Emotional Danny Dyer reveals moment he thought he'd DIE from drink and drugs & EastEnders co-star who stepped in to help

He revealed: "You're destroying yourself and your body and you're slowly killing yourself, but you also, you're really upsetting the people around you"
Dyer Need Emotional Danny Dyer reveals moment he thought he'd DIE from drink and drugs & EastEnders co-star who stepped in to help
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
DANNY Dyer has opened up about the harrowing moment he feared he would die from drink and drugs.
The former Mick Carter actor, 47, admitted his life spiralled out of control before a close pal on the soap staged an intervention that helped save him.
5
Danny opened up about the moment he realised he had an addiction problem
Credit: The Mega Agency
5
He was candid about the effect his addiction to booze and drugs had on his family
Credit: BBC Studios Productions Limited.
Danny has revealed he had a major wake-up call after getting so 'off his nut' on drink and drugs he couldn't even put his trousers on.
The EastEnders legend opened up on Louis Theroux's podcast about the wild night that left him in a state - and sparked a moment of clarity that changed his life.
Danny, who has always been honest about his battles with booze and drugs, told Louis it all came to a head after the 2017 National Television Awards.
He recalled: 'I had been on it all night after the NTAs... I couldn't get my trousers on. That was the moment I knew something had to change.'
"I was just sitting on my en suite toilet trying to work out what leg goes in what, and I don't why.
"I've sort of had many of them moments over the years of me being completely off my head.
"But that one really resonated with me. It was more because I looked up, my wife was just watching me and she looked shattered and she looked ill.
"And of course, you know, the drug taking and the madness that comes with it, you're destroying yourself and your body and you're slowly killing yourself, but you also, you're really upsetting the people around you.
"I just looked at her, even through this moment, I was off my head. But everything seemed to just sort of go, what the f*ck are you doing to people around you that love you?
"So I had a car picking me up to take me to work and it was just this moment I thought, "s**t, you're going to die.
Danny Dyer reveals he was 'off his nut' on drugs during 'f***ing dark' EastEnders filming and slams 's**t' soap scripts
"You're going to kill yourself. You're not happy. You're spanking all your money on drugs. You're destroying everything around you."
He continued: "It's weird, that moment, because I went straight to work that day and I was a bit off my head and I did say, 'Listen, I need help. I can't do this anymore,
"'I need help. I don't know what it is, but this is a crossroads in my life where I need a gear change and I need it now and I don't think I'm going to survive this year."
He went on to credit his EastEnders co-star Luisa Bradshaw-White for stepping in when he needed it most – and telling him straight that he had a problem.
Danny Dyer's career so far
By Conor O'Brien
Danny Dyer has played several film and TV roles across a three-decade acting career.
Here's a look back at some of his most memorable performances. Prime Suspect (1993): Danny made his screen debut in an episode of the long-running ITV police procedural. He appeared as a character named "Martin Fletcher".
Danny made his screen debut in an episode of the long-running ITV police procedural. He appeared as a character named "Martin Fletcher". Human Traffic (1999): Danny's debut film saw him portray "Moff", a dealer. Directed by Justin Kerrigan, the coming-of-age comedy drama also featured John Simm, Andrew Lincoln and Richard Coyle.
Danny's debut film saw him portray "Moff", a dealer. Directed by Justin Kerrigan, the coming-of-age comedy drama also featured John Simm, Andrew Lincoln and Richard Coyle. Mean Machine (2001): An adaptation of The Longest Yard, this sports comedy also featured Vinnie Jones and Jason Statham. Danny played "Billy the Limpet".
An adaptation of The Longest Yard, this sports comedy also featured Vinnie Jones and Jason Statham. Danny played "Billy the Limpet". The Football Factory (2004): Loosely based on the novel of the same name by John King. Danny led the cast of this sports drama, directed by Nick Love. He portrayed "Tommy Johnson".
Loosely based on the novel of the same name by John King. Danny led the cast of this sports drama, directed by Nick Love. He portrayed "Tommy Johnson". EastEnders (2013-2022): Danny appeared in the London-set BBC soap opera for almost a decade. He played Queen Vic landlord "Mick Carter", opposite Kellie Bright as his on-screen wife Linda.
Danny appeared in the London-set BBC soap opera for almost a decade. He played Queen Vic landlord "Mick Carter", opposite Kellie Bright as his on-screen wife Linda. Rivals (2024): The actor was among an all-star ensemble cast in this Disney+ series based on Jilly Cooper's novel. Danny played the role of "Freddie Jones".
Danny added: "And so, you know, I want give a shout out to Louisa Bradshaw-White, who played my sister Tina, who really came to the front for me, more than anybody else.
"She'd always said that she thinks I've got an issue and problem. No one else would say that to me… I don't know, people don't want to busy themselves in your life either.
"She would always say, 'whenever you're ready' you know, that was her vibe with me and then I was ready."
Louis wondered if Louisa had been through something similar.
Danny said: "She's had her issues like a lot of people have really, and a lot of people in my life."
Danny first opened up about his struggles back in 2019, admitting he'd hit rock bottom after binging on crack cocaine and feeling like he was 'slowly committing suicide'.
Speaking to the i newspaper at the time, the actor said: 'I was in such a dark place. I hated myself, couldn't look in the mirror for more than five seconds. I had no hope.'
One of his lowest moments came in 2001 while starring in mentor Harold Pinter's play Celebration at New York's Lincoln Center - where he'd been up all night smoking crack before taking to the stage.
'I was abusing myself so much, my brain wasn't ready and I didn't have a clue what to say.
'The blood rushed from my feet to my head and I was petrified. I felt so vulnerable.'
The Louis Theroux Podcast is now on Spotify and all major platforms.
5
Danny recalled the NTAs in 2017 where he hit rock bottom
Credit: PA
5
He credited his on-screen sister who helped him
Credit: BBC / Jack Barnes

