Danny Dyer is searching for his defining role, but we reckon he’s already found it. From the moment the 47-year-old actor and his daughter Dani, 30, arrive at the heat shoot, it’s clear he’s a doting Canning Town dad who would do anything for his princess. Initially, we had thought Danny might not be up for our geeky family photo shoot, but as we discover, as long as Dani is happy, then her old man will loyally follow suit. “I don’t give a shit, baby,” he attests. “She’s the glamorous one. No, I like taking the piss out of myself. It’s important.”
The bond between them is rock solid, which is evident by their funny appearances on Celebrity Gogglebox and by the fact that Dani lives just seven minutes down the road from Danny and her mum Jo – handy when you have three kids under three. With England football player boyfriend Jarrod Bowen currently away in Germany playing at the Euros, Dani has her hands full looking after their one-year-old twin girls Summer and Star, and three-year-old Santiago (from her relationship with ex, Sammy Kimmence). Luckily, though, grandad Danny isn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and get stuck in with the childcare – just don’t ask him when England are playing…
Has it been fun filming Celeb Gogglebox?
Danny: It was alright, wasn’t it, baby? I had it in the house, which was a bit of a ball-ache. Last time, we borrowed somebody else’s house, which is a lot easier. You turn up, bang it out and f**k off home. They was around the house all day, f**king about, blacked out all the windows, bought some flowers and vases and everything.
Dani: Yeah, I took the flowers home.
Danny: But it’s fun, it’s a fun show.
Dani: It’s lovely. We did it once for Stand Up To Cancer and it was something I always wanted to do, but when he was in EastEnders, we weren’t allowed. Then, when he finished, I was like, “Can we do Gogglebox again?”
Danny: You told me we were doing it, and I didn’t really understand.
Dani: Basically, I rung you up and said, “We’ve been asked to do it, can we do it?” You didn’t really have much of a choice, did you?
Danny: No.
Dani: I’m obsessed with the show.
Did you always watch the celeb version?
Danny: Yeah, I like Rylan and his mother.
Dani: We love them.
Danny: I’m obsessed with his mother – she’s so funny.
Dani: We worked with Rylan before and he’s such a lovely man.
Dani, are you watching Love Island this year?
Dani: Oh my god, I love it so, so much. I adore it.
Does it bring up fond memories for you?
Dani: Yeah. If I had a time machine, I would go and do it again. I loved it. I was 21, I had nothing to lose, it was just the best summer ever, so much fun. I think this year’s line-up is good – they’re quite feisty and they’re bringing the drama, which is what you want. You want to be entertained.
Tell us a behind-the-scenes secret…
Dani: There’s not many toilets. There were literally two bathrooms and one shower inside, and one out. But, come on – what girl is going to shower outside?
Danny: And how long did it take you to have your first pony [rhyming slang for poo]?
Dani: Oh my god, the poo situation. At one point, there were like 25 of us in the villa, and the boys would go downstairs and the girls would go upstairs, but it was hard!
You don’t want to get bunged up…
Dani: When you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.
Danny: You’ve got to go, darling.
Dani: But we were in a bit of a state – you’d have to find your friend and get her to cover you, really. And there was a smell that I don’t think any of us would be able to ever smell again – like, we used to have this little spray we all used in there. I think it was that VIPoo. Have you ever used it?
Danny: Yeah, it’s good that gear.
A lot has changed in six years – you’re a family of five now!
Dani: Yeah, what the hell? I’ve literally got three kids in six years.
Danny: Who would’ve thought that?
Dani: I never would’ve thought that would happen to me.
How’s it going?
Dani: Yeah, it’s fun. Having twins is hard work, but I’m lucky, because my best friend also had twins at the same time – they were born on the same day.
Danny: Identical twin girls on the same day.
Dani: Yeah, it was really weird, but it’s been good. We’ve cried a lot together, we’ve laughed a lot together. We’ve got six kids between us, because she’s got a little girl and I’ve obviously got Santi. So, she comes to mine and it’s literally a crèche. It will be nice when they’re a little bit older.
Danny: It’s awful when she comes over – I’m not going to lie – because there’s six kids under three.
Dani: [Laughs.] He came over to mine with my sister [Sunnie, 17] and I said, “Are you staying for dinner?” And he went, “Nah, I’m going home!”
Danny: It’s mental, because they’re all crawling. You can’t take your eyes off of them. It’s petrifying.
Dani: But it is special.
