Danny Dyer reveals battle with eating disorder and addiction: ‘I was a wreck’
Those who only know Danny Dyer from his tough talk on ‘Danny Dyer’s Deadliest Men’ or as the unyielding father of reality star Dani Dyer are now getting a very different picture. The 48-year-old London actor has admitted that he has been struggling for years with an eating disorder and a serious addiction to drink and cocaine. And that sounds more intense than any episode of ‘Marching Powder’ ever did.
In a candid conversation published this week, Dyer tells how for years he hid behind a façade of self-confidence that he could barely eat. “I couldn’t get a meal down without my stomach rebelling,” he says. His days often consisted of breakfasting on a bottle of vodka, followed by lines of powder to be able to stand on set in the evening. Even during the filming of his best-known reality gigs, where his daughter Dani Dyer often stood beside him, the problem remained invisible to the cameras.
The dark years behind the tough-guy image
It was his wife Anna Walton who eventually pulled him through it. According to Dyer, it was Walton who walked into the bedroom one morning and found him in a state he himself describes as ‘completely broken’. No acting performance, but pure misery. The actor admits that his weight at one point dropped to a level that doctors called concerning. “I thought being tough meant you could laugh everything off,” says Dyer. “But there was nothing to laugh about.”
- He couldn’t tolerate solid food for months; lived on energy drinks and alcohol.
- Used cocaine to function ‘normally’ during shooting days.
- His daughter Dani Dyer threatened to temporarily cut contact if he didn’t go to a clinic.
From ‘Deadliest Men’ to the most vulnerable man
But there is also good news. Danny Dyer is now in a rehab programme and eating three meals a day again. He says he is sharing his story because he wants fans and colleagues – especially those in the tough world of reality and hard-hitting documentaries like ‘Marching Powder’ – to know that it’s okay to ask for help. “You’re not a wimp because you eat. You’re a wimp if you stick your head in the sand while your family falls apart.” His wife Anna Walton and daughter Dani Dyer are fully behind him, although he admits that trust hasn’t been restored overnight.
For fans who know him from his iconic catchphrases and his role as the toughest man on British TV: this is a new episode you won’t want to miss. Not because of the spectacle, but because of the raw honesty. And honesty has always been Dyer’s strongest weapon – even if he didn’t first have it towards himself.