(Image: BBC / Jack Barnes)
Danny Dyer has confessed the real reason he left EastEnders in 2022 as he admitted he didn’t want his character Mick Carter to be killed off by the cunning Janine Butcher. The 47-year-old actor revealed that he made the “emotional” decision to exit the BBC soap due to dissatisfaction with Mick’s storylines, which had led to a split from his long-term love Linda, portrayed by Kellie Bright.
In a candid new confessional for ITV, Danny also discloses his earnings for The Wall and humorously comments on how Jilly Cooper’s Rivals has transformed him into a middle-aged sex symbol in his mid forties. The soap star’s interrogation is part of the ITV series The Assembly, where the questions are posed by a group of 30 interviewers who are autistic, neurodivergent or learning disabled.
The agreement is that the celebrities participating must commit to answering any questions honestly and truthfully. Danny describes his decision to leave EastEnders as ’emotional’, given that the soap had rescued him when his career was on the brink back in 2013, the Mirror reports.
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He said: “I reached a point where I’d made many mistakes in my life and no one would employ me anymore, then EastEnders came along and said ‘we love you – we want to put you in the Queen Vic’. That saved my life because I had bailiffs at my door. The first four years were incredible.”
Danny Dyer will star in ITV’S The Assembly this weekend where he will need to honestly answer all questions given to him(Image: ITV)
However, things took a turn when producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins, now the mastermind behind the Disney+ hit Rivals, left the show and Danny’s character was paired with Janine, portrayed by Charlie Brooks.
Danny revealed: “A new producer came in and he didn’t like the Carters. He started to sack people – my son, my daughter – they’ve still got Kellie Bright in it, who plays my wife, Linda Carter.
“But then they split me up from Kellie and put me with Janine. When they told me I said: ‘Janine? But she murders people!’
“I thought ‘oh no, if I stay too long, she’ll kill me – I’ve got to get out’. And basically I went in the sea, and was never found again.”
With Mick’s body never having been recovered, Danny concedes that he hasn’t completely ruled out a potential return.
He jokes: “If it all goes tits up, I’ll turn up in the pub with seaweed all over me.”
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When asked by a member of the group how he feels about his character Freddie Jones in Rivals turning him into an unexpected heartthrob last year due to mums falling for his likable character, Danny laughs: “I thought I’d had my days of that, being a sex symbol. Turns out it’s OK to have hairy breasts.”
Showing off his chest to the group, he insists: “If this can be attractive then I’m very surprised. ”
Danny, who also boasts of raking in £100,000 as the host of the gameshow The Wall, acknowledges that his eldest daughter Dani is a “nepo baby,” yet he expresses pride in her Love Island stint, despite his initial reluctance for her to join the show.
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He said: “She is a nepo baby, of course she is, but what’s wrong with that? She was such a beautiful human being on that programme – she was respectful and quite vulnerable, she was funny.
Things are set to get emotional on the show (Image: ITV)
“She was working in a pub before, but as soon as she came home she f***ed off and left me, got a flat in Canary Wharf. “
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Reflecting on his time being interviewed by The Assembly, which debuts this weekend, Dyer shared his appreciation for their “beautiful” questions.
Visibly moved, he said: “It’s been an honour. It’s been very emotional. It’s great learning about you lot and I learned a bit about myself.”
Executive producers Michelle Singer and Stu Richards explained that they aimed to create a series that respects its audience.
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They explained: “That’s something we think about all the time. We want people to see these guys the way they are – funny, smart, interesting.
Insisting all that the celebrities need to do is be honest, they added: “It could feel like a risk for celebrities but once they’re prepared to do that, the rewards are vast.”
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The format, adapted from a French original, struck a chord with ITV entertainment commissioner David Smyth. They added: “The key thing is this isn’t niche. It’s ITV to its core because it’s funny, it’s warm, it touches you and it makes you a bit joyous. “
