The Dyer family has hit stratospheric levels of fame in recent years
EastEnders hardman Danny Dyer has dominated headlines for his antics on and off screen for the past two decades, but in the past 11 months, his daughter Dani has been stealing his thunder.
The 23 year old was an instant fan favourite when she debuted on Love Island in June last year. She refused to have sex on screen and was finally crowned winner with her then-boyfriend Jack Fincham, 26.
Check out: all the Love Island couples and what they're up to now
All the Love Island couples - slider
1 of 25Hannah Elizabeth and Jonathan Clark (2015): SPLIT
Remember when they, like, got engaged on the show? That one didn't quite last...
2 of 25Luis Morrison and Cally Jane Beech (2015): SPLIT
They had the first ever Love Island baby but in September 2018 they confirmed they'd split.
3 of 25Jordan Ring and Zoe Brown (2015): SPLIT
Absolutely DID NOT work IRL. Neeext.
4 of 25Jessica Hayes and Max Morley (2015): SPLIT
Still fancy Max in a huge way, not gonna lie.
5 of 25Katie Salmon and Adam Maxwell (2016): SPLIT
Adam claimed he was '100 percent single' shortly after leaving the villa and, um, that was that. #Kadam; gone but never forgotten.
6 of 25Rykard Jenkins and Rachel Fenton (2016): SPLIT
At least they lasted 18 months. Not bad going...
7 of 25Scott Thomas and Kady McDermott (2016): SPLIT
Scott and Kady managed a year before splitting in 2017.
8 of 25Nathan Massey and Cara de da Hoyde (2016): STILL TOGETHER
They've got their little Love Island baby and everything.
9 of 25Malin Andersson and Terry Walsh (2016): SPLIT
He did date fellow Love Island-er Emma-Jane Woodhams eight months in actual real life before calling it a day. AH WELL.
10 of 25Gabby Allen and Marcel Somerville (2017): SPLIT
Gabby dumped Marcel after he was spotted cheating as they holidayed TOGETHER. Blimey.
11 of 25Jamie Jewitt and Camilla Thurlow (2017): STILL TOGETHER
An absolute success story of Love Island 2017, Jamie and Camilla and Jamie are still the CUTEST of couples.
12 of 25Sam Gowland and Georgia Harrison (2017): SPLIT
Sam seems to be doing alright for himself on Geordie Shore, so we don't think he's too gutted.
13 of 25Olivia Attwood and Chris Hughes (2017): SPLIT
The couple were plagued with cheating rumours throughout their relationship (who can forget that whole Chris Hughes and Katie Price debacle?). Since their ITVBe show Crackin' On ended, Olivia's confirmed she's back with ex-boyfriend Bradley Dack.
14 of 25Alex Bowen and Olivia Buckland (2016): STILL TOGETHER
Alex and Olivia are married and literally as strong as ever. We like to live vicariously through them, to be honest.
15 of 25Tyla Carr and Jonny Mitchell (2017): SPLIT
Oh it was never gonna last, was it?
16 of 25Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies (2017): SPLIT
TheLove Island2017 winners split in December 2017; five months after the finale.
17 of 25Montana Brown and Alex Beattie (2017): SPLIT
These two split just weeks after returning to the UK. Sad times.
18 of 25Dom Lever and Jess Shears (2017): STILL TOGETHER
Jess and Dom are SO together, in fact, they got 'married' on Good Morning Britain on Valentine's Day 2017. They then got, y'know, properly married.
19 of 25Sam Bird and Georgia Steel: SPLIT
You know how this one went. Sam accused Georgia of cheating on him with her ex, which she denied. It's safe to say they didn't split on the best of terms.
20 of 25Zara McDermott and Adam Collard: SPLIT
Zara and Adam called it quits at the beginning of 2019. WAH.
21 of 25Megan Barton-Hanson and Wes Nelson: SPLIT
Megan and Wesdidmove in together, but announced their split in January 2019 following rumours Wes was getting close toDancing on Icepartner Vanessa Bauer. Uh oh.
22 of 25Josh Denzel and Kaz Crossley: SPLIT
Josh and Kaz announced their split in February 2019, with Kaz saying: "Sometimes things don't go the way you planned, but you have to be grateful for the journey. Thank you for everything especially showing me how to love myself again."
23 of 25Samira Mighty and Frankie Foster: SPLIT
Frankie reportedly cheated on Samira and that was that. Done. Over. thank u, next.
24 of 25Laura Anderson and Paul Knops: SPLIT
There's no bad blood betweenLaura and Paul, but they split months after making it to the final of the show.
25 of 25Jack Fincham and Dani Dyer: SPLIT
Dani released a statement via Instagram Stories (how very 2018) announcing thewinning 2018 couple had SPLIT, before they got back together just days later. Hmm.However fast forward to April 2019 and Jack announced they'd split.
Since scooping half of the £50,000 prize, Dani has gone on to release a book, What Would Dani Do?, and launched a clothing range for online brand In The Style – yet this isn’t the route her dad intended her to take.
“I begged her not to do Love Island and thought she was making a big mistake,” Danny smiles. “But how wrong was I? It’s only been nine months [since she won the show], but she’s completely rocked all our worlds. What she’s achieved at her age is incredible. She put a completely different spin on Love Island. She did it with integrity and grace.”
Before going down the route of reality TV, Dani wanted to be like her actor dad, having had roles in small indie films We Still Kill The Old Way (2014) and Doghouse (2009).
The 41 year old is famed for his lead roles in gangster films The Football Factory and The Business, and more recently as family man Mick Carter in EastEnders. He admits he was put off Dani joining Love Island by its 2017 winner Kem Cetinay, who won with then-girlfriend Amber Davies.
“I just felt it would be a nightmare for her,” Danny says. “I thought that by going down the reality TV route, she was going to lose respect. I didn’t understand it – all I knew was that Kem won it the year before and I didn’t like the look of him. I also knew there was sex involved, and who wants to see their daughter have sex on television?”
Danny and Jo Mas – who he married in 2016 after she proposed to him – were both just 19 when they had Dani. Three years later, Danny made his movie debut in indie flick Human Traffic, shortly followed by Mean Machine, but wanted to shield his kids from the spotlight.
“Fame is quite an intoxicating thing,” he explains. “It’s alright at first but then it does drive you insane. I tried to keep my children away from it as much as possible.”
Jo and Danny – also parents to daughter Sunnie, 12, and son Arty, five – have recently been guiding their eldest daughter through relationship woes after she split from Jackand received a backlash for reuniting with her former boyfriend Sammy Kimmence.
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Danny, who appeared in Channel 4’s Let’s Talk About Sex with daughter Sunnie last month, says, “It’s difficult being a parent because no one’s going to be good enough for them – ever. I worship the ground my children walk on, but of course they’ve got to find their way. You can’t pick boys for your daughters – it doesn’t work like that.
"Jo and I had a child very young and you learn every single day how to be a good parent, but it actually turned out we didn’t do a bad job.”
But Danny has been as infamous off screen as has on. His relationship has been tested on several occasions,most recently when claims that he had a six-week affair with former Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding hit the headlines in 2017. Despite that, the pair have remained together, and the actor credits his spiritualism for their “normal” day-to-day life.
Danny adds, “I’m a spiritual man, so whenever you say something you need to ask yourself – is it truthful, is it kind and is it necessary? If it passes through those three gates – then say it.
"Anxiety is hard, and what your brain does to you. You’ve got to take control of it."