Danny Dyer admits 'I was slowly killing myself' before he begged for help
Danny Dyer has spoken about the highs and lows of his career including when he was overdoing the partying and had to take time away from TV
Danny Dyer has revealed his moment of clarity to make a change to his life when he was 'slowly killing himself' after being 'off his head' after the National TV Awards.
The acclaimed actor, who has won rave reviews for his performance in the Disney+ drama Rivals, also looks back and said his Eastenders co-star Luisa Bradshaw-White was the only one who told him he had an issue and helped his sort his life out insisting 'No one else would say that to me.' Danny is now enjoying a blossoming career and has his life on track, having recently walked daughter Dani down the aisle to marry footballer Jarrod Bowen.
But looking back with interviewer Louis Theroux, Danny said previously he knew he was 'destroying himself' and his career. At the time he was on EastEnders playing Mick Carters since 2013, but he would head into rehab in Cape Town in 2016.
Danny, 47, said: 'I had a moment of clarity where I had been on it all night after the NTAs. I think I'd won and that's always on like a Tuesday or something and I had to go to work. There's another thing with EastEnders, is that they go, yeah, come celebrate NTAs, but you are up at seven in the morning. So anyway, I'd just overdone it again and I just could not work out how to get my jeans on.
'I was just sitting on my ensuite 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? And it was that moment and I could hear Artie, my son, who's now 11, he must have been 3. He was running around downstairs and I think I'd got rid of the last straggler out the house.
'Yeah, So I had a car picking me up to take me to work and it was just this moment I thought, sh*t, you're going to die. You're going to kill yourself. You're not happy. You're spanking all your money on drugs. You're destroying everything around you. 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'.
Danny made the decision to go to rehab in Cape Town after this awards show after-party at his house.
He 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.
'She's had her issues like a lot of people have really, and a lot of people in my life, I've seen a lot of people go through some quite heavy stuff and always thought, oh f*cking hell, that's quite heavy, glad I'm not that bad. Actually, turns out I was, it just took me a longer route to get there.'
Danny, who is married with three children, previously told the BBC receiving a letter from his daughter Dani while at a rehab facility in 2016 was what convinced him to continue his treatment.
He shot to fame in the 1999 film Human Traffic, is now one of the most recognisable stars of British TV and film. Danny played Mick Carter in BBC soap EastEnders from 2013 to 2022 and has now starred in his own comedy series Mr. Bigstuff and big budget dramas like Rivals.
He told Louis Theroux he is 'proud' of his upcoming film 'Three Quick Breaths'.
On a lighter note he also talked about seeing a UFO and being convinced the exist.
It was an orb going through the sky. So then that's a UFO. So, whatever you want to make of that, that's the fact,' he said.
He also said he won't be trying to crack Hollywood anytime soon, despite being encouraged to try.
He explained: 'I understand that's where the work is and that's the ultimate, but can I be bothered to go and live out there on my own? Talking American all the time to everybody pretending I'm someone else.'
* The Louis Theroux Podcast is available on Spotify and all podcast platforms.
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