Luke Humphries has revealed that his alleged “war of words” with Peter Wright was settled with a hug.
The darts stars exchanged barbs in the media ahead of their fourth-round match at the 2025 World Championship. Wright, 54, had openly predicted an early exit for the defending champion and boasted he could still outplay the likes of English pair Humphries and Luke Littler.
In response, Humphries suggested that Wright was engaging in “mind games” and pointed out that with one more world title, he’d equal his rival’s Ally Pally haul of two. Then, much to everyone’s surprise, Wright emerged victorious in the match, triumphing 4-1.
A month on, Humphries has insisted their comments about each other were exaggerated, emphasising the mutual respect between them. Speaking at the Bahrain Masters last week, he told the Express: “Me and Peter were fine before and after what was said.
“It was Sky Sports who were putting on a facade that there was some big beef there. When we walked in the [practice] room on the day we played, we gave each other a hug.
“Nothing had changed, it was just this weird hype that was created by a few things. The comments I said were meant in a good way. It was ‘if I win one more world title, it would match Peter’. That would have been a compliment to myself.
“This is the thing you’ve got to be careful of these days, everything gets turned. The resolution for me this year is to watch what I say because the drama that comes with it is just not worth it anymore.”
Humphries has now arrived in the Netherlands for the Dutch Masters in Den Bosch, which kicks off today (January 24). Reflecting again on the buzz around Wright match, he told Online Darts: “It (the war of words) was never a thing, it got blown out of all proportion.
“However, this did lead to undue pressure as I felt like I had to prove something unnecessarily. It certainly threw me, yet it’s no excuse for the loss. Peter was simply better on the day, and sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say ‘fair play’.”