Nothing has been the same for Luke Littler since December, when the story of a mild-mannered 16-year-old British phenom advancing to the finals of the Professional Darts Corporation World Championships turned him into an overnight celebrity in the United Kingdom. Suddenly Littler was appearing on talk shows alongside actress Millie Bobby Brown, fielding DMs from David Beckham and rubbing shoulders with the players of his beloved Manchester United. His Instagram account skyrocketed from 4,000 followers to more than 1.3 million.

Yet as the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) comes to New York for its annual U.S. Darts Masters event at The Theater at Madison Square Garden this weekend, the now-17-year-old Littler is somewhat reluctant to embrace his new role as the face of his sport.

“I've got the popularity, which is a good thing,” says Littler, a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe class of 2024. “But I'd love to just have no one know who I am and just get on with my life as a nobody.”

That seems unlikely now, given that his World Championship final was the most-watched program—excluding soccer—in Sky Sports history, peaking at 3.7 million viewers. And “Luke the Nuke” has spent the last five months proving the success was no fluke. His finals run qualified him for the 16-week Premier League Darts season, where he finished at the top of the standings and won the season-ending playoff last week in front of more than 14,000 fans at London’s O2 Arena.