Dani Dyer said her father, actor Danny Dyer, would never take part in I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, because he would get “bored,” and confirmed he had turned down an invitation to join her on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. The Love Island winner, who is among this year’s Strictly contestants, discussed the matter in an interview with the Daily Mail as she prepares for the live shows.
"I would like to see him in the I’m A Celeb jungle but he says he never would go in the jungle," Dyer told the paper. "He was like: ‘Dan, I'd be bored.’ He’d be snoring everyone to death." She said the actor, 48, had been asked to take part in the dance show but declined and that he will instead attend her first live Strictly programme to support her.
Dyer, 29, said her husband, England and West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen, has been helping her prepare. The couple married earlier this year and share twin daughters, Summer and Star, who are two years old. Dyer is also mother to a four-year-old son, Santiago, from a previous relationship; her former partner Sammy Kimmence was jailed in 2021 after being convicted of defrauding two pensioners.
Speaking about balancing family life with the show's demanding schedule, Dyer said the training will keep her away from her children for long periods but that she could not turn down what she called a "once in a lifetime opportunity." She described her household as supportive, saying Bowen was "so excited" and that he will join her for impromptu dances at home. She recalled their wedding first dance as simple and affectionate, adding that moments like that helped ease her nerves about performing.
Dyer also addressed criticism about her having previous dance experience, saying any formal training was from childhood. "When I was a little girl, I always loved to dance. There was a little class in East London that I went to called Peggy O'Farrells," she said, adding that she lost confidence in her teens and regretted stopping.
Her father, she said, is a "proper girl dad" who becomes emotional at her milestones and will "probably cry" when he watches her perform live. Dyer said he has given her encouragement to "just go and enjoy it and smash it," and that he will come to the studio "whenever he can."
This series of Strictly Come Dancing features a wide-ranging lineup that includes Olympian Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, actors Alex Kingston and Stefan Dennis, former professional footballers Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Karen Carney, reality figures such as Vicky Pattison and Thomas Skinner, model and disability ambassador Ellie Goldstein, and others from television and sport.
Dyer said she is ‘‘so excited’’ to be part of the show and expects her children to be proud of her performances. She described Strictly as "dance, it's fun" and said watching the professional dancers has left her even more eager to take to the floor.