Danny Dyer: 'I know the perks of fame are great - but there's a hidden cruelty too'

Daily Mirror

22-04-2025

Danny Dyer has agreed to be grilled in The Assembly. However, the EastEnders star is concerned that some aspects of fame may be gruelling for his neurodivergent co-stars.
Appearing in a new groundbreaking show for ITV alongside a remarkable panel of neurodivergent and/or learning disabled interviewers, Danny Dyer fears fame might be difficult to handle for his co-stars.
The EastEnders legend, 47, knows a thing or two about being in the hot seat. From long-running soap stardom to high-octane press tours, he's navigated the spotlight for decades. But nothing quite prepared him for The Assembly, due on ITV on April 26.
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'I'd been doing a lot of press because [filming took place] around the time of the release of my film, Marching Powder,' Danny says. 'I was getting really bored of my own voice, but this revitalised me. It got me excited about being interviewed again.'
While the experience was overwhelmingly positive, Danny – who found fame young, growing up on our screens in The Bill before pulling pints in the Queen Vic – is keenly aware of the pressures that come with the spotlight.
'The cast of The Assembly are all very authentic. They have no masks,' Danny says. 'So I do have concerns about fame for some of them.' He now hopes the panel is shielded from the darker side of fame.
'The perks are great but there's also a cruelty that comes with it – especially online,' he says. 'That concerns me slightly. I hope they're treated with the respect that they deserve.'
Adapted from the acclaimed French show Les Rencontres du Papotin, which has seen high-profile guests like President Emmanuel Macron and House Of Gucci star Camille Cottin take the chair, The Assembly puts fame under the microscope in the most disarming and emotionally charged way possible. With no questions off the table, guests must abandon PR-approved soundbites and embrace raw, unfiltered honesty.
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Last year, The Assembly's one-off pilot on the BBC featured Good Omens star Michael Sheen. Now the show has been snapped up by ITV for a four-part series version, working closely with neurodivergent communities and advocacy groups to ensure the show speaks directly to and for those it represents.
The concept is as powerful as it is simple: one celebrity, one room, and a panel of inquisitive interviewers who don't play by traditional media rules. The result? Unpredictable, hilarious, moving conversations that reveal more than any press junket ever could.
Danny is one of four celebrities to step into the room for the new series, alongside football legend and broadcaster Gary Lineker, Doctor Who and Rivals actor David Tennant and Little Mix 's Jade Thirlwall. Each brings their own fame, stories and secrets to the table.
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During his own chat, Danny sat with the panel for three hours, diving deep into every corner of his life – from his working-class upbringing to the complexities of fatherhood, marriage and fame.
He opens up about his dramatic exit from EastEnders, including what he really thought about his character Mick Carter's romance with Walford villainess Janine Butcher. He even reflects on his initial discomfort with his daughter Dani Dyer entering Love Island in 2018.
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The show doesn't shy away from personal pain either. Danny candidly opens up about being kicked out by his now-wife Joanne Mas, long before they wed in 2016 after she proposed to him.
Still, he admits that earning the trust of the panel wasn't immediate. 'It took a while for everybody to trust me in the room, and I think they did,' he says.
But the exercise was worth a try. 'This was probably the most open and honest interview that I've ever given. I trusted everybody in the room,' he says, 'Opening up about my feelings in front of such a beautiful, intelligent and honest group of people was really refreshing.'
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Behind his trademark no-nonsense humour, Danny shows his vulnerable side too. 'I'm quite naturally an emotional person anyway; I'm very sensitive,' he says. 'It was a moving experience.'
Each interview ends with a surprise: a musical performance from the in-house musicians, all of whom are neurodivergent. It's a cathartic release after emotional highs and lows.
Neurodivergent people are still too often misunderstood, misrepresented or excluded. Conditions like autism and ADHD are routinely dismissed or misdiagnosed and mainstream media has only just started to make space for neurodiverse voices as powerful agents of storytelling.
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Danny is all in for the show to keep pushing boundaries, inviting guests to reflect on the emotional undercurrents of their public lives. He'd even love to take it a step further. 'I would like any politician to be in the hot seat,' he says. 'I would like to see them squirming trying to answer the beautiful questions.'
Packed with big laughs and standout celebrity moments, the show offers neurodivergent and learning disabled people centre stage for their brilliance, insight and humour.
The result is telling. Danny may have arrived at The Assembly tired of his own voice, but he left with a new one – honest, emotional and re-energised.