While Sherrock was celebrating, Ireland’s ‘Fierce’ Pearse Mackle, a 21-year-old university student from County Cavan, was left wondering what could have been.
Mackle, who competes on PDC’s Development Tour, was the eighth competitor and failed to hit a match-winning bullseye, instead finding the nine, and his life-changing moment came and went.
He was the only other player, apart from Sherrock, to cause Littler a fright.
For most of the night, Littler cruised through the competition as he went in search of the £501,000, which he had said he would donate to charity.
With former England footballer Gary Lineker hosting and with comedian Lee Mack and television presenter Richard Osman joining Turner as part of the punditry team, this was a night to bring darts to a new audience.
The first challenger was 16-year-old Kasey Smith from Manchester, but Littler showed he was in no mood to mess about, hitting treble 20s against her with his first two darts on his way to an easy win.
Some of Littler’s opponents had never played a competitive game of darts, although everyone was keen to make the most of the experience.
With John McDonald, who retired as the main PDC master of ceremonies after the 2026 World Championship final, announcing the players before their elaborate walk-ons, this was a fun event, although most players came nowhere near beating Littler.
But there were still entertaining moments. Fourteen-year-old Jayden Walker, a year 10 pupil from Dorset, threw off a school blazer and tie to reveal his darts outfit and, as the third-highest ranked player, threatened to cause a huge shock.
But Littler raised his game when he needed to, hitting a maximum 180 followed by a 158 checkout, the highest of the night, to defeat his fellow teenager in only 12 darts.
Taylon Forrester, 18, described himself as a “binman who works with his dad” and he jumped out of a dumpster on his way to the oche.
Other entrants included Zac Spain, a jockey from Melbourne, Australia, Frenchman Theodore Wallich, who dubbed himself the ‘Moustache Kid’, 57-year-old Mark Pooke, another 14-year-old in Makinley Cooper-Johnson and Will Kemp, back playing after a heart attack earlier this year.
But Sherrock, whose participation in the competition had been questioned because of her past achievements in the sport, was the real winner, even if she had been described by Lineker as a “hairdresser from Milton Keynes”.
With Littler on stage for more than two hours, he inevitably tired with his standard dropping and Sherrock was the one to take advantage, winning in a 15-dart leg in match number 15.
Hearn reappeared to present Sherrock with a huge cheque for her life-changing victory to end a surreal night of action.
