By Elizabeth Cotton

Copyright manchestereveningnews

Strictly Come Dancing is back on our screens and now 15 new celebrities will be taking on the BBC ballroom week after week, in the hopes of winning over the judges and the viewers at home. Dani Dyer was among the first celebrities to be revealed for the upcoming series and said in a statement: “Getting the opportunity to be on Strictly is the second most amazing thing I’ve done this year! I feel very very blessed and cannot wait to get my dancing shoes on.” The 29-year-old star first found fame on ITV’s dating show Love Island back in 2018. From the beginning she coupled up with pen salesman Jack Fincham. They were a hit with the public, and ended up winning the show and the £50,000 prize pot. However, less than a year after the show ended, the couple announced their split. This year, Jack revealed that the break-up was largely down to his struggles with drug addiction, alcohol, and gambling, which led to poor priorities and a significant toll on his mental health. Following Love Island, Dani’s career in television skyrocketed with appearