James previews the upcoming Netflix series, which will see 20 players take on Luke Littler for a £501,000 jackpot, and shares a fascinating story about an unexpected encounter with one of the contestants.

She also discusses Littler’s extraordinary rise to the top of the sport and his chances of securing further World Championship glory, alongside Gerwyn Price’s evolving relationship with the fans.

Away from the oche, James speaks candidly about dealing with social media trolls, staying true to herself and navigating the high-pressure world of live sports broadcasting.

Gerwyn Price is the ultimate competitor

Q: Gerwyn Price is one of the standout personalities within darts, and the fans now love him. Why have they changed their stance on him?

Polly James: Gerwyn is a really interesting one because he's had such a journey with the fans. For a long time, as you say, he was one of the most divisive characters in darts. And now he's become a real crowd favourite in so many places.

I think he always used to say to me when he was on stage, "Yeah, you know, I feed off all the boos, and I feed off the whistling." I really think that was just his coping mechanism to get over the fact that he was being booed, if that makes sense.

He plays so much better when the crowd is on his side. He's kind of struck this amazing balance now with the fans, where he goes on and gives it that big trademark roar. People are just loving it, and you kind of fall in love with him.

He's been around in the game long enough for people to know exactly what he's like. I think people respect his authenticity. With Gerwyn, what you see is what you get. He's passionate, he's emotional, he's fiercely competitive. That's the Welshness in him that I love. I love it. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and you know exactly how much it means to him.

I think people have come to appreciate that there's so much more to him than just the intensity you see on stage. He's got a softer side — I wouldn't necessarily say a soft side, but he's got a good sense of humour, and there's a real vulnerability there as well.

Ultimately, I do think fans love a character, and Gerwyn is one of those proper darts characters. He's not afraid to be himself, he's not afraid to show emotion, and whether he's winning or losing, you get a good reaction. More often than not, when I'm interviewing Gerwyn, particularly more recently, he's been in the runner-up position.

Even though he is, in his own way, graceful in defeat, he's always honest. No one likes losing; this is a competitive sport. There's so much jeopardy and so much money on the line. He's true to himself, and he's like, "I hate that. I hated losing. I don't want to come second. I thought I was the better player."

Q: What is Gerwyn like behind the scenes and as a person?

Polly James: Honestly, I mean, people see the intensity and the celebrations. He's got that fire on stage, and that's what they think he's like 24/7.

But he's a really interesting character to interview because he is very passionate. I think in the last couple of years, from my point of view, I'd say that over the last couple of years, he really has become one of those athletes, those sportspeople who will come into a venue, and you would expect him to be so fiery. 

For example, I'm trying to make the contrast for you, so you've got people like Nathan Aspinall, Rob Cross, and all these fun characters who will come in and they're really easygoing, really chilled out, calm, having a laugh, and there's a bit of banter.

Gerwyn comes in, and he's very much like, "What interviews do I have? How long is it going to take?" Head down, and then he gets into it. He's locked in. He's dialled in, and he knows his routine.

I think that's happened a lot more over the last couple of years. So you don't get a lot from Gerwyn before his game. Then, obviously, when you do interview him behind the scenes, he is very real. He's authentic in the sense that you could say to him, "Oh, look, guys, you had a really good game there," or, "The average [set of darts] was really great," and he'd be like, "No, you know, I bombed a couple of doubles”.

But he's one of the truest characters out there. He's very serious, but he's not too dissimilar to what you see on stage. Obviously, he comes alive a little bit when he's in motion and when he's in action, but I think he's more of an athlete than people think.

Life as a darts broadcaster

Q: What is it like on live TV working as a bro adcaster at the World Darts Championship?

Polly James: I am a radio DJ first of all, so I came into this not knowing anything about live TV. I've been at Sky now for about five years, but it was very different for me. I was very comfortable in my studio, on my own, talking to a microphone. You talk to a lot of people when you're on the radio, but live TV is just so different.

I absolutely love it, but I don't think people realise just how much goes on behind the scenes. Especially with live TV, it's one thing, but live sport is different because you're constantly thinking on your feet, dealing with things that can change within a split second, and then trying to make it all look completely effortless when, behind the camera, it can be total chaos.

This is where I always say, when you talk about Emma, she's an amazing girl out of work, but when she's at work as well, she fronts the darts, and she's so effortless in what she does. Whether it's all kicking off behind the scenes or in front of the camera, she just strings it all together.

There's no second take on live TV. There's no going back, and sometimes things don't go to plan. You have to be able to think quickly, trust your instincts, and just roll with it. But I think that's what makes it so exciting. Every day is different. There's an adrenaline rush to it, and when it all comes together, there's nothing quite like it — capturing a great moment in sporting history.

Honestly, learn not to panic when things go wrong. You just smile, keep talking, and hope nobody's noticed at home. Sometimes, in fact, if something has gone wrong or not gone to plan, you just roll with it and be real about it.

I had a moment with Luke Littler, actually, when it was the Premier League final. My role is to interview the guys afterwards, and it was Luke [Littler] versus Luke [Humphries] once again in the Premier League final.

