Luke Humphries admitted that he thought he was going to have a heart attack while on stage at a darts tournament.

The reigning world champion has enjoyed a hugely successful two years and sits top of the PDC rankings. He partially credited his improvement to a dramatic weight loss, having lost four stone during lockdown.

But a year prior in 2019, Humphries feared the worst while playing James Wade during a European Tour match, having suffered a big health scare while leading 5-2.

He enters next month’s World Darts Championship as the top seed and second favourite to win the tournament, behind Luke Littler, but may have already claimed a more important prize by improving his health.

Humphries explained on Sky Sports' Game of Throws documentary: "I think it was the European Tour that was the first instance where I first really started to notice something was wrong.

"The game against James Wade, I managed to get up there and get into a 5-2 lead, but I couldn't quite focus on what was going on.

"I'd never felt my heartbeat and then I felt like it was going a bit fast. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. It really scared me. I couldn't wait to get off the stage. I was ready to quit the state I was in."

Since getting into tip-top shape, Humphries won back-to-back Players Championship titles in addition to Grand Slam of Darts, World Matchplay and World Grand Prix victories, also winning at Alexandra Palace at the beginning of the year.

Humphries claims that losing weight has helped him immensely at the oche. He is no longer thinking about how he presents himself while on TV, having admitted that he suffered from anxiety while playing as a result of his appearance.

"Subconsciously I was anxious about being overweight, worried about people looking at me, stuff like that,” he added. "The fatigue, the tiredness, all the negative thoughts.

"It felt like being overweight was the thing that was really stopping me, because I had all this talent, all this ambition, but I couldn't channel it in the right ways. I really had to work hard to get healthier.

"Since I lost the weight I've had a much clearer mind. That healthier body really gave me a lot more belief. I felt much more confident in myself, Just focused."

Since dropping over 56 pounds, Humphries has become one of the biggest names in darts and no player will be looking forward to facing ‘Cool Hand’ at Ally Pally, as he begins his campaign against either Thibault Tricole or Joe Comito in the second round.