The world No 10 on getting recognised in New York, coping with hostility and why he’s never changing his walk-on song
“Definitely,” Stephen Bunting says as he considers whether working so hard as a darts player on social media is like making a deal with the devil. After Luke Littler, the prodigiously gifted teenage world champion, Bunting is the most heavily marketed player in darts. But, over the past year, some of his success on and off the oche has been accompanied by vicious abuse.
Bunting has had death threats and he recently moved his eldest son to a private school to end the bullying which had hounded 14‑year‑old Toby, who often shares his social media space. But Bunting remains amiable and happy to reflect on his Faustian pact during a lucrative rollercoaster ride through darts.