Winning a title is tough, retaining it is much tougher – and darts superstar Luke Humphries is under no illusions about that.
Last year’s PDC World Championship winner saw his life change after beating boy wonder Luke Littler in the Alexandra Palace final.
It would have been easy for that success to change him but Humphries remains down to Earth despite the stratospheric rise.
So realistic is the 29-year-old that he’s not taking his bid to win it in consecutive years for granted.
Especially as only Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson have ever retained the title
Already 14 seeds have been knocked out of the 2025 PDC World Championship.
Michael Smith, Rob Cross, and Gary Anderson are among the leading contenders to have already fallen.
And knowing that anything can happen in the thrilling tournament, he’s admitted just winning the title once is more than enough to be proud of.
The title favourite said: “If I walked away from this sport tomorrow I’d be very happy with what I’ve achieved.
“Because every young player wants to be world champion — and not everybody can. I’ve achieved that.
“So, if I never went on to be world champion again, I’d still be very, very proud if I retired in 20 years because that always stays with you. It’s a lifetime achievement
“Of course, I want to win more. There’s a special feeling when you’re not just a one-time world champion, you’re a two or three-time champ.
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“I really want to achieve more. But you have to accept that it might not work that way.
“You’d love to do it twice because there have been a lot of one-time world champions over the years. But it’s a rare occasion to be a double world champion.”
He continued: “We’re in the business end of the tournament and it’s important that you look after yourself and not indulge too much over Christmas.
“I had a nice Christmas dinner. But I’ll make sure that, when I come back, I’m in a physically and mentally good place.
“And put myself in a great position to go on and try to be back-to-back world champion.”
Humphries’ title win now means he’s a household name and has travelled the world helping promote the game of darts further.
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And despite finding himself in the spotlight, he admitted he’d rather that than anything else.
He added: “It’s always harder the second time around — I went into the unknown last year. Didn’t know what to expect.
“I’ve enjoyed the niceties you get with being world champion. People congratulate you and shake your hand. Say congratulations. Or amazing achievements.
“It’s changed my life for the good and it will stay with me forever. Something I can hold onto and be very proud about.
“It’s nice when you’re out shopping and strangers say, ‘The way you carry yourself is amazing’. They are happy for you that you’ve achieved something. It’s nice to get that attention.
“There’s no prep. You don’t get taught how to deal with it. You’ve just got to learn on the job.
“You get thrown into this environment that you’re not used to.
“Your life can change very quickly and over the last 15 months, my life has changed incredibly. I’ve achieved so much in a short period of time.
“When you sleep in a different hotel every week, you never get as good a night’s sleep as at home.
“But what do you want to do? Be a world champion or complain about the travelling?”
Tune into talkSPORT 2 for coverage of the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship, as we bring you exclusive live commentary from Alexandra Palace. Listen via our web player, app, on DAB, or through your smart speaker.