Danny: It’s a gift.
What kind of grandad are you, Danny?
Danny: I love it, baby. I’m at that chapter of my life. I just love being the patriarch and looking after me clan that’s getting bigger. It’s an amazing feeling, because I’m still semi-young. I’ve got three grandkids at 47, how f**king mental is that?
Is he good, Dani?
Dani: He’s very loving, but I’m tough with Santi and the twins, aren’t I? It’s is a different kind of love.
Danny: You’ve got your own rules, ain’t ya? There’s no rules in my house – it’s like bandit country. You’re very aware of how many Capri Suns your son’s had.
Dani: Because the other day, he had two…
Danny: Two Capri Suns is alright in my eyes. We’ve got a big drawer in the fridge full of chocolate – he knows where that is as well.
Dani: He comes home and tells me what he’s had.
Danny: Yeah, I’ve got to start learning him to stop grassing us up. If he wants more chocolate, stop grassing us up.
Dani: The evidence is always there around his mouth! But that’s what granny and grandads are for.
What’s he like with the nappies?
Danny: I love a nappy.
Dani: He’s so good.
Danny: I’m always a hands-on dad. It’s important, because that’s how you bond with your children, it’s all that sort of stuff.
Dani: You were on the night feeds, weren’t you dad?
Danny: You’ve just got to get on with it. It’s about teamwork more than anything else, isn’t it? So, yeah, I don’t mind all that nappy bollocks.
Dani, it must be hard with Jarrod away for the summer…
Dani: It is hard, I don’t think you realise how much they’re away, so you just miss them loads. But I’m learning. I don’t think it ever gets easier, but it’s just his job, isn’t it? He’s away doing something he loves and I’m proud of him, so that makes that easier.
Are you going to Germany?
Dani: I’ll fly in and out.
Well, you’ve got Grandad down the road to help…
Danny: I’m f**king on the plane ’n’ all, babe! You’ve having a laugh, ain’t ya?
We were thinking, you’ve already got Santi, Summer, and Star. If you have another baby, you could call them Southgate in honour of the England manager?
Dani: [Without skipping a beat] No more babies. [Danny laughs.] No, babe, I’m so done. Everyone’s like, “But wait for a few years”, and I’m, like, “By then, they’ll be grown up and I’ll be living life”.
Danny: Yeah, you’ll get your life back.
Fair enough. Danny, tell us about your new Sky comedy, Mr Bigstuff…
Danny: It’s really clever – I worked with Ryan Sampson [Mr Bigstuff creator and co-star] on Plebs many moons ago. I always thought he was a fascinating character, and I was looking to do something different. I’ve just got a hunger and a passion to find what my defining role is. And I love comedy, I love the discipline, I love the idea of it. I think this is a different character from anything I’ve ever played before and it’s important, it’s relevant – it’s about masculinity. It’s very funny, but it’s got heart and soul. It’s about these two brothers with a f**ked up relationship, but who love each other very, very much. They’ve both got different traits and flaws, and they come together to help each other. So, I’m really excited about it. I think it’s gonna go down really well.
Also, you’ve got the TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals on Disney+ coming up. We loved the picture of you as self-made millionaire Freddie Jones. It’s quite the look…
Danny: That moustache, yeah. There is a lot going on there, baby.
Dani: That moustache was so funny – he had to do Bake Off with that moustache.
We thought it was a style choice…
Danny: No! A lot of people said that. I had it for six months. And I did Soccer Aid with it, as well, and the BAFTAs. Actually, I started to get used to it…
It’s a bold look. Finally, your EastEnders co-star Kellie Bright posted a pic of you both and said, “A photo for all the Mick and Linda fans out there”. Something to tell us?
Danny: [Laughs.] Everyone is asking when I’m going back to EastEnders, which is very interesting to me.
You need to give the audience what they want…
Danny: But he’s dead!
But is he, though? We haven’t seen a body…
Danny: Look, I take it as a compliment that people want me to go back. Who knows? If there’s no closure there, then maybe I would come back for a dream sequence. I don’t think Mick could just rock up covered in seaweed! I think if they did it right, with the 40th anniversary coming up, if they came up with an idea of maybe Linda drunk or hallucinating, then I would come back and do some scenes with her. You know, because I do miss Kellie, and I think maybe that would stop people asking me when I’m f**king going back!
Celebrity Gogglebox, watch or stream Fridays from 9pm on Channel 4