Stephen Bunting enters the 2026 Premier League Darts under some scrutiny but is trying to ignore the outside noise and give it his all.
Bunting has been the inclusion in this year’s Premier League that has raised the most eyebrows, with many people seeing it as a contest between ‘The Bullet’ and Nathan Aspinall to take the number eight spot.
The St Helens man has been selected as a wildcard and he joins Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Michael van Gerwen, Jonny Clayton, Josh Rock and Gerwyn Price in darts’ biggest show.
While there has been a lot of backlash across social media about Bunting’s place in the Premier League, he himself has insisted he doesn’t pay attention to the negative comments.
Instead, he is focused on going one better than 2025, which was his best year ever in the PDC, and showing why he had to be included.
“My management and my wife are the ones who look at the social media side,” Bunting said You love darts.
“I still see the odd comment go down, but people are very negative, they’re not fans, some of them are just idiots jumping on the bandwagon and saying you’re not doing well.
“They publish these stories and stuff. If I believed half the things I read on social media, I would have packed up a long time ago.”
“I know I have to work harder, I have no illusions. I have to get fit and stay at the top of my game.”
“Now I’m ranked 7th in the world, which isn’t a bad position to be fair, but I want to get back up the rankings.”
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Speaking on Love The Darts, Matt Edgar and Paul Nicholson discuss Stephen Bunting’s inclusion in the Premier League in 2026.
“I know it wasn’t just people online, but experts said they were surprised by my choice.”
“What I would say back to them is that last year I won six titles, I was in 10 finals, I had one of the highest tournament averages, especially in the Players Championship, I won European competitions.
“It’s been the best season I’ve had in the PDC since moving from BDO and the fan base continues to grow.”
‘Relief’ for a delayed flight
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Find out the eight players who will compete for the Premier League Darts title in 2026.
Bunting and Aspinall were together when the former discovered they were on and the latter knew they had no space.
They were on a delayed flight home from the show and Bunting admits he was “relieved” to finally know he had secured his place.
“I was sitting with Nathan (Aspinall) when we found out.
“Obviously, I was pretty confident I was going to be in the Premier League – I was fourth in the world for 10 months of the year.
“I had a great start to the year, not the best end of the year, so I can understand why people said I shouldn’t be.”
“I still feel like I have a lot to give. Not just with darts, but with the fan base, performing, all that kind of stuff.”
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Wayne Mardle reveals who he believes is lucky to be included and unhappy to miss out on the 2026 Premier League darts line-up.
“Obviously it was the last hours before they announced, I only found out about 10 minutes before it was actually announced.
“I punched the plane a little bit, we were late on the plane and Nathan was sitting two seats away from me.
“That’s when he knew I was there. It was a relief. I know I have to work again this year to make sure I’m in it next year.”
“I always want to be part of the Premier League. I didn’t have the best campaign last year but I showed what a fighter I am, I won in Berlin at the end.
“In some of my performances, I probably beat myself up more than I should have.”
“I believe I had one of the highest tournament averages last year, so there were a few positives and I’m sure I can learn from last year to this year.”
Tough World Darts Championship
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Stephen Bunting talks about the backlash he received on social media after he commented that he was the people’s champion.
The reaction to his inclusion in the Premier League came after some social media backlash at the World Darts Championship when Bunting called himself the ‘people’s champion’.
Bunting wants to move on from what has been a difficult period during the worlds where his son was ill and make sure the “best version” of “Bullet” is shown in 2026.
Please don’t mention ‘The People’s Champion’, Bunting added.
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Alexandra Palace goes wild as Stephen Bunting arrives in style with his iconic track ‘Titanium’.
“I don’t think people see what went on behind the scenes before the worlds. On Christmas Day I was at A and E with Theo until 2am.
“I never make excuses, so I didn’t say it publicly.”
“I did four shows leading up to worlds that I wasn’t very good at. I had a cough and a cold and was really sick, but I still managed to get through them.”
“I went into the world without the best preparation and not feeling my greatest and obviously that led me down a tricky path.
“This year I will take it a little easier on the show road and plan my diary much better, take care of myself and give the best version of myself.”
Who will win this year’s Premier League darts? Luke Humphries will defend his title and you can catch the action every Thursday from February 5 in Newcastle until May 28 at The O2 in London on Ski Sports. Stream darts and more top sports with NOW.