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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Victoria Johns

Danny Dyer reveals real name and says dad was 'off his nut' signing birth certificate

It's hard to imagine actor Danny Dyer being called anything else, but the EastEnders actor has revealed it's not actually his name.

Speaking on his Sorted with the Dyers podcast with daughter Dani the dad-of-three admitted he is really called Danial.

The pair were speaking about the country's most popular baby names when Danny told Dani her name wasn't in the top 100, but teased that Daniel was in the top 50.

"Are you a Daniel? I just want to confirm?," Dani asked.

"Yeah, I am," replied Danny. "I was thinking about this the other day, actually," before admitting: "I was born a Danial.

"Danial is my name, so in the eyes of God, I am a Danial. And it is D-A-N-I-A-L."

Danny revealed the unusual spelling of his name (Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Dani replied: "I don’t look at you as a Danial."

Danny explained that the unusual spelling was thanks to his dad who was "up the boozer" when his mum went into labour.

He said: "My old dad, and I love him very much, he's old school. I was born in the 70s. Men didn't really get involved in much.

Danny Dyer told his daughter his unusual name (Instagram)

"Back in the day my mum would go, 'I'm going into labour' and he'd be up the boozer.

"He'd go, 'All right. What time are you going to be home?' She went into labour and gave birth.

He plays Mick Carter in EastEnders (BBC/Kieron McCarron/Jack Barnes)

"Anyway he got up there, obviously off his nut and got to do the important thing which is the birth certificate, which I think you have to sign.

"He agreed to the name Daniel but he spelt it Danial. Could have been a mix of things, could have been that he was battered, could have been that he doesn't spell. Could have been a bit of both actually."

He added: "As I got into the acting years, I changed it to Danny. It was always going to be Danny."

Danny's daughter Dani gave birth to her son in January and called him Santiago, which his grandad admitted was an usual choice.

"You’ve got a mad name, though, for your boy," said Danny.

To which Dani replied: “I love Santiago though, I love his name. A lot of people don’t like it, but that doesn’t really bother me..."

Danny confessed saying: “I love his name now; at first, I was a bit unsure."

The father and daughter duo were recently seen on Celebrity Antiques Road Trip in which they showed a real knack for bargaining and made £357.66 worth of profit.

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