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Daily Mail​

4 hours ago

• Daily Mail​

What happened to EastEnders' 'Italian stallion' Marc Bannerman: Noughties lothario was axed from soap over co-star romance, then battled with booze before falling for Cerys Matthews on I'm A Celeb - while his girlfriend watched in horror

He was the 'Italian stallion' of Albert Square, who was so popular with female viewers that he once donated a sackful of knickers sent to him by lustful female viewers to Oxfam. From 1998 to 2000, Marc Bannerman stole the show in EastEnders as Gianni di Marco, after landing the role by fibbing to producers that he was half Italian, despite being born in Dublin. It was a rapid rise to fame that came crashing down equally quickly when his character was axed, and he descended into depression, piled on weight and turned to the bottle while struggling to cope. He later claimed that the BBC got rid of him because he was in a real-life romance with on-screen girlfriend Nadia Sawalha, and it was dimming his appeal for female fans. But whatever the truth of the matter, it was far from the last time that his romantic liaisons caused a headache. After being briefly linked with actress Suranne Jones in 2005, he found happiness with his Footballer's Wives: Extra Time co-star Sarah Matravers and the pair were said to be discussing starting a family together when he joined the 2007 series of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Imagine, then, Sarah's disbelief as he struck up a flirtation with campmate Cerys Matthews, from the Welsh band Catatonia, who had recently ditched her American music producer husband Seth Riddle after four years of marriage. Viewer watched the pair gaze into each other's eyes over the camp fire, having meaningful conversations. They also often cosied up together in the hammock, and fellow campmate John Burton Race even claimed that the pair were intimate under the stars and that producers decided to not air the footage. He told MailOnline: 'There were times when the pair disappeared off together. I have to say that. 'I know what I know. You can guess the rest. We are all grown men and women and know what the game is.' He said: 'There are things the viewers wouldn't have seen or heard in there. Relationships are formed.' Marc confessed he behaved like a 'rat' after breaking Sarah's heart. On the I'm A Celebrity... Coming Out Show he admitted: 'I just developed feelings for someone in there and I've got a Mrs at home, I'm a rat. I can't look for a scapegoat. The buck stops here.' However, he insisted nothing untoward had happened, despite their 'deep' connection. Nothing's going on [with Cerys], we got on fantastically. We bonded quickly. She's a fantastic girl,' he said. 'It's a difficult thing [being in the jungle]. It's a strange scenario.' 'I'm terrified. I'm gonna have to apologise. I've embarrassed her [Sarah] and I've embarrassed myself.' He was then told by Declan Donnelly that Sarah had flown out to Australia to meet him, but had changed her mind after witnessing his antics and was already back in London. While watching footage of himself and Cerys in the jungle, he said: 'I feel sick. I feel for Sarah watching that. I feel really stupid. 'There wasn't any sort of relationship between us in any kind of way. Anyway I can see why Sarah went home.' Visibly shaken, he then called Sarah on his mobile phone. The first words he said before the camera cut away were: 'I'm so sorry babe.' He also wrote an oddly formal letter to Cerys, saying: 'There are many problems in London and I've had to go back to try and sort them out - but I may well return to greet you when you come out, if that is your wish. Marc.' Bannerman flew back to Britain to confront his domestic crisis, but his apology to Sarah ultimately fell on deaf ears. Not only was there no hope of repairing the relationship, she also said there had been explosive rows during their two-year relationship. The father-of-two