Stephen Bunting heads into the Premier League Darts 2026 under some scrutiny but he is making sure to ignore the outside noise and put his best foot forward.
Bunting was the inclusion in this year's Premier League that raised the most eyebrows, with many people seeing it as a contest between 'The Bullet' and Nathan Aspinall on who would take the eighth spot.
It was the St Helens man who was chosen as a wildcard and he joins Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Michael van Gerwen, Jonny Clayton, Josh Rock, and Gerwyn Price for darts' biggest roadshow.
While there was a lot of reaction across social media to Bunting's place in the Premier League, he himself insisted he pays no mind to the negative comments.
Rather, he is focused on going one better than 2025, which was his best year ever on the PDC, and showing why he had to be included.
"It is my management and my wife that look at the social media side of things," Bunting told Love the Darts.
"I still see the odd comment pop through but the people are very negative, they are not fans, some of them are just idiots really who jump on the bandwagon and say you are not doing well.
"They put these stories out and stuff. If I believed half the stuff that I read on social media I would have packed in a long time ago.
"I know I need to work harder, I am under no illusions. I need to get myself fitter and stay at the top of the game.
"I am world No 7 now, which is not a bad position to be fair, but I want to push back up the rankings.
"I know it wasn't just people online, it was pundits too who said they were surprised at my selection.
"What I would say back to them is, I won six titles last year, I was in 10 finals, I had one of the highest tournament averages especially on the Players Championship, won European events.
"It was the best season I have had on the PDC since I moved from the BDO and the fanbase is continuing to build."
Bunting and Aspinall were together when the former found out of their inclusion and the latter knew they did not have a space.
They were on a delayed flight home from an exhibition and Bunting admits it was a "relief" when he eventually knew he had secured his spot.
"I was sat with Nathan (Aspinall) when we found out.
"Obviously, I was pretty confident I would be in the Premier League - I was fourth in the world for 10 months of the year.
"I had a great start to the year and not the best end to the year so I can understand why people were saying I shouldn't be in.
"I still feel like I have got a lot to give. Not just with the darts but the fanbase, the walk-on, all the stuff like that.
"Obviously them last hours before them announcing, I didn't find out until about 10 minutes before it was actually announced.
"I gave a little fist bump on the plane, we were delayed on the plane, and Nathan was sat two seats away from me.
"So, he knew then I was in. It was relief. I know I need to work hard again this year to make sure I am in it next year.
"I always want to be part of the Premier League. I didn't have the greatest campaign last year but I showed what a fighter I was, I ended up winning a night in Berlin.
"Some of my performances, I beat myself up probably more than I should have.
"I believe I had one of the highest tournament averages last year so there were several positives and I am sure I can learn from last year going into this year."
The reaction to his inclusion in the Premier League came on the back of some social media backlash on the World Darts Championship when Bunting called himself the 'People's Champion'.
Bunting is looking to move on from what was a difficult period during the worlds in which his son was ill and make sure the "best version" of 'The Bullet' is on show in 2026.
"Don't mention the 'People's Champion' please," Bunting added.
"I think people don't see what went on behind the scenes before the worlds. On Christmas Day, I was in A and E with Theo until 2am.
"I am never one to make excuses so I didn't publicly put that out.
"I did four exhibitions leading up to the worlds that I wasn't very well at. I had a cough and a cold and was really ill but I still managed to get through them.
"I went into the worlds without my best preparation and not feeling my greatest and evidently that led me down a dodgy path.
"This year I am going to take it a bit easier on the exhibition circuit and I am going to plan my diary a lot better, look after myself, and give the best version of myself."
Who will win this year's Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will be defending his title and you can watch the action every single Thursday from February 5th in Newcastle until May 28th at The O2 in London on Your Site. .
