Darts star turned to stone as World Championship MC made rare mistake at Ally Pally

Keegan Brown was left baffled when he was called by the wrong name at the 2024 World Darts Championship.

The Englishman was all set to make his walk-on ahead of his first round clash with Boris Krcmar at Alexandra Palace, only for legendary MC John McDonald to make a huge blunder.

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Glaring error

With Brown the first of the two players due to walk out to the oche, the cameras panned to him as he stood waiting for his name to be announced.

But it soon became clear that McDonald wasn’t following the same script, as he began to describe Krcmar instead.

After working up the lively crowd, the ‘voice of darts’ then confidently shouted: “It’s Croatia’s World Cup star… Boris Krcmar!”

The case of mistaken identity didn’t seem to go down well with Brown, with his huge grin almost instantly leaving his face.

Looking bewildered, ‘The Needle’ then turned to ask the security guard next to him if he had heard the same error.

However, the English darts player quickly brushed off the huge gaff, as he then decided to make the best of things in his walk-on.

He stepped forward with a big smile as he lapped up the crowd’s reception, while his usual anthem of ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ by Queen blared around the arena.

Brown certainly took the error better than some of the Ally Pally crowd, with boos and jeers being heard during the awkward silence before he threw himself into his walk-on.

And after making it onto the oche, Brown had a quick word for McDonald, as he appeared to pull him up on his mistake.

Wearing a cheeky grin, the darts star appeared to poke fun at the announcer for the huge blunder, making a gesture in reference to the height difference between him and his opponent Krcmar.

Sky Sports

Sky Sports

Unfortunately for Brown, he had little to smile about during the match itself.

He fell to a 3-1 defeat to his Croatian opponent, as he was unable to match his previous best-ever runs to the third round of the tournament in 2018 and 2019.

As for Krcmar, victory over Brown proved to be the start of a personal best on the world stage for him.

Having advanced to the second round just once before, in 2023, ‘The Biggest’ followed up his first-round win by beating Dirk van Duijvenbode by the same scoreline in the second round.

This saw him reach the third round for the first time, before falling to a 4-1 defeat to two-time former champion Gary Anderson.

However, the major talking point of both Krcmar and Brown’s world championship campaigns was surely McDonald’s huge walk-on gaffe, and will be particularly keen to avoid a repeat of this over the coming weeks.

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McDonald’s last rodeo

With the 2026 edition of darts’ showpiece event now underway, fans and players will be well aware that this is McDonald’s last time voicing the tournament.

In October, it was announced that the iconic Master of Ceremonies would retire after the next instalment of the blue ribband event.

The voice of darts, McDonald has been announcing PDC events since 2007 and on the circuit since 2004.

The former news photographer first served in the Parachute Regiment of the British Army and went on to MC in boxing, snooker and pool before making a career move into darts.

Speaking after announcing his decision to retire, he said: “I’ve spent two decades now working with the PDC and loved every moment, but the time is right for me to hang up my microphone.

“The Paddy Power World Darts Championship final will be the perfect place for me to end, as we celebrate the culmination of the biggest-ever event in the sport.

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“I’m so proud to have been a part of the PDC’s journey during my time as Master of Ceremonies, and I’ll look forward to my remaining events on stage.”

talkSPORT will have full coverage of the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship on the app and our dedicated darts YouTube channel!

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