The Funniest and Most Bizarre Moments in Televised Darts History – Dart moments to remember

Darts is supposed to be simple. Two players, one dartboard and three darts in each hand. Throw, score, retrieve the darts and repeat. What could possibly go wrong?

As decades of televised darts have demonstrated, the answer is: almost anything.

Players have argued, miscounted, battled unexpected drafts, punched dartboards and tried to continue playing while insects attempted to become part of the tournament. There has even been an infamous controversy involving a mysterious smell on stage.

Part of the magic of televised darts is that it combines serious professional sport with an atmosphere unlike almost anything else. Thousands of spectators may be singing and wearing ridiculous costumes while two players only metres away are attempting to hit a double worth thousands of pounds.

That combination has created some wonderfully strange television.

Here are some of the funniest, strangest and most bizarre moments in televised darts history.

Fartgate – The Mystery Nobody Wanted to Solve

There are controversies in sport involving referees, equipment, cheating allegations and disputed decisions.

And then there is Fartgate.

During the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton, Gary Anderson faced Dutch player Wesley Harms. Anderson comfortably won the match 10-2, but the result was quickly overshadowed by something considerably more unusual.

A terrible smell had apparently appeared around the playing area.

After the match, Harms suggested that Anderson had been responsible for the unpleasant odour. Anderson strongly denied the accusation and suggested that the smell had actually been coming from the other side of the stage.

Suddenly one of the strangest mysteries in professional darts had begun.

Both players denied responsibility, and the story became so widely discussed that PDC chairman Barry Hearn publicly joked that they needed to get to the bottom of the situation.

Dart moments to remember

The incident became especially funny because of the seriousness with which everyone initially had to discuss something fundamentally ridiculous.

Here were professional sportsmen competing in a major tournament, followed by television cameras and watched by thousands of spectators – and the post-match discussion had effectively become an investigation into who had broken wind.

It remains one of those uniquely darts stories that would sound completely invented if television cameras had not been there to document the aftermath.

Colin Lloyd Punches the Dartboard

A dartboard normally receives plenty of punishment during a professional match.

It does not normally receive a punch.

During the 2011 PDC World Championship, former world number one Colin “Jaws” Lloyd was involved in a difficult first-round match against Andree Welge.

Lloyd had established a two-set lead before his opponent fought back. The pressure and frustration continued building until Lloyd finally lost his temper.

Instead of throwing another dart at the board, he punched it.

It was one of those moments where everyone watching seemed to need a second to process what had happened.

Lloyd hurt his knuckles in the process, while the dartboard appeared to survive the confrontation rather well.

Perhaps even more remarkably, Lloyd regained his composure and eventually won the match.

The lesson was obvious: dartboards are designed to receive darts, not right hooks.

When the Wind Started Playing Darts

Darts are extremely sensitive projectiles.

A professional player may spend years perfecting a throw so that the dart follows almost exactly the same trajectory every time. Even a small disturbance can therefore become surprisingly important.

This produced another bizarre televised incident during the 2012 World Championship semi-final between Adrian Lewis and James Wade.

There was a draft around the stage.

That might not sound particularly dramatic until you consider what a moving air current can do to a dart travelling toward a tiny target.

The conditions became bad enough for play to be interrupted and the players to leave the stage temporarily.

The episode became known as “Windgate.”

The suspected cause was airflow created by open doors around the venue. For television viewers, the sight of elite darts players being defeated temporarily by an invisible opponent was wonderfully strange.

It was also a reminder that professional darts requires extraordinary precision. A tiny environmental change that would mean nothing in most sports can potentially influence a dart’s flight.

Gary Anderson Forgets What He Is Throwing At

Professional darts players are astonishingly good at mathematics.

They can calculate checkout combinations almost instantly while standing under enormous pressure.

Usually.

Even world champions occasionally have moments where the brain and throwing arm stop communicating.

Gary Anderson has experienced memorable miscounts on television. Around his successful 2016 World Championship campaign, Anderson admitted that poor eyesight and the atmosphere could sometimes contribute to him seeing the wrong remaining score.

He recalled one occasion when he thought he was working on a different checkout and continued throwing accordingly before realising the mistake.

For ordinary pub players, this is wonderfully reassuring.

If a multiple world champion can occasionally become confused by a checkout, perhaps the rest of us should not feel quite so bad about standing at the oche wondering whether 62 should be finished with treble 10, treble 14 or simply blind optimism.

Adrian Lewis Walks Off – Then Comes Back

Another Dart moments to remember

Darts can become intensely psychological.

One famous example came during the 2006 World Championship when a young Adrian Lewis played Peter “One Dart” Manley.

Manley had a reputation for gamesmanship and slowing the rhythm of opponents. Lewis became increasingly frustrated during their quarter-final.

Eventually, words were exchanged and Lewis walked off the stage while trailing.

There was only one problem.

The match was not over.

Referee Russ Bray persuaded Lewis to return, and the contest continued. Manley ultimately won 5-3.

From a sporting perspective it was a tense confrontation. From a television perspective it was extraordinary. One of the competitors had effectively decided, in the middle of a World Championship quarter-final, that he had experienced quite enough for the moment.

The Ally Pally Wasp Becomes a Darts Celebrity

Alexandra Palace has hosted some of the greatest players in darts history.

It has also hosted another recurring competitor.

The Ally Pally wasp.

Wasps have repeatedly appeared around the World Championship stage over the years, sometimes landing on players or flying around them while they are attempting to throw.

