Laura Woods recalls darts icon Eric Bristow threatening to break ex-boyfriend's legs

Laura Woods has laughed off the moment darts legend Eric Bristow offered to break her ex-boyfriend's legs following a split. Woods fronted Sky Sports ' darts coverage from 2010 until 2022, when she was replaced by fan-favourite Emma Paton. Reflecting on her time within the sport, the presenter recalled a memorable encounter with the 'Crafty Cockney' outside a hotel near Alexandra Palace. She told the Double Tops Podcast, as reported by the Daily Star : "When I was doing darts, it was always the old boys that were doing well. You know, like Bristow wasn't playing when I knew Bristow, but God, I love Eric Bristow. Can I add him to the list of things that I miss? "We were having a cigarette outside that awful hotel next to Ally Pally. And he was like, 'You're alright, love?'" "And I was like, 'Yeah, fine.' He was like, 'Broken up with your fella, haven't you?' And I was like, 'Yeah, I have actually.'" "He was like, 'Do you want me to break his legs?' And I was like, 'He's actually a really nice guy, so don't worry about it.'" Bristow, who won five world titles during the 1980s before moving into punditry, sadly passed away in 2018. Woods went on to discuss the sport further, suggesting Littler may require some shielding from hostile crowd reactions: " Phil Taylor was, you know, the man, the don and everything. Michael van Gerwen was like the kind of young upstart that was coming through." Bristow, who won five world titles during the 1980s before moving into punditry, sadly passed away in 2018. Woods continued to speak about the sport, admitting Littler might need protection around negative crowd reactions: "Kirk Shepherd didn't kind of make it. So, there's been those players that have come through and haven't made it. Michael van Gerwen's that have but they've grown into it. And then this kid that's just hit the ground running is quite incredible." "He kind of went away and came back a little bit, Michael, where he morphed into what you know him as now, which is bald and just like, you know what I mean?" "But if you look at what he used to be, he was this little waif, wasn't he? He was like this little waif with spiky hair. But I look at Luke and I think that is so raw." "Like whatever he's got is so raw. And I think Gary's [Anderson] is right, he does need to be protected. But at the moment, I don't see anything that can kind of infiltrate what he's got going on."