Luke Littler had just had the most exhausting, dramatic whirlwind of a 16-week Premier League campaign, with so much drama, so many stories, and so many narratives. He'd just come through an absolute barnstormer of a game against Luke Humphries, won the title back, and he just broke down [in tears].

Within the first couple of seconds, actually, I'm there trying to be professional. I always take my role so seriously in terms of needing to give the fans what they want, and I always feel that pressure. I always feel that responsibility, and I have meticulously planned a lot of questions.

In that moment, it all goes apart. You think, “Right, okay, forget everything, rip up the paper, and let's go and be human. Let's figure out what's going on here”. He broke down. Luke comes in, and you just instinctively have to think on your feet, if that makes sense.

Here's one example. In that instance, for me, I'm a mother, and even though my kids aren't that much younger than Luke, I see him as a child. I met Luke when he was 15, and I see him as a kid.

You don't know the players extremely well, but you're with them at their most vulnerable points, their highs and lows. At that moment, I just felt compelled to stop the interview and just have that compassionate side. I don't know whether it was right or wrong, but it just felt like the right thing to do.

Overcoming social media abuse

Q: What is it like to be breaking down barriers for female broadcasters in a male dominated sports industry. But there are social media trolls who have targeted you previously, how have you dealt with it mentally?

Polly James: So, we were talking about this recently, actually, just a couple of days ago in Dortmund. I can't remember how it came up, but we were talking about trolls, and you don't get it that much anymore.

In fact, ever since I've stopped doing a lot of Twitter, or X as they call it now, it doesn't usually happen. And I've got to say, the stuff that I had was very much appearance-based.

So my thing was always like, "Guys, you can say whatever you want about my appearance. You can call me whatever you want. You can say, 'That's the ugly girl with the neck tattoo.' You go for it. That is fine."

I'm very happy in my own skin but if anyone started to talk about my work and my job, because that's where I hold my standards then that would impact me. Luckily, it hasn't happened a lot.

You get the odd bloke out there who will say, "Oh, why is there a woman commentating on men's sports?" That's basically it. I know that Emma [Paton], I know that Abigail [Davies], and I know that we all get that. "Why is there a woman doing this job? Why is a woman doing that job?"

But generally, they don't say much about what we're doing in our job, which is good because if someone started to critique what we were doing, then I think that would hurt a little bit. But I think women in the media — and I can't talk for any other industry, but women in the media always feel that they have to push that little bit more, do that little bit more, because you're always fighting against the critics and stuff.

So, honestly, it doesn't bother me that much anymore. I definitely think over the last couple of years I've grown even more thick-skinned. The standards and feedback that I have from my peers are all I need.

We talk about inspirations and stuff, and as long as I feel like I'm doing my family proud, honestly, that is all that matters to me. As long as I'm loving what I'm doing, that's what matters. If it got to a space where I just didn't enjoy it anymore and it was too gruelling on me mentally, then that's just not my thing.

I always pride myself on being able to wake up in the morning and go into a job that I love, which is what's happening right now, and I feel so grateful for it.

So, until that stops, I'll keep doing what I'm doing. And if Peter off Twitter wants to say, "Look at that girl with that minging neck tattoo," then, yeah, you go for it, mate. I'm cool. 

Luke Littler and his Netflix Show

Q: Fallon Sherrock is going to be involved as one of the 20 amateurs to take on Luke Littler in his upcoming Netflix series. I'd love to know what you make of that…

Polly James: We just saw the line-up come out, and, hey, let me tell you, Luke is in for a hard shift that night.

Look, Luke's rise has been absolutely extraordinary. We've never seen anything like him in darts. For someone so young to come into the sport and take on the biggest names in the world, not just compete with them but beat them, winning major titles like this weekend in Dortmund, he's looking to complete darts at the age of 19, by winning every single major.

It's absolutely incredible. Even Phil Taylor, for all of his greatness, and he is the greatest of all time, but Luke is just on another planet when it comes to darts. But he's still human. And, as we've seen over the last couple of months, he can bomb a few legs if it doesn't go quite right for him. Maybe the pressure will get to him.

We've seen people who've got nothing to lose, like these contestants, who have great skill and are absolutely within reach of that £501,000 prize.

I am going to tell you a quick story about this line-up, which is so wild.  I know there's been a bit of stick that there are a lot of semi-pro players on the bill but I just love darts. I'm just going to watch that, sit back with popcorn, and watch it all go down.

But one of the players is a guy who I randomly met years ago, not through darts. And this made the press, because I was on Capital Radio. So, one of the guys is called Paul and he's from North Wales.

Every year in Cardiff, there's the National Eisteddfod. It's this big Welsh festival, and who knew it was this crazy night out, right? So I wake up in the morning at about five o'clock in the morning and  I'm getting ready for my radio show because I'm hosting Capital Breakfast at this time.

I walk out of my house, or not even walk out of my house, but I walk to the door to open it to leave, and I can hear this guy snoring on my doorstep.

