Lorraine Kelly has sparked anger among several ITV viewers following comments she made about the darts on Thursday morning.
The 64-year-old was speaking to GP Dr Hilary Jones about the health benefits darts can present following the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship final between Luke Humphries and Luke Littler.
Teenager Littler ended up losing in the final to 28-year-old Humphries by seven sets to four after he captured the nation’s heart with his meteoric rise to the top at just 16 years of age.
With thousands of new fans being exposed to the sport, Kelly and Dr Hilary wanted to let viewers know the health benefits viewers could enjoy if they took part in darts themselves.
Kicking off the segment on her show on Thursday, Kelly said: “First, he narrowly missed out on becoming the youngest ever world darts champion last night…
“But Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler has got us all talking about the game again and did you know there are actually health benefits?”
Luke Littler faced Luke Humphries in the 2024 final
GETTY
Kelly then introduced the GP before sharing her own thoughts on the sport.
Before delving into the health benefits she’d alluded to, Kelly weighed in: “It’s a game.
“It’s a great game… I mean, it’s not a sport perhaps as such, I know people get very cross about that but it’s still a great thing to do!”
Dr Hilary then reeled off the health improvements the sport presents but it soon became clear that Kelly’s fears people would be “cross” by her take came to fruition.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Kelly was met by several outraged responses to her remarks about the darts with many hinting she hadn’t given it the respect it deserves.
“‘Darts is not a sport?!’ – Lorraine talking twiddle again,” one person fumed. “If it’s not all about shoes or women’s health problems she’s totally clueless.”
A second blasted: “@lorraine Just because it looks like you can’t throw a dart doesn’t mean to say #darts isn’t a sport.”
While a third ended up changing the channel: “Lorraine Kelly just called darts a game and not a sport, that’s me switched off so.”
