Rob Cross has broken his silence after making a lewd gesture on stage at the World Darts Championship. 

The darts ace was spotted walking off-stage with his right hand raised up to his face while moving it from side to side as he pushed his cheek out with his tongue.

Cross went on to lose the round two match against Scott Williams, with the 2018 world champion expected to be punished by the Darts Regulation Authority for the gesture. 

While he waits to see what punishment might come his way, Cross took to social media to offer an apology and explain his actions. 

Posting on X, Cross said: "Massively disappointed to lose out to my great friend Scott Williams. Good luck to him for the rest of the tournament.

"I made a gesture to my manager about how I annoyed I was with my performance. If it offended anyone, I apologise. Merry Christmas everyone." 

Cross' opponent Williams, who claims not to have seen the gesture at the time, was quizzed on the incident following his round two win. 

Speaking on Monday night, Williams stated: "Firstly, I wasn't aware of anything. Secondly, regardless of what he did, I don't really care.

"When you're up on that oche... I've just played one of my closest pals for £10,000... There are not many people watching this who have gone and done that, so I'm not bothered by what he did.

"We had a chat beforehand; we had a chat afterwards. I love him; he's great. Regardless, we'll see each other today, over Christmas, and in the next couple of months."

He added: "Regardless of whatever he's doing, we'll be exactly the same, and we were the same two years ago.

"Like, I said to Josh [Rock], I should have probably won that game two years ago, or I should've been better. Regardless of what I could've won or should've won, it's different.

"But it's darts; you've got to do what you've got to do, and if the other person's giving it to you, you give it back.

"If the person in front of you is hitting the doubles, you hit the doubles. It's a tough game."

Williams will return to the Ally Pally stage after Christmas when he takes on Ricardo Pietreczko in the third round. 

Elsewhere in a dramatic second round of action, a record 14 seeded entries were dumped out, with Gary Anderson, James Wade and Michael Smith amongst those sent home early.