Back in 2022, Laura Woods found herself in one of the most awkward moments of her darts broadcasting career — and it involved one of the sport’s most recognisable characters.
What began as a routine post-match interview with Steve Beaton suddenly turned into an accidental kiss on the lips. Years later, Woods could laugh about it, but at the time, she was absolutely mortified.
The Moment Everything Went Wrong
Looking back, the whole thing was essentially a communication mix-up.
Woods was working on Sky Sports’ darts coverage when she interviewed Beaton, the former BDO world champion who was famously nicknamed “The Bronzed Adonis” because of his reputation as one of darts’ biggest heart-throbs.
The interview itself went normally. The awkwardness arrived when the cameras were about to stop rolling.
Woods recalled on the Happy Hour podcast: “When I finished the interview, I went, ‘Thank you so much’ and I went to shake his hand, he went for a cuddle.”
That was where the confusion started.
A Handshake Became Something Much More Awkward
Woods explained that because Beaton had gone in for a hug, she put her arms around him and almost went for a kiss on the cheek.
But Beaton realised what was happening and turned towards her.
The result was an accidental kiss on the lips.
Woods immediately knew something had gone horribly wrong.
“He then realised I was in for the kiss so he turned and we kissed on the lips. I was like, ‘Oh my God, what have I done?’ He was like the holy grail and I’d poisoned it.”
It is one of those moments that sounds almost too ridiculous to happen in a professional sports broadcast, but that is precisely what made the story so memorable.
There was no grand drama behind it. Just two people misreading the situation for a split second.
Woods Was Mortified Afterwards
The funniest part of the story arguably came after the interview had finished.
Rather than simply brushing it off, Woods admitted that she was genuinely embarrassed when she returned to the production truck.
She recalled: “Anyway, I realised and I went back into the truck, sat down. The guys were like, ‘Are you alright?’”
Woods then described exactly how she felt about what had just happened.
“I had my head in my hands and was like, ‘I just kissed the Bronzed Adonis on the mouth and I felt his beard’.”
At the time, Woods viewed it as a disastrous mistake.
But her perspective eventually changed.
“I felt like I’d done the worst thing in the world but now I revel in that.”
And honestly, that is probably the best way to look back at an incident like this.
Why Steve Beaton Was Such a Big Deal
To understand why Woods was so embarrassed, you have to understand Beaton’s status in darts at the time.
Beaton was not simply another player passing through a Sky Sports interview.
He was a former world champion who had enjoyed an exceptionally long career across the BDO, WDF and PDC scenes. He won the BDO World Championship in 1996 and had previously been ranked world No.1 in the BDO rankings.
His “Bronzed Adonis” nickname had also become part of his identity within the sport.
So when Woods joked that she had effectively “poisoned” the holy grail, it was very much a playful reference to Beaton’s legendary reputation.
That context makes the story even funnier.
One of Darts’ Most Likeable Characters
Beaton’s longevity also meant that he became a familiar face to several generations of darts fans.
He competed at the highest level for decades and remained a recognisable figure even as the sport changed dramatically around him.
That is why a tiny backstage misunderstanding involving Beaton and Woods ended up becoming such a memorable darts anecdote.
It was not about a match, a nine-darter or a controversial finish.
It was simply one of those completely unexpected television moments that fans and broadcasters remember long after the actual game has been forgotten.
Woods Eventually Turned It Into a Great Story
There is something refreshing about the way Woods eventually embraced the incident.
Instead of trying to pretend it never happened, she turned an embarrassing memory into a funny story that she could tell years later.
That is perhaps why the anecdote has continued to resurface.
Woods has since gone on to become one of Britain’s most prominent sports presenters, working across major football and sporting events after her time covering darts.
Her years around the darts circuit, however, remain an important part of her broadcasting journey.
She began working around the sport before moving into much bigger presenting roles, and she became particularly familiar with many of the characters who made the PDC scene so entertaining.
A Very Different Darts Era
Looking back now, the incident also brings back memories of a slightly different era of darts broadcasting.
Woods was part of a Sky Sports environment where the personalities around the oche were just as important as the matches themselves.
Players such as Beaton had huge personalities, distinctive nicknames and decades of stories behind them.
That combination made darts television feel less formal and often produced moments that felt completely spontaneous.
The accidental kiss certainly qualifies.
It was awkward, unexpected and completely harmless — but those are often the moments that fans remember.
Why Fans Still Remember It
Years later, the story remains memorable precisely because it was so ordinary.
There was no scandal and no controversy. It was simply an awkward misunderstanding between a presenter and a player after an interview.
Woods herself eventually transformed the embarrassment into something she could laugh about, and that probably says everything about the incident.
At the time, she wanted the ground to swallow her up.
Looking back, though, it became one of those brilliant behind-the-scenes stories from her years covering darts.
And Steve Beaton? He will forever have the “Bronzed Adonis” nickname attached to his legacy — now with an amusing Laura Woods anecdote sitting alongside all those achievements.
It is funny how sports memories work. Sometimes the moments fans remember most are not the trophies or statistics, but the completely unexpected incidents that happen when nobody is prepared for them.
This was certainly one of those moments.
Back in 2022, Laura Woods thought she had just suffered the most embarrassing moment of her broadcasting career. Years later, she could finally revel in it.
And judging by how often the story gets brought back, darts fans clearly have not forgotten it either.