Fallon Sherrock is standing in front of a giant poster of her face with a crown on her head. It is just a few weeks since the ‘Queen of the Palace’ — Alexandra Palace, that is — came face to face with Prince William to receive an MBE.
She has had all manner of brushes with celebrity, both in person and across social media, including messages from Billie Jean King and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Having grown accustomed to the different paths darts has taken her down since her World Championship debut in 2019, she expects all the interest to end at some point, yet there are few indicators that will happen any time soon.
“I think, ‘Okay, this is it, nothing else can happen’, then something else happens and then something else,” she says. “Like seeing a massive poster with my face on it.”
Sherrock was like a breath of fresh air when she announced herself to the world, the first female player to win a match at the Worlds. She won two in quick succession, beating Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljovic, to worldwide acclaim.
And she is a whirlwind in conversation, skipping from royalty to whether she could eat unmentionable objects on I’m a Celebrity and an unexplained fear of deer.
She has qualified for the Worlds for a fourth time, drawn against Jermaine Wattimena in the first round on Sunday night.
“I love playing at Ally Pally,” she said, ahead of Friday’s tournament start. “Every time I go back, I get special memories. It’s a special event, it changed my life.
He said he watches it ... it was funny to hear him say that in his posh accent
"So, every time I go back, I kind of get goosebumps and feel the electric atmosphere, and I get really excited again, because I know what can happen. If I can just play as I normally can and do what I did four years ago, anything can happen again.”
She admits she did not entirely enjoy her debut four years ago, everything happening so fast in the aftermath as she bounced from one interview to the next. Even now, she has to watch herself back on television to remember it properly, the whole occasion something of a blur.
Her biggest achievement, she argues, is the young girls that come up to her telling of being inspired to take up the tungsten because of her; of wanting to emulate her in wearing a bright pink darts shirt. She never tires of such comments.
Her son, Rory, is now 10, so tags along to the occasional exhibition match with mum to understand her world better. He will not be at Ally Pally, but is itching for his mother to take to the oche.
“He said, ‘Mummy, when are you next going to the darts?’,” she said. “I explained I had two weeks off and he’s like, ‘Urgh, I’ve been with you too long now and I need to go to nanny’s’.”
It transpires the offer of cake had been promised by his grandmother on his return to her house. The other bonus is a £5 voucher for his favourite online game, Roblox, whenever mum wins a tournament. For now, though, he is consigned to watching her on TV, such is the raucous nature of the event.
On the oche, she hopes to get herself in the zone, as she did in 2019. It is an inexplicable state which she sometimes attains and in which she feels invincible.
“I can’t hear anything, all I can see is this treble, double, whatever I’m going for,” she said. “In my head, I’m going, ‘This is in’. It’s strange, I don’t know how I do it.”
I get goosebumps whenever I go back to Ally Pally... it’s a special event and it changed my life
She feels nerveless even on such a big stage, unlike on her recent encounter at Buckingham Palace, where she was lost for words in front of the Prince of Wales.
“You’re meeting the future king, so you think, ‘Don’t say anything stupid, don’t fall over, make sure you curtsy’,” she said. “I was like, ‘Don’t trip, don’t trip, don’t trip’ and my feet hurt because of my heels.
“And then I’m just lost for words. He said he watches it and used to like to play with friends. It was funny to hear him say that in his posh accent. I should have slipped him some Ally Pally tickets, got him dressed up in fancy dress and no one would know who he was!”
This week, though, Sherrock is back in far more familiar palatial surroundings.
