Danny Dyer reveals how his EastEnders co-stars Shane Ritchie and Jessie Wallace felt about losing their king and queen of Albert Square title: 'We took the pub and they got the hump!'

Daily Mail​

11-05-2025

Danny Dyer has revealed his true feelings about EastEnders as he hit out at former co-stars Shane Ward and Jessie Wallace in a huge rant on Friday.
The actor, 47, starred as Mick Carter on the BBC show for nine years, earning a whopping quarter of a million pounds a year at the height of his stint, before his explosive exit on Christmas Day 2022.
However, reflecting on his time on the soap at a charity night at Wimbledon Club, Danny brazenly branded co-stars Jessie and Shane 'c***s'.
He claimed Jessie, who portrayed Kat Slater, and Shane, who played Alfie Moon, had blanked both him and his onscreen wife Kellie Bright.
Recalling his arrival on the soap in 2013, the Rivals star said it was not a warm welcome, describing the set as 'a very cliquey place to work'.
He claimed his taking over the Queen Vic caused Jessie and Shane, who played the previous pub landlords to 'have the hump'.
According to The Sun, Danny boldly said: 'There were a lot of people blanking us when we first turned up and me and Kellie thought 'You know what, f*ck these c*nts. Let's get together and show them something different.
'We took the pub (Queen Vic) over from Shane and Jesse. Kat and Alfie had an 11 year run and then they wanted to get rid of them so they brought us in and they had the hump.
'They were getting prickly about us coming in. I was like, 'What is the matter with these people? I have not made this call.'
He added: 'We had to prove ourselves over six months. It was hard work. Then a new producer came in and sacked a load of people.'
MailOnline has contacted representatives for Danny, Jessie and Shane for comment.
Danny played Queen Vic landlord Mick on the BBC soap for nine years until his dramatic Christmas 2022 exit in a cliffside car chase, which left him presumed dead as his body was never found.
Reflecting on his show exit, he previously admitted that he became disillusioned with his character and felt like Mick had 'lost his way'.
His character came into the show back in 2013 with wife Linda, played by Kellie, and their children.
The actor, 47, starred as Mick Carter on the BBC show for nine years, earning a whopping quarter of a million pounds a year at the height of his stint, before his explosive exit on Christmas Day 2022; pictured 2020
But after the happy couple's initial stint, things would eventually change, with the teenage sweetheart parting ways and Mick re-marrying Janine, played by Charlie Brooks.
It comes after Danny shared how a letter from his eldest daughter Dani made him stay in rehab when he was there to tackle his drug addiction.
The actor said that he'd 'had enough' of the rehabilitation programme and was ready to walk out before receiving the correspondence from Dani, now 28.
Dani, who would have been around 20 at the time, reached out to her dad to convince him to continue his treatment at the facility in South Africa.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, Danny admitted that the letter made him realise the pain he had put his family through.
Danny is married to Joanne Mas after getting together in 1992 and the couple share three children, their daughter Dani, daughter Sunnie, 18, and son Arty, 11.
He told presenter Lauren Laverne: 'Then they read a letter out from home, from my daughter Dani, and it made me sit back down in that seat.'
Danny did not divulge what his daughter had written but it had such an impact he changed his decision to leave rehab.
Elsewhere in the interview, Danny discussed how fame has affected his private life and lead to him making some bad decisions, namely 'taking a lot of drugs'.
He said: 'I'd go to nightclubs and DJ sometimes but in general just wave off of balconies and I'd get paid quite a lot of money to do it.'
Looking back on his past choices, Danny said that his days of 'hedonism and mad behaviour' are over and that those times were 'awful'.