Future ‘Love Island’ contestant Dani Dyer has said she is upset by accusations she only signed up for the show for fame.
Dani, the daughter of ‘EastEnders’ actor Danny Dyer, was snapped up for the hit ITV2 series after having to pull out of rival show ‘Survival Of The Fittest’ just 24 hours into the run earlier this year due to injury.
But despite this being the second reality show she’ll have appeared on in less than six months, Dani is not about to let anyone call her fame-hungry.
Speaking to HuffPost UK and other journalists in Majorca, ahead of the new series’ launch, she said: “That sort of thing upsets me because it’s not a fame thing for me. When I did ‘Survival’ I was only on it for one day… having another opportunity is one I wouldn’t turn down.
“It’s not for fame - my family have always been in the industry. It’s not like they go from show, to show, to show.
“I’m single, I haven’t been in a relationship for a couple of years, so it’s not a fame thing. That annoys me.”
Dani had long been rumoured for ‘Love Island’, but shot down reports she had signed up during an appearance on ‘Good Morning Britain’ after leaving ‘Survival Of The Fittest’.
And while some may question now if she was lying, Dani revealed she only got the offer from ‘Love Island’ bosses a few weeks ago, and even then she took some cajoling.
“It was a few weeks before and they asked me in to a meeting about it,” she explained. “When I first come off Survival, I’d just hurt my shoulder. I didn’t get offered Love Island. That was not a thing straight away for me.
“I had the meeting with them, and I was like, ‘Maybe, I’ll have a think about it.’ Then I went home, had a few chats with people - friends and family - and they were like, ‘what have you really got to lose?’ I said maybe next year’s, but they said I wouldn’t know where I’d be next year, why not do it now when the opportunity is in front of you?”
Speaking of family, much has been made in the press already about her dad’s reaction to her taking part in the show, and while she has vowed not to have sex on TV, her dad has given her his blessing.
“I personally would not have sex on TV. That is not a thing for me,“ she insisted. “Whoever does it, I will have a chat with the girl about it. I don’t care. But on a personal level, it’s just not something I’d do.
“On ‘Survival’, I said I wouldn’t kiss anyone because it wasn’t that sort of show. I wasn’t up for it back then, but I hadn’t met anyone.
“Obviously with this, it is testing your dating abilities, but if I like someone, of course I’m going to kiss him.”
She continued: “Dad said just to be yourself and have a good time, and don’t be a melt around boys because I’m not experienced when it comes to dating.
“My dad’s open and he’s like ‘Dan, you’ve got to do what you want to do and what makes you happy’ - he’s not sat there with a rulebook. But obviously because he is in the limelight, I wouldn’t want to do anything that can go back on him. But we’ll see.
“Because I haven’t been in there yet or experienced anything yet I can’t really say. So he’s just said go and do what you got to do.”
Of her mum Jo Mas’s reaction, she added: “Oh, she loves it! She calls herself Kris Jenner, doesn’t she? A very Canning Town Kris Jenner - she wears combat trousers and that. She loves all that!”
One thing Dani did admit she is worried about is how she is going to broach the topic of Danny being her dad with her fellow Islanders, given it is bound to spark a flurry of memes like Marcel Somerville did during last year’s series, when he liked to tell people he used to be in Blazin’ Squad.
“I don’t want to be the new Marcel!” she laughed. “I know [the show’s narrator Iain Stirling] is going to get off on that.
“The thing is, it is always going to be cringey, of course it is. People are always going to cringe, but he is my dad and I can’t really do much about it. That said, I’m not going to go out and scream about it.”
Dani also teased Danny could make an appearance when the Islanders’ parents pay a visit to the villa later in the series, but only if his work schedule allows it.
“I don’t know so much about my dad because of work and that - he doesn’t get to say, ‘Oh, I’m just coming over’. And obviously the whole BBC/ITV thing, you know?
“My mum would definitely come in, with my nan if my my dad didn’t. I think he would.”
‘Love Island’ kicks off on Monday at 9pm on ITV2.