Dani Dyer has revealed how she was supposed to be auditioning for a part in Holby City before the coronavirus pandemic sent the country into lockdown in March.
The former Love Island star, who is expecting her first baby, said it has been her dream to follow her award-winning soap star dad Danny Dyer into the world of acting.
Reflecting on the highs and lows of this year, Dani revealed things could have been very different if she'd had the chance to pursue her dream.
"I would love to get into [acting] again," she admitted on family podcast Sorted with the Dyers.
"I remember I always wanted to go into Holby. Then I got the audition for Holby, and I was going to go on that and then lockdown happened.
"I do want to get into something like that," she went on. "I’d enjoy that - I don’t want to go on reality shows, I don’t want to do that, they don’t excite me. It doesn’t make my heart skip a beat.
"Reality stars, they do incredibly, but do I want to go down the route where I share my whole life?" she asked.
Her dad replied: "Ideally me and you doing something together on an acting format would be nice."
"That would be beautiful," agreed Dani.
"I’ve still got the pathway to go down an acting route if I wanted to, but if I start going on this show and that show, and all that crap, it will not do me any favours. I’m in a good position right now, I’m having a baby, and then I’m going to definitely go down a route where it’s credible.
"I'm so lucky - I know I am," she admitted.
After winning Love Island with Jack Fincham, Dani opened up her home and her private life to the cameras again for their joint ITV reality show Life After Love Island.
The show received mixed reviews at the time with some viewers comparing it to 'watching paint dry.'
The couple split weeks after.
After previously vowing she'd never do another reality TV show again, Dani said: "Some people want to be on TV, wanna portray their life and show what they want to do, but my heart's not in that. I tried that when I came off Love Island and did my own show, and I was so sad because it just wasn't my thing. Opening the door of a morning, nothing to fill my life, it just didn't work for me. Some people are brilliant at it and thrive off it."
Her dad Danny, who plays Mick Carter in EastEndes said once you let the cameras in 'I fear you're signing your life away to the devil.'
"And once they're in they are never going," Dani mused.
Despite putting her acting dreams on hold for now, Dani is excitedly awaiting the birth of her first child with Sammy Kimmence - which is due early in 2021.
