Luke Littler has opened up on how he actually met his girlfriend – rubbishing rumours they met each other playing FIFA.
Littler has seen his fame blow up overnight after taking the PDC World Championships by storm this year, reaching the final before losing to Luke Humphries.
During the event, rumours quickly spread that he met his girlfriend Elouise Milburn while playing FIFA online.
But the 17-year-old, who celebrated his birthday last Sunday, has insisted there is no truth to that story and revealed all on how he actually met his 21-year-old beau.
“No,” he said when asked about the story by the Guardian.
“That was a weird story they made up. We met on the development tour in Leicester in August but became friends at the last [tournament] in Milton Keynes.”
Littler’s instant rise to fame has its downsides and one is the fact his personal life has been thrust into the limelight, including his girlfriend.
That included some vile abuse directed at her but the couple are as strong as ever, shaking off the trolls.
“That’s what I knew from the very start,” Littler added. “We knew people would find out [about their relationship] but it started off very bad.
“As the weeks go on [the abuse of Milburn on social media] has been almost forgotten. We’ve been talking for a few months now.
“I’ve brought her along to the worlds, got to the final and whatever people say, they can say it.
“It’s not going to affect me or my mental strength. I’ve got guys doing my Instagram now and they delete it before I see it.”
Talking about the abuse, Elouise said: “It was tough to start with.
“The first day I let it get to me a lot. But you learn that as long as the pair of you are happy, that’s all that matters. The people that matter most are supportive of us.”
After reaching the Worlds final, Littler went one better by winning the Bahrain Masters earlier this month and has now gained a spot of revenge at the Dutch Masters.
The phenomenon took out Humphries on his way to the final, and despite falling against home hero Michael van Gerwen, it was another stunning display.