Former EastEnders star Danny Dyer has caused a stir after making explosive claims about his time on the long-running BBC soap. In a brutally honest interview, the 47-year-old actor didn’t hold back as he criticised the show’s behind-the-scenes environment and took aim at what he described as subpar scriptwriting during his tenure. Dyer, who departed the series in 2022, revealed that during his time filming, he often felt unsupported and claimed there was “not much duty of care” shown by the production team when it came to actors’ mental health or overall well-being.
Even more shockingly, the actor admitted he was “off his nut” on prescription medication while working on the show — a confession that has sparked concern among fans and raised fresh questions about working conditions in the world of British soap operas. Known for playing Mick Carter, Dyer was at the heart of some of EastEnders’ most dramatic storylines during his run, making his revelations all the more surprising. His candid remarks have reignited debate around the pressures actors face in high-profile television roles, and what kind of support they should be receiving behind the scenes.
Danny was on the soap for nine years (Credit: BBC)
Danny Dyer lashes out at EastEnders
On Friday night (May 9), Danny was at a charity night hosted at Wimbledon Football Club in South West London.
It was during this event that Danny hit out at the hit BBC soap, which he joined back in 2013.
Danny was on the show for nine years, playing Mick Carter, the landlord of the Queen Vic. Mick’s turbulent time on the soap came to an end on Christmas Day in 2022, when he seemingly drowned in the sea.
However, Danny doesn’t seem impressed by some of the soap’s storylines, branding the scripts “[bleep]”, The Sun has reported.
He also confessed he had to go to rehab twice during his time on the show.
“I was off my nut for a lot of that job. I was squinting a lot for a couple of years, a lot of Valium and Diazepam. You have 30 pages a day you’ve got to learn. There’s no [bleeping] about. You organically make the scene work, you rehearse nothing. It [bleeps] your nut up. I ended up in rehab twice,” he said.
Danny hit out at the storylines (Credit: ITV)
Danny hits out at the show’s ‘duty of care’
The actor also spoke about the impact the show had on his life during his nine years there.
“You earn good money, but you ain’t got time to go to a cashpoint. You have no life. The amount of birthdays I missed. If someone dies in your family they won’t even let you go to the funeral. It’s such a machine. There’s not much duty of care. That’s the truth,” he said.
“On EastEnders there is no messing about and you’ve got to do it. It’s the hardest part of our job. I’d love to see A-list actors come in and do it, they’d crumble. You’ve got to be on it. In films you make yourself properly cry, you go to a dark place and you have time to recover. It messes a lot of people’s heads up. Most people are off their nut,” he then continued.
A spokesperson for the show has hit back (Credit: BBC)
Danny Dyer hits out at scripts and storylines
The star then continued, saying that some of the scripts he received were “[bleep]”. He confessed that he read some of the scripts thinking “what the [bleep] is this?”. He also said that the storylines were “dark”.
The actor also shared his opinion on Mick beginning a romance with Janine, branding it “mental”.
Additionally, Danny hit out at the soap for killing off Danielle Harold‘s character, Lola Pearce. Lola had a brain tumour and died in October last year.
Danny confessed that he “felt” for “incredible” Danielle, claiming she was “wasted” by show bosses.
In a statement to ED!, an EastEnders spokesperson said: “We would never discuss an individual’s private matters however, we do not recognise these claims. EastEnders has extremely robust and well-established procedures in place to safeguard the welfare of everyone who works on the show.”