And I'm like, "What the hell?" I call my radio studio, and I'm like, "Guys, is this a prank? Because, you do loads of funny stuff on Capital." So they're like, "No, honestly, be careful. There's a guy outside your door. Call the police."

So I was like, "S***". I was absolutely terrified. I couldn't wait to get this guy up. He was absolutely comatose. I had no idea what was going on. I managed to wake him up, and the police came and everything. And he's like, "I am so sorry."

I brought him in for a cup of tea, and we chatted and everything. He was so sorry. He was trying to look for his friend who lived on this street, and he'd decided just to sleep in the doorway so that he could see me in the morning.

Anyway, long story short, we covered it all on the radio show, and then the papers got involved. It was, "Woman meets man sleeping on her doorstep, and now they're Facebook friends, friends for life," et cetera. Anyway, this guy's going to be a contestant!

I said to him, "Are you kidding me?" He said to me, "My first claim to fame was being on your radio show and sleeping on your doorstep. And now I get to meet Luke Littler, the guy that you work with." It was just hilarious.

Q: Is it a good selection of players to face Luke?

Polly James: I think people might be a little bit disappointed with the line-up and wanted it to be more professional-player-based. Paul is a full-blown professional player, by the way.

I think you've just got to take it for what it is. Like, three years ago, would Netflix be doing a live show with a player giving away half a million pounds? Absolutely not. This is just another huge milestone in darts, showing off how big it's getting and how huge it's becoming.

World Darts Championship contenders

Q: Ahead of the Darts World Championship, who can challenge Luke Littler and take him off his throne?

Polly James: Honestly, I think he's going to win the Grand Slam. I don't think there's anyone in the world who can go toe-to-toe with him in match play like that. So I think he's going to win that, and I think that will be the catalyst to him winning the Worlds again.

The main thing is that when Luke is on it, right — and let's remember, Ally Pally is Luke's town. That is Luke's home. The Ally Pally crowd love Luke. And when Luke has got the crowd behind him, he just feels unstoppable.

There's a lot of animosity when he's playing away from home, like when he's playing in Germany.  There are times, like you mentioned, in Amsterdam, when he was playing his first game. I can't remember who it was against now, but maybe it was Nathan Aspinall.

He walked out during the break, and I honestly thought he wasn't going to come back out. It was that bad. But I think Ally Pally is such a different beast for him. It's where it all started for him, it's where he's got pedigree, he's got all the blueprints. He knows exactly how to win this.

He's going for a treble, a hat-trick of wins, three world titles on the bounce, and I think he can just turn it on when it matters.

Obviously, it matters with the draw as well, and who he'll face, et cetera, but I just think he's got what it takes, and he's got what it takes at the right time. The main players who I think will challenge him: Gian van Veen is coming into a bit of form at the moment. He had that really bad operation halfway through the Premier League.

I think he's getting back to his greatest darts now, chucking in record-breaking averages. So Gian, I think, would be one contender. You've got Luke Humphries, obviously. He's ruled out of Germany because he's unwell, but he's just picked up a major title. What will that do for his confidence? What will that do for his winning mentality?

He'll go into the Worlds thinking, "I am in the winner's circle. I can win. I can get over the finish line." Gerwyn Price as well. Who knows what Gerwyn can do with an Ally Pally crowd rooting him on?

I've got no doubt about it that the Ally Pally crowd is going to be the best it's ever been for Gerwyn this year. I remember, like, three years ago, he didn't want to leave the house in Wales. He didn't want to get in the car because he was like, "I can't deal with the Ally Pally crowd."

I think this year is going to be so different for him. Then, you might have some youngsters coming through who've never been to the Worlds before, who might go all the way but I think those are definitely the main contenders.

It's really interesting now. This is such a gruelling part of the season, there's still so much to play for. There are still so many stories, so many narratives, and so many champions who can win. Luke Littler and Ally Pally, there's just something special about that combination.

He's done the same thing in Blackpool. Back in the day, Blackpool used to be Phil Taylor's town, and I think now it's Littler's town. He's got that spell over the Winter Gardens, where it's his domain, and I think he's got the same with Ally Pally.

Reality TV shows

Q: Would you be open to going on a reality TV show?

Polly James: Oh, my God. Well, I wouldn't even call myself any sort of celebrity, any alphabet of this celebrity realm. But the one thing that I would like to do is Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.

I think that would be really cool to do, to put myself through the paces. I'm from a military family so I feel like that would suit me quite well.

Honestly, I don't think I'm that mentally strong as a person, and I think something like that would really test me. Yeah, I'd like to do something like that. No one can really break my spirit that much.

When they go in and scream in your face… I don't feel like that would faze me very much. Honestly, I feel like I could deal with that.

In terms of being mentally strong, it's just the physical side. I would just give up after, you know, five minutes. I'd be like, "I can't do this, I can't do this. I want to go back to bed or something." But, I feel something like that would be really cool.

And I can't really dance very well so not Strictly Come Dancing but maybe I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! But I couldn't eat the bugs.”