Luke Littler says “I think I know half” of the competitors he will have to face in Friday’s Netflix show.

Twenty-four hopefuls are vying for a £501,000 payday if they can beat the double world champion in a one-off leg of 501 on ‘Beat Luke Littler’, which streams on Friday night.

The show has attracted criticism after leading women’s player Fallon Sherrock, who reached the third round of the World Championship in 2020, World Darts Federation number one Mitchell Lawrie, former PDC player Mark Pooke and talented youngster Jaden Walker were named among the line-up.

Thousands of amateur players queued for hours for the audition process hoping to get selected for the show, with an Australian jockey, a German teacher and a restaurant manager at Nando’s among those who made it through the audition process.

“I think I know half of them,” Littler said on an interview with This Morning.

Littler must win 24 legs in a row to ensure an ‘amateur’ does not walk away with the prize.

He will face the entrants one after the other and the competition will be stopped if he is beaten – whether that is against the first opponent or the 24th.

The order of the line-up is likely to be in an approximate ascending order of talent, so the likes of Sherrock and Lawrie will appear near the end if it gets that far.

The £501,000 prize is the second-highest single payout in darts, behind the £1million prize for the World Championship winner, so Littler knows there is plenty at stake.

“They could have the the leg of their life,” Littler told the Press Association.

“And I think going into it, if I was them, I’d just think, ‘I’m playing Luke Littler, half a million pounds, just throw the kitchen sink at him’.

“I’ve got to be prepared for everyone. Obviously I don’t want anyone to win. But if they do, then it’s life-changing for them.

“Anything can happen, and I’ll be feeling a bit nervous.

“But yeah, I think if I get past the first two or three, then I’ll go on a roll and hopefully I’m playing well.”