Luke Littler showered in the tickertape of a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire winner without having to face ’s crown jowls.

As Warrington’s boy wonder lifted the Eric Bristow Trophy in Wolverhampton by winning the Grand Slam of Darts at the first attempt, Luke the Nuke took his prize money above £1 million in just 11 months.

Littler’s £150,000 pay cheque sent him through the seven-figure barrier after he dismantled Martin ‘Smash’ Lukeman 16-3 in a brutal, one-sided final.

At 17, Littler is already a millionaire in prize money alone after climbing from No.164 in the 12 months ago to No.5 in the Professional Darts Corporation rankings now.

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In each of the last three years, the winner of the Grand Slam - Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith and Luke Humphries - has gone on to land the holy grail, the PDC world title, at Alexandra Palace.

And Littler made no secret of his desire to conquer the world this time after falling just short against Humphries at Ally Pally 45 weeks ago.

He said: “I’ve got three days off before we head to Minehead, I hope I can go deep in the Players Championship finals - and then it’s on to the big one.

“The World Championship changed me, (changed) my family. Now the months have gone on, the tournaments, I'm just getting used to it all and I'm going to have to get used to it for a very long time. I am enjoying it.”

If Littler had been riled by clueless trolls reminding him of his first-round exits in a couple of previous majors this autumn, he grinned: “I wanted to come here, go deep and show I’m still there.

“It’s been a long week, but I’m glad the hard work has paid off. I knew, coming into the tournament, that if I managed to get my hands on the trophy I would be No.5 in the world - and now I hope I can go even higher.”

Littler’s triumph was written in the stars, and it was a glorious constellation.

If anything, he played even better than his £315,000 payday for winning the six months ago - but now he is a millionaire, he’d better believe the taxman is coming to take an eye-watering chunk of his fortune away.

But, frankly, the kid is a freak. He held his nerve in a semi-final classic against two-time world champion Gary Anderson, which went to a last leg decider, but his demolition of ‘Smash’ was ludicrous.

He averaged 107.08 in the final and 105 in the tournament. It’s going to take something special to stop The Nuke at Ally Pally next month.

Lukeman, in his first major final, is the finest thing to come out of Watford since Elton John’s piano or ’s left hook, and he took the first two legs - but it was like a red rag to a bull.

And there was no way back for him when Littler, the young rascal, reeled off the next 15 legs without reply.

Lukeman puffed out his cheeks and looked faintly bewildered by the record-breaking rout coming his way.

Every time he thought there was a chink of light, it turned out to be the headlamps of an unstoppable express train hurtling towards him.

“Lukeman shrugged: He (Littler) is just different gravy. He's brilliant, isn't he? He's done great for the PDC, great for the sport, bringing loads of new fans and sponsorships."

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