If you could take advice from Danny or Dani Dyer, who would you choose? The hilarious straight-talking, take-no-shit actor or his daughter, who was so popular and likeable she managed to win Love Island with a landslide vote? It's a tough one. But luckily you don't have to decide. The pair are collaborating for a Spotify podcast, Sorted with the Dyers, where they'll try their best to answer listener's life problems and dilemmas.
Never one to take herself too seriously, Dani - who is talking to Grazia over Zoom, while chilling on her sofa in an Ariana Grande sweatshirt - is keen to express neither she nor her father are experts. 'It's light-hearted advice,' she tells us, speaking to us like an old mate. 'It's like if you went around your friend's house, and you needed a rant - you need someone to talk to that just gives their opinion.' And it should be a laugh, as they don't always agree on the advice they're giving. 'He is the naughty one,' Dani laughs. 'And I'm the more behaved one, ironically.'
Since Dani left the Love Island villa, she has been working on various projects with her dad, like MTV series True Love or True Lies and even appearing in Nativity The Musical together. It's something she says they've always thought would be 'cool' to do when they were younger. 'The things he comes out with... He's crazy,' Dani says. 'But it's so nice because we are so close. Although he is my dad we have a really good friendship. [My] dad had me at 18, so I've sort of grown up with [my parents], you know? I've learned everything. I've come on their journey with them a little bit. Sometimes I am like, "Dad, we are too open with each other" [but] I think that's just us. I'm not embarrassed.' Apart from there is one thing they won't talk about. Dani, who is six-and-a-half months pregnant, adds: 'I think the only thing I cringe at now was like he was "Dan, obviously I know you've done it. But now you're pregnant. I know you've done it."' Eek.
Despite the weird times we're in, the reality star, who is expecting with her partner Sammy Kimmence, has been feeling optimistic about her pregnancy. 'I've got nothing to compare pregnancy to, so I'm really happy because it's my first time,' she says. 'I feel like if you have been pregnant before, you would really, really notice a difference. Obviously you're not really allowed your partner in scans now, but they've changed it so you can have your partner with you the whole time you're in labour, which is I think amazing, like you need your partner with you 1,000,000%.'
It's long been documented that Dani's dad isn't the biggest fan of the show which gave her a break. Last year, in his typical style, he was quoted saying the series - which Dani won with her ex Jack Fincham - was a 'pile of shit'. 'When I went on Love Island, I said he wasn't happy about it,' she says. 'He wasn't jumping for joy. I told him two weeks before I was going on the show, because he was like why do you want to sit there, chatting to boys - he couldn't understand the concept of it. I feel like any dad would be like that.' But, even if he will 'never admit it', Dani says he still watches the show now. 'Does he watch Love Island? Yes. Everything is always on the down low though, he always pretends he doesn't watch anything.'
Obviously, one of the hardest things about being shot to fame on a reality show is the inevitable online bullying and media scrutiny that comes with it. (Since winning the show in 2018, Dani has 3.3million followers on Instagram.) 'They're just tortured little souls, I think,' the reality star says, speaking about trolling. 'But it's hard if you're having a down day, and you see something, it can really ruin your day.'
Dani - who thinks the government needs to introduce regulations to stop online bullying - adds that her dad has been able to give her advice on dealing with it. 'He's sort of over that now,' she says. 'It doesn't really upset him. So he's good with that with me, we speak about that a little bit on the podcast as well.'
'It was really weird for him because when I was on Love Island, I was just being myself,' she adds. 'And I don't know how I won, it was just crazy. And when I came out, I didn't really know what to expect. And when I have a little bit of trolling, and people have said [things about the way I] talk or the way I look, I do feel like I sort of wanted to filter myself. And then I thought oh maybe I shouldn't say this or maybe I shouldn't behave like that. But my dad's like "no, Dani, you are who you are, and never change that."' Thank goodness Dani stuck to her dad's advice.
Spotify Original podcast Sorted with the Dyers featuring hosts Danny and Dani Dyer is available exclusively on Spotify now.
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