Adrian Lewis was famously stung during his 2012 title defence. In another memorable episode, a wasp landed on Mensur Suljovic during his match against Kevin Painter.

Rather than panic, Suljovic dealt with his unwanted visitor while the audience and commentators enjoyed the interruption.

The phenomenon became even more ridiculous at the 2026 World Championship, when Dutch player Jurjen van der Velde arrived prepared.

He brought insect spray.

Before his match against Danny Noppert, Van der Velde sprayed it around the stage. Television cameras later caught him trying to swat away a wasp anyway.

So after years of professional darts technology – precision tungsten barrels, carefully engineered flights, specialist boards and elaborate lighting systems – one of the sport’s biggest tournaments still occasionally comes down to a man waving his hands at an insect.

A Stage That Actually Moved

Players sometimes complain that a stage does not feel completely stable.

Former professional and commentator Wayne Mardle once recalled a considerably more extreme example from his playing days.

At a BDO event, Mardle remembered playing Andy Fordham on a stage constructed using beer crates with sheets placed over them.

The structure began moving apart.

According to Mardle, whenever Fordham walked past, the movement of the stage could physically shift him.

Imagine trying to hit treble 20 while the floor underneath you is behaving like a budget amusement park ride.

It is difficult enough to develop a perfectly consistent stance when the floor stays still.

When the oche itself begins moving, technique becomes a secondary concern to remaining upright.

Darts Crowds Are Part of the Madness

Not every funny darts moment happens on the stage.

The spectators deserve an entire category of their own.

Televised darts crowds have become famous for fancy dress, singing, signs and spontaneous comedy. Cameras can move away from a tense checkout and suddenly discover several superheroes sitting beside a banana, a group of Vikings and somebody dressed as a giant chicken.

Where else does that seem completely normal?

Marriage proposals have appeared during World Championship coverage, fans have danced for the cameras, and elaborate costumes have become part of the visual identity of major tournaments.

Wayne Mardle’s famous walk-ons also demonstrated how easily the player entrance itself can become entertainment.

This is an important reason televised darts feels different from many other sports.

The audience is not merely watching the show.

The audience is part of the show.

When Players Cannot Stop Laughing

Professional players train themselves to remain focused, but sometimes the atmosphere simply becomes too funny.

A strange comment from the crowd, an unusual bounce-out, a scoring misunderstanding or an opponent doing something unexpected can break concentration completely.

Once one player starts smiling, the other often follows.

These moments are particularly enjoyable because they briefly remove the professional barrier between the stars and the people watching at home.

For a few seconds, two elite competitors become exactly like two friends playing darts in a pub.

They know something ridiculous has happened, and neither can pretend otherwise.

Why Darts Produces So Many Funny Moments

Darts is almost perfectly designed for unexpected television.

The players are close together. The crowd is close to the stage. Television cameras capture facial expressions in detail. There are pauses between throws, giving commentators time to react to anything unusual.

Most importantly, darts players cannot hide.

If somebody becomes irritated, confused or amused, the camera normally catches it immediately.

Compare that with a footballer standing 80 metres away on a giant pitch. In darts, the camera may be less than a few metres from the player’s face.

Every raised eyebrow can become part of the entertainment.

The Serious Sport That Does Not Always Take Itself Too Seriously

The funny side of darts should not disguise how difficult the game actually is.

Professional players perform under enormous pressure. They practise for thousands of hours and compete for major titles and substantial prize money.

That is precisely why the bizarre moments are so entertaining.

One minute a player is calculating a complicated checkout in front of thousands of spectators.

The next minute everyone is discussing a mysterious smell.

One moment a world champion is throwing for a crucial double.

The next moment a wasp is sitting on somebody’s shirt.

A player can spend years perfecting the mechanics of his throw, only to arrive at a tournament where an unexpected draft starts moving the darts.

It is the contrast between elite competition and absolute absurdity that makes these incidents unforgettable.

What Is the Most Bizarre Darts Moment Ever?

Choosing one winner is almost impossible.

Colin Lloyd punching a dartboard is certainly among the most visually memorable.

Adrian Lewis walking off during his battle with Peter Manley provided genuine drama.

Windgate demonstrated that even invisible air movement could interrupt a World Championship.

The recurring Ally Pally wasp deserves recognition for its extraordinary ability to appear when millions of people are watching.

But for pure absurdity, Fartgate may still be the champion.

It had everything required for a legendary bizarre sports story: two famous players, a major televised tournament, accusations, denials, interviews and an impossible mystery.

Most importantly, nobody watching expected that the post-match story would have anything to do with the air quality surrounding the oche.

The Moments That Make Darts Special

Statistics tell us who won tournaments. Averages tell us who played brilliantly. Records tell us who hit the most 180s.

But those numbers are only part of darts history.

Fans also remember the moments that made them laugh.

They remember the arguments, strange interruptions, ridiculous costumes and occasions when even the players could not believe what was happening.

That unpredictability gives televised darts much of its personality.

You might tune in expecting to see a nine-dart finish.

You might instead see a player fighting a wasp.

You might expect a tense World Championship battle and get a moving stage, a mysterious draft or a player who temporarily forgets his checkout.

And occasionally you get an international sporting controversy involving a smell that nobody is prepared to claim responsibility for.

That is darts.

It is incredibly precise, intensely competitive and sometimes completely ridiculous.

And we would not want it any other way.

Dart moments to remember