Justin Hood had one exhibition pencilled in his 2025 diary. But off the back of a life-changing run to the quarter-finals of the 2025/26 PDC World Darts Championship, ‘Happy Feet’ is now ready to embrace his new-found fame that has seen him already requested for exhibitions all over the UK and in Germany and Australia.
“It’s a massive adjustment for myself and my partner,” Hood said to the Weekly Dartscast. “We’re not used to any attention. I think I had one exhibition booked in last year.
“This year it’s gone mad and we’re going to take it while it’s there. We’ll see if I enjoy it doing all the exhibitions and if not we’ll change it for the following year, but we’re going to ride the wave while it’s going like this.
“My manager is sorting out all the exhibitions. He’s sending some dates over as and when and it’s pretty chock-a-block already which is nice. I’ve got a few in Germany and we’re working on a couple in Germany. It’s looking good.”
It has still only been less than four weeks since Luke Littler successfully defended the Sid Waddell Trophy, defeating first-time finalist Gian van Veen 7-1 in the final to become a back-to-back PDC world champion at just 18 years of age. The victory saw the teenager pocket an eye watering £1 million – the largest cheque in the history of the sport.
However, the effects of the most lucrative World Championship ever have been felt beyond just the eventual champion. From the record £5 million prize pot on offer in London over the festive season, Hood banked £100,000 for his run to the last eight on debut. A six-figure sum that was more than 15 times more than his previous best payday as a darts player.
The man nicknamed ‘Happy Feet’ entertained the Alexandra Palace crowds and the fans watching at home during his victories over Nick Kenny, Danny Noppert, Ryan Meikle and Josh Rock. The 32-year-old from Somerset showed no signs of fear as he averaged 99 in his PDC World Championship bow against Kenny in straight sets, before helping conjure up an Ally Pally classic with the highly-fancied Noppert in round two.
Despite letting a 2-0 lead slip, Hood held his nerve in a deciding set that went all the way to an 11th and sudden-death leg and won the Weekly Dartscast listeners’ vote for our Match of the Year award. It was one of three awards that Hood won in our annual awards, along with Newcomer of the Year and Performance of the Year, the latter for starting his fourth-round clash with Rock by hitting a perfect 11 out of 11 on the doubles.
“I didn’t even know (I was 100 per cent on the doubles),” Hood reflected. “I realised I was doing something good when I looked up at the screen and it said 10 out of 10. I had no idea what it meant. I wasn’t looking at the checkouts!
“After the game, I said to Josh ‘I thought my doubles were good there.’ He said ‘you didn’t miss one until the last leg!’
“But it was one of those games. Upstairs in the practice room my doubles were horrendous. We were doing checkouts, first to five points on random checkouts and I think I lost 5-0 and 5-1. But I did win the last one and I said ‘my doubles will be good today.’”
After that whitewash triumph over the Premier League-bound Rock to reach the quarter-finals, ‘Happy Feet’ said on the Sky Sports broadcast: ‘it’s not a fairytale. I know what I can do and it’s nice to prove it up here.’ The run ended on New Year’s Day with a 5-2 defeat to the two-time PDC world champion Gary Anderson
From playing in a World Championship quarter-final at a sold-out Alexandra Palace, Hood will make his return to competitive action in a much quieter Arena MK for the preliminary rounds of the PDC World Masters tomorrow afternoon. Now up to #50 in the world, and now in his second year with a PDC tour card, the new fans’ favourite has not set any goals for the season ahead, but will surely hope to be back playing in front of the big crowds and the TV cameras sooner rather than later.
“It’s been a bit mad to be honest,” Hood said of the last three weeks since returning home from Alexandra Palace. “I’m finding it hard now to go out and practice, but in a good way because people want to come up and have pictures with me. It’s quite nice, but I’ve still got to practice!
“I like to have a laugh with people (when I’m on stage). If it relaxes me, happy days. I’m not going to change who I am. I got told off a couple of times by the PDC for lifting my shirt up, but it is what it is. I had a good time and I think the fans had a good time and long may it continue.
“I just want to win every game I play. I’ll take it one game a time. It doesn’t matter if it’s a ProTour or the Worlds, I’ll take it one game at a time and enjoy the experience.”
Picture: PDC
Weekly Dartscast 
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