Grand Slam of Darts

Throughout the £300,000 tournament, I'll be bringing you all the news away from the oche Ð the stories and gossip backstage Ð exclusively for the Courage website.

Some of you may just recognise ITV Sport's roving reporter Janie Omorogbe... remember 'Gladiators' - the popular TV series of yesteryear, which used to pull in millions of viewers on a Saturday night?

Well, Janie was one of the big stars of the show. She was the Gladiator RIO and was involved in the show for five years. After it finished, she actually landed a small role in the epic movie 'Gladiator' starring Russell Crowe... if you have the movie on DVD, look out for the big scene involving a chariot race, because Janie meets a nasty end, chopped in half by a spear attached to the side of one of the chariots!

Since then, she has become a motorbike journalist, with a weekly column in The Sun newspaper and for the last two years, she has been the roving reporter for ITV Sport's coverage of the British Superbike Championships.

By the way, if you fancy heading over to the Wolverhampton Civic Hall to experience the unique atmosphere of big-time darts (and enjoy a pint or two of Courage or Directors as well!) there are still tickets available for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

Of course, it is ITV Sport's first adventure in darts for 20 years and this Grand Slam of Darts may just be the first of many tournaments on the ITV network over the coming years.

The Players practice area here at the Wolverhampton Civic is a hive of activity, with families and sponsors enjoying a drink, while mixing with the best darts stars in the world.

Phil Taylor has been practicing, while listening to his Ipod and he has also just sent a dartboard and a few sets of darts across the Atlantic Ocean, to another famous man of Stoke... Taylor is good friends with the one and only Robbie Williams and the rock star has set up the darts equipment in his Los Angeles mansion!

On the eve of the Grand Slam event, some of the legendary darts names made a bid to restore former glories in Wolverhampton, at the qualifiers for the PDC World Championship, which starts at the Alexandra Palace next month.

Former World Champions Eric Bristow, John Lowe, Richie Burnett and Keith Deller were joined by the likes of 'Big' Cliff Lazarenko, Peter Evison and Shayne Burgess. Sadly though, they all failed to roll back the years and qualify Ð but they are all still as popular as ever and spent a good hour signing autographs for the darts fans.

The ITV commentary box has been struck down by illness and injury! John Rawling is just about recovered from a nasty virus. He is on antibiotics after receiving a nasty insect bite... his leg ballooned up and he was hit by a high fever. Alan Warriner is suffering from a heavy cold and I am hobbling around after straining my back a couple of days before the tournament!

Darts should come with a health warning!

Keep in touch with the website for the next behind-the-scenes blog from the Grand Slam of Darts and enjoy all the live action on ITV.