Pointless star - who is a massive fan of the sport and idolises legend Jocky Wilson - says he cannot see Littler beating all 20 armchair arrow-flingers in the live TV spectacular

Richard Osman says he ‘honestly’ thinks a rank outsider will beat Luke Littler to pocket £501,000 in TV's reality darts show. The TV presenter, producer and best-selling crime writer will join Gary Lineker hosting Netflix ’s Beat Luke Littler on October 30.

Thousands of armchair darts fans tried out for the chance to take on the double world champion to win a life-changing cash prize. The top 20 will go head-to-head against 19-year-old Luke on live TV.

And Osman, 55, who will serve as expert analyst breaking down the numbers and real-time stats behind the gameplay, reckons the arrows ace will struggle to emerge undefeated.

The Pointless, Two Tribes and House of Games presenter is darts mad, frequently plays in charity matches and has declared his all-time sporting hero late Scottish double world champ Jocky Wilson.

Richard said: “As a huge darts fan and proud owner of a signed photo of Jocky Wilson I couldn't be more excited to join the amazing Beat Luke Littler live show. He's the greatest player in the world. But 20 legs in a row? I honestly think someone is going to win that £501k. It's going to be an incredible night.”

Richard is not the only one who thinks Luke will be up against it.

Record 16-time world darts champ Phil Taylor reckons Luke is better than him but thinks the talented teen will have to be at his best to dodge defeat.

Rookies from as far afield as Australia queued around the block for the chance to pull off what would be one of the biggest upsets in sporting history.

Phil, 66, who helped judge the auditions, said the standard of the challengers had been ‘incredible’.

“We are seeing people complete the qualifying legs in 11 and 12 darts - with big finishes - so the quality of the 20 finalists is going to be extremely high,” he said. “I don't think people appreciate how hard this challenge is for Luke. He is going to have to play at World Championship level to stay undefeated.”

Auditions started with entrants trying to complete a leg of 501 in 24 darts or less. Successful players then progressed to an interview with the producers. Then they faced a final stage assessment by a judging panel including Taylor, Matchroom founder Barry Hearn and professional darts player and TV pundit Laura Turner.

Announcing the challenge in a video message in July Luke said: “Reckon you could beat me in a game of darts? Let's go."

He shot to stardom in 2024 when he reached the final of the PDC World Darts Championship aged just 16. Littler won it the following year and completed back-to-back triumphs in January.