Danny Dyer will present Channel 4’s Alternative Christmas Message this year and will use the appearance to share his wisdom on relationships, his considered views on the future of the UK, and to reflect on his friendship with the late playwright Harold Pinter.
His speech – scheduled to air against the Queen’s message at 3pm on Christmas Day – will cap off a year in which the Brexit-voting actor was repeatedly in the headlines after calling former prime minister David Cameron a “twat” on national television and celebrating his daughter Dani Dyer winning Celebrity Love Island.
Channel 4 has produced an alternative message for the last 25 years, inviting a celebrity or newsworthy figure to reflect on the past year.
The EastEnders actor will use his message to complain about Donald Trump being an “an absolute melt” and criticise the state of the British government. “That shambles down in Westminster, what a palava that is. I mean where are our leaders? Where are they? There’s been more backstabbing than we have in Albert Square.”
He will also urge members of the public to find someone to look up to in their private lives: “That’s what I think we need more of, heroes, role models. If we need anything for 2019, it’s for each of us to find who we look up to. Could be your mum, could be your dad, your stepdad, your nan, teacher, social worker. Maybe even a handsome roguish actor off your favourite soap.”
The actor says his personal hero was Pinter, who took the young Dyer under his wing in the early 2000s, directing him in several stage productions before the actor became famous for playing a hooligan in The Football Factory.
Dyer says that Pinter was the “father figure I didn’t even know I needed” and taught him “that where I came from didn’t dictate where I went to”.
He said he had passed the playwright’s advice on to his children, including Dani Dyer, the winner of this year’s Love Island.
“I teach my girls they can be who they want to be, and I try and teach my boy to be a good man. Now don’t get me wrong, I ain’t no saint, you know, I can do better. I think we can all do better. And as dads, we can’t stop trying to do better until there’s no need for hashtags to remind us that no means no.
“Life can get a little stressful and we might get on each other’s nerves a bit, but remember how much there is to be proud of, to be grateful of, and get yourself a Harold, you know, if you can … Merry Christmas, my loves.”