said that he 'doesn't know what he was doing' with his life before his children were born She revealed that she once reportedly had to stick her hand through a window pane to stop a drink-fuelled fight between them. She told The Sunday Mirror: 'I was very, very scared. I remember thinking, "he's a bloke, he shouldn't be doing this to me".' Sarah then explained how she their fighting, saying: 'I put my arm through the window in pure desperation. It was all I could think of doing. Yes, I've got a scar on my arm from it, but it worked. It stopped. Who knows where it could have gone - we could have unintentionally inflicted really very serious harm on each other.' Speaking about his romance with Cerys, she added: 'I don't care what happens with them now. He's dumped, it's all over and if he thinks he can come back grovelling he can think again. 'It honestly feels like my partner has died... and people don't come back from the dead.' She also claimed that she'd uncovered him cheating with a barmaid in the wake of his jungle tryst. 'Marc lied and cheated and if there's one barmaid, there's got to be more. I find it absolutely disgusting,' she said. Elsewhere in an interview with Closer magazine, Sarah said: 'This is a man she's only known for a week, a man who she knew had a girlfriend. It's either incredibly cold-hearted or incredibly screwed up. They deserve each other and I hope they rot in hell.' 'Thank God I'm not carrying his child. If they do go out, he's bound to cheat again.' Marc went on to have an on-off romance with Cerys, which finally came to an end the following year in 2008. She dumped him just before Valentine's day because, it was said, he could not cope with her responsibilities as a mother. Marc was also reportedly unimpressed with Cerys' wardrobe, commenting on several occasions that she should change outfits. Cerys told the News of The World at the time: 'I remember him saying 'Have you got any other jumpers?' I think he was surprised that I lived so simply, hate shopping and don't have a fancy wardrobe.' Cerys, who had two children at the time, also spoke of the complications being a single mother added to their relationship, explaining he was unable to cope with the kids when she took them to London to stay with him. 'It was a disaster. We all caught a cold and Glenys Pearl was screaming with a fever. We were switching beds all night and I remember Marc saying, 'This could be the rest of my life.' And he looked scared!' Cerys is now a mother-of-three and has been married to former Decay singer Steve Abbott since 2011. Since dating Cerys, Marc has continued to act, although EastEnders remains his most famous role. Last year, he appeared in the action thriller Fyre Rises, and he also had a small part in an episode of the hit Netflix series The Witcher in 2023. He also had a role in the TV series Snatch, a spin-off of the Guy Ritchie film. Marc has kept his personal life out of the spotlight however, during a rare appearance on Channel 4 in 2022, he spoke about his two children, Grace and Leo. Speaking on Steph McGovern's show, Packed Lunch, he said: 'I don't know what I was doing before I was a dad.' Marc was axed from EastEnders 25 years ago, after playing 'Italian stallion' Gianni Di Marco for three years. He explained that he had become depressed after the axe fell on the Di Marcos in EastEnders. He told the Mirror: 'I suffered depression and turned to the bottle to get me out of it.' He added: 'The whole thing was such a shock. It upset me so much that it's only now I feel able to talk about what it did to me. 'I remember feeling very bitter, especially at the way they got rid of us. There was no warning - we were just out. 'I have learnt to cope, but it hasn't been easy. I've not kept in touch with the other Di Marco actors because our departure was so traumatic. When I first found myself out of the show I didn't realise at the time but I started eating all the wrong things and I was boozing far too much.'

