The popular former pro who won major titles has been left out of the ITV team and has hit out at his treatment
14:07, 15 Jan 2026Updated 14:17, 15 Jan 2026
Popular darts pundit Alan Warriner-Little has lashed out after being axed from ITV coverage and claimed he’s been thrown in the gutter.
The former pro has been a stalwart on the terrestrial station’s coverage having been a major star during his playing days winning key events such as the World Grand Prix in 2001.
However, with a new-look team for ITV and their 2026 screenings of the sport which begins with today’s opening show at the World Series event in Bahrain, Warriner-Little, a founding member of the PDC, is not part of the squad and has made his feelings crystal clear on social media.
He took to X to say: “It would have be nice/professional after 20 years service with ITV to at least be told I have been thrown in the gutter. Good Luck to everyone. #VeryPoor I shall be from this point reviewing everything I do.”
The ITV team, pieced together by Matchroom, are in place for the new campaign which begins at the Bahrain Darts Masters over Thursday and Friday of this week. Gabbie Partington will be one of two presenters who will be involved replacing long-standing ITV host, Jacqui Oatley.
Partington will host the World Series double header this month in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia with Pete Graves moving from Sky Sports to join the set-up and it's understood he'll present the Winmau World Masters at the end of the month.
In the pundits team are well known faces to and voices to viewers with Wayne Mardle, who is the key face on Sky's coverage, at the head of the squad.
Mardle is widely-recognised as the voice of the sport and he will be joined by his sidekicks from the Sky coverage. Glen Durrant, a former Lakeside champion and Premier League winner, will be joined by another ex-BDO king, Mark Webster. Chris Mason will also be part of the unit with the popular Dan Dawson leading the commentary team, which is also due to include Mark Wilson and Ian Danter.
The World Series opener will see Luke Littler back in action after his Worlds win and has been drawn to face Paul Lim in his first outing since landing back-to-back titles at Ally Pally.
Elsewhere in the first round draw, Luke Humphries will face Abdulla Saeed for the third successive time in the Bahrain opener.
World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen comes up against Man Lok Leung, while countryman Michael van Gerwen has been drawn against Alexis Toylo.
Danny Noppert is the third Dutchman in the field and he has a first game against Basem Mahmood with Gerwyn Price meeting Motomu Sakai, the Japanese who lit up the Ally Pally with his madcap antics and bizarre dancing.
Stephen Bunting has an opening tie against Ryusei Azemoto and Nathan Aspinall, who missed out on a 2026 Premier League spot, goes up against Lourence Ilagan.