copy Luke Humphries by shredding the weight
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Recalling his own decision to lose weight, Manley continued: “I remember being the young guy coming through and I used to practice with Peter Evison.
“I’d ring him to see what night we’d be practising and his other half would say he’s out jogging, gone for a swim or at the gym. I’d think, ‘what do you doing that for?’
“And then, through health reasons, I had to do something.
"Had I looked after myself, who knows, I might be like Steve Beaton. Steve’s looked after himself.
“I remember being sat there in Gibraltar [at a tournament] having a big, king-sized breakfast and who comes running past? Steve Beaton.”
Luke Littler has become a household name amid his brilliant darts displays
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Humphries, meanwhile, previously said it's hard to eat healthily as the darts star.
He also says exercising on a bike was key to his transformation and that he rarely eats takeaways now.
“When you’re losing 4lb a week while practising, your body doesn’t really notice the changes," he said.
"If I’d lost 4st and not thrown a dart during that period, it would have been different.
“I worked really hard to do it and have managed to keep it off. I rarely eat takeaways now. If I do it’s from decent places like Nando’s. I just maintain it and look after myself.”