Metro

5 hours ago

• Metro

Erasure's Andy Bell on kissing Boy George on stage

'I just said to him really quickly, kiss me, and he did!' Andy Bell, best known as an iconic figure of the LGBTQ+ scene in the 80s and one-half of Erasure, has just released his latest solo album Ten Crowns and is set to perform at Brighton Pride in August. At 61 years old, the artist has been in the music industry for decades and carved an important path as one of the few openly gay music artists in the industry in the 80s. In a powerful moment during the Brit Awards in February 1989, Andy was presented with an award on stage by Boy George and took this opportunity to kiss him on the lips. 'It was funny because I'm not sure how much kissing I'd seen – I love doing it, I love being out, and I love kissing on people and with my partner and stuff – But yeah, because we weren't really exposed to it very much. 'I just remember, when George came on the stage, I was really pleased that it was him. Just as he passed me the award, I just said to him really quickly, 'kiss me', and he did, and it just happened like that. 'So it was, I think, probably one of the only moments ever where I've done something on purpose,' he said. He explained that the interaction wasn't a pre-discussed or planned moment, but something he thought would be a bold move in the moment. With thousands of members from all over the world, our vibrant LGBTQ+ WhatsApp channel is a hub for all the latest news and important issues that face the LGBTQ+ community. Simply click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! Don't forget to turn on notifications! 'Because we never ever planned press stunts or anything like that at all.' He said, adding: 'It was a kind of blink and you miss it moment.' The smooch took place the same year that the first on-screen kiss aired to the British public in an episode of EastEnders between characters Colin Russell and his partner Barry Clark. As one of the few openly gay pop stars in the 80s, Andy once told The Guardian that he felt the need to be 'outrageous' at the time, which meant outrageous outfits and outrageous comments, which he said was a 'defence mechanism'. 'I just started developing this character, you know, out of necessity, really, to this larger than life person, just to deal with hecklers and stuff like that. 'I learned most of my stuff from drag queens, you know, from going and seeing drag queens in the pubs and so, yeah, this character is built over the years.' He said that he made his character a 'screamer' and it meant he didn't have to announce his sexuality in every interview. 'In the beginning, especially playing in North America and places you kind of it gets boring saying you're gay all the time, all the time, you know, in an interview. 'So I just thought I'd, I'd make, I'd have this character on stage. It was like a screamer, just so there were no questions asked. 'I know that it's a bit of a cliche now when I look back, but I just didn't want there to be any compromises or anything. 'For me, it felt like, almost like it was a defence mechanism, but like a shield almost,' he said. Andy's new album features a track titled Heart's A Liar with Blondie star Debbie Harry. 'I just feel like that. I feel like I've not struck gold, but kind of been blessed by music royalty,' he said of working with the iconic singer. 'To me, that's better than anybody in the whole of the music industry. You know, she's the top dog, she really is.' He added that in the music industry, relationships are often transactional and somewhat fake, which wasn't the case with Debbie. 'I know they've had really tough times as well, Blondie. So has Erasure, people all have time in the wilderness, and I think just for someone to reach your hand and say, 'Oh, come on, you know, I'll help you.' That's basically what it is. 'You just don't get that either in the music industry. It's all these back-handed compliments and handshakes, and everything's for commercial gain. Nothing is sincere anymore.' Andy has worked alongside his Erasure other half, Vince Clarke, for decades, taking time to do his own solo work, but always coming together to create music as Erasure. 'When we meet, it's kind of like, it is like, like an ex-lover, and you're meeting up again,' he says, revealing that he's only managed to see him twice this year. 'You're kind of defining your roles, or coming back together, and because it's very raw when you're writing together – I mean, I feel almost sorry for people that have been couples like Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. You know how that must be really tough when you're a real couple. 'But just because we haven't slept with each other doesn't mean that you don't have intimate moments.' He explains that when they get back together, after a little initial awkwardness, they are back into the swing. 'Once you've established that trust, it's there forever,' he says. The singer is set to perform at Brighton Pride in August and emphasised that celebrating the LGBTQ+ community is just as important today as it has always been. More Trending 'As long as we're a target, as long as we're in a position where all of a sudden you're being scapegoated by whichever political party, then we're obviously not safe. 'Until everything is just as it should be, normalised and we're all treated the same and we're all treated fairly, we're still working towards something.' Andy Bell's album Ten Crowns is out now, and he is set to perform at Brighton Pride supported by Hayu, on August 3 . Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: I attended the UK's biggest true crime convention — it wasn't what I expected MORE: 'I was the only out lesbian MP for 13 years – here's how Parliament has changed' MORE: I told my date my sexual preferences and was immediately ghosted

