Famous dad? Tick. England footballer husband? Tick. An adoring social media following of over four million people? Big, big tick.
It is little wonder then that Strictly bosses pulled out all the stops to sign Dani Dyer on to their show, which has for two years found itself embroiled in a string of scandals.
She was seen, I’m told, as the ‘perfect tonic’ to make the show light and fun again – in contrast to the bullying accusations and drug use claims that have left a dark cloud hanging over it since 2023.
So when producers learned that Dani, the 29-year-old starlet and daughter of actor Danny Dyer, had been forced to pull out of the show they were ‘bereft’, says one source.
In fact, at least one insider fears that the show has been hit by a new ‘curse’ – a term which has for two decades referred to the growing number of past contestants whose relationships fell apart after competing on the programme.
‘The bosses are absolutely gutted that they have lost Dani, she was key for this series,’ says my Strictly snitch.
‘She’s wonderful – she is the loveliest person to have around and caused no drama and no stress. They felt sure that those watching at home who weren’t already familiar with Dani would love her.
‘She wasn’t just a contestant but was regarded as a turning point for Strictly – so her departure is a travesty. It’s a case of: “Why can’t anything go right for the show?”’
When Strictly producers learned that Dani, the 29-year-old starlet and daughter of actor Danny Dyer, had been forced to pull out of the show they were ‘bereft’, says one source
Dani is married to West Ham and England footballer Jarrod Bowen and the pair have two-year-old twin daughters, Summer and Star
‘We thought we had it nailed this year: Dani was exactly the person to regain the entertainment value of the show.’
Dani was distraught on Tuesday when she was forced to pull out of the dance competition. In a statement, the mother-of-three explained how she had a fall on Friday in rehearsals and ‘landed funny’.
She added: ‘I thought I had rolled my foot but it swelled up badly over the weekend and, after an MRI scan yesterday, it turns out I have fractured my ankle.
‘Apparently doing the quickstep on a fracture is not advisable and the doctors have said I am not allowed to dance, so I’ve had to pull out of the show. To say I’m heartbroken is the biggest understatement.’
Strictly sources tell me that any stand-in is ‘very much up in the air’ which leaves the show in even more of a bind.
As of this evening, nobody had been confirmed to replace her on the show and producers may not decide to, as any prospective contestant would miss out on a fortnight of training. But if bosses did still opt to recruit, the newbie wouldn’t appear on this weekend’s show where there is no public vote.
Indeed, while Dani is a nepo baby of sorts, she was the star of Love Island back in 2018 when she won with her former boyfriend Jack Fincham.
While that romance fizzled out, she went on to date former stockbroker Sammy Kimmence with whom she has a son named Santiago. But Kimmence was jailed in 2021 for defrauding two pensioners out of nearly £34,000.
Dani was distraught on Tuesday when she was forced to pull out of the dance competition. In a statement, the mother-of-three explained how she had a fall on Friday in rehearsals and ‘landed funny’
Just a few hours after Dani revealed that she had been forced to quit, professional dancer Nancy Xu posted a video on Instagram telling of her disappointment at not getting a celebrity for this series
Today, she is married to West Ham and England footballer Jarrod Bowen and the pair have two-year-old twin daughters, Summer and Star. Dani and Jarrod married in May in a lavish ceremony at the five-star Langley Hotel in Buckinghamshire.
Dani is now the face of Surf washing detergent and is among one of the most successful celebrity influencers in Britain, as well as hosting a popular podcast with her father, Live and Let Dyers.
So it’s not surprising that the BBC wants her to take part in Strictly in the future. I am assured producers will ‘do everything they can’ to make sure that Dani does return next year.
They liken her situation to Jamie Laing, the former Made In Chelsea star, who was forced to quit Strictly in 2019 due to an injury sustained during the show’s launch, but then returned in 2020 where he reached the final with professional partner Karen Hauer.
I can also reveal that Dani was left on tenterhooks for hours as she waited to learn her fate on Tuesday.
She had ‘everything crossed’ that the doctors examining her MRI scans wouldn’t find her injured to the point of having to leave.
‘It was a long wait and as you can imagine, very anxious for Dani,’ said the insider.
‘Obviously she was desperately hoping that they wouldn’t find a fracture and she would be good to carry on dancing – so she was just gutted when she was told the bad news.
‘The temptation was, of course, to think she could carry on – but she couldn’t. It is such a shame.’
Dani’s departure, as well as the drama surrounding her fellow celebrity contestant Thomas Skinner, who was revealed to have cheated on his wife Sinead three years ago with single mum Amy-Lucy O’Rourke, are not the only issues to have caused Strictly bosses a headache.
Just a few hours after Dani revealed that she had been forced to quit, professional dancer Nancy Xu posted a video on Instagram telling of her disappointment at not getting a celebrity for this series, and thereby not competing.
She is the only woman left out of having one – something which has irked her somewhat.
Chinese-born Nancy lambasted the show in an outburst that bosses deemed ‘very out of the ordinary for her’.
Nancy, 34, said: ‘Thank you so much for all your kind and supportive messages that I’ve been receiving in the past few days. I am OK, as you all know now, I don’t have a dance partner on Strictly Come Dancing this year.
‘In the very beginning when I just received the messages, it does upset me and I do feel disappointed, coming from China [in 2019] and arriving in this country, all I wanted is to achieve my dream and Strictly has given me such a big platform to allow me to show my skills and to show my talents, so of course this year, I feel left out.’
Her comments have prompted some on social media to suggest she was blaming the fact she is Chinese for not getting a partner. But BBC bosses were quick to point out to me that this is ‘nonsense’ as Carlos Gu is also Chinese and has been partnered with Karen Carney.
They also say that Nancy has had a celebrity partner since she joined in 2019 after being paired with children’s television presenter Rhys Stephenson, actor Will Mellor, veteran broadcast comedian Les Dennis and last year, singing heart-throb Shayne Ward.
‘Of course Nancy is allowed to have her say,’ says one show source. ‘But really, this is all a little bit entitled. They are never guaranteed to have partners and she hasn’t had a bad run of them.
‘It’s all a bit silly.’
