Luke Humphries explains reason behind major change to his darts routine

Luke Humphries knew a bold change would prompt 'a little bit of abuse' from fans, but it could propel him to back-to-back world titles.

Up until April, the 29-year-old would stroll up to the oche with DNCE's 'Cake by the Ocean' blaring out across the venue.

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It's not exactly a song that inspires the masses, but there's no arguing it was successful given he won the 2024 World Darts Championship.

But Humphries has swapped the pop number and replaced it with an iconic anthem.

The song switch caught the attention of talkSPORT Drive co-host Darren Bent, who asked Humphries why he'd changed his walkout track.

"Yes, I have changed my walk-on music," Humphries, speaking at the launch of Darts on Your Doorstep, a partnership between Smart Energy GB & PDC in the Community, told talkSPORT.

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"I changed it for the exact reason I didn't pick my first one. I changed it to the Kaizer Chiefs' 'I Predict A Riot'. There's a little bit of a factor of that being a Leeds football song that they like to play, so it has a little bit of character towards what I like.

"The old walkout song was nothing to do with me, really. This has a little of me in it.

"Sometimes it's hard when you're walking out because you get a little bit of abuse because everyone knows I'm a Leeds fan. But it's all in good jest, it's good fun and I don't really mind it, to be fair."

Unsurprisingly, Humphries is a passionate Leeds fan and even paraded his world championship trophy in front of the supporters at Elland Road.

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In fact, Humphries was named Luke by his old man in a tribute to the Yorkshire club, with his name being an acronym of Leeds United, Kings of Europe.

Although he may cop some stick on his way to the oche due to his walkout song, Humphries will hope to drown out the noise given he could become the first player to earn £2million.

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Humphries sits first in the PDC's Order of Merit, which is decided by players' earnings across a two-year period at ranked tournaments, with £1.75m.

With the Grand Slam of Darts days away from commencing and a cool £150,000 on offer for the winner, the time is now for Humphries to make history.

"I think the way the game's grown, you can earn such a massive amount," Humphries said.

"It's the two-year rankings that we do, I could be the first to reach £2million in two years. That would be something quite special as well. That's quite hard to do but with the money influx, the money's always going up.

"But that's credit to the likes of Barry [Hearn], Eddie [Hearn] and Matt [Porter], people that built the game higher than it's ever been.

"I think the youngsters see that as well now. You used to look at darts as not really a sport that you earned a lot of money. Now, maybe we're not on footballer's wages or tennis or golfers, but if you're a professional darts player, you don't even have to be at the top to earn some decent money.

"I think that's why the sport is viewed very differently now."

The 2024 Grand Slam of Darts commences on Saturday and finishes on November 17.