Metro

5 hours ago

• Metro

Emmerdale confirms new accomplice for John as he gets rid of Robert

John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) spies an opportunity in Emmerdale soon as he grows desperate to get rid of Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley). A few days ago, John visited Robert in prison. He was feeling insecure about his relationship with Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) after discovering his partner was planning on visiting his ex. John believed he had the ability to scare Robert away, but he did not count on the Sugden practically seeing right through him. Robert called John the 'unwanted rut' of the family and believed he was incredibly odd. Watching John shake with rage, Robert concluded that he was going to do his upmost to get Aaron away from his new partner. In upcoming episodes, Robert is causing problems after giving his sister a black eye. He attempts to readjust to life outside of prison by getting a trial at Caleb's (William Ash) depot, but he's pressured by John to end the employment. Robert is disappointed and when he finds out that John interfered, he confronts him outside. The two brothers argue, and John is left even more determined to get rid of Robert after seeing Victoria's black eye. In an attempt to make Aaron jealous, Robert goes on a date later in the week, but he becomes even more troubled when he realises his ex isn't bothered about his hook-up at all. On his own at The Hide, Robert fails to spot his date drugging his drink. While Robert doesn't realise what's going on, John does, and he works out that this is the perfect opportunity to get rid. Want to be the first to hear shocking EastEnders spoilers? Who's leaving Coronation Street? The latest gossip from Emmerdale? Join 10,000 soaps fans on Metro's WhatsApp Soaps community and get access to spoiler galleries, must-watch videos, and exclusive interviews. Simply click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! Don't forget to turn on notifications so you can see when we've just dropped the latest spoilers! John intervenes and throws an unconscious Robert in the back of his van. As he lies there, John prepares a syringe and debates whether or not he's capable of killing his own brother. More Trending The murderer doesn't go through with the plan as later, Robert wakes up in the back of a van, with no memory of how he got there. John's perhaps playing a risky game letting Robert go, as there's every chance his memory from this situation will return. View More » Will Robert be the one to learn the truth about John? MORE: Huge Robert shock in early Emmerdale ITVX release MORE: Emmerdale legend injured as the finger is pointed at a major character MORE: Emmerdale's Cain collapses in ITVX streaming release as John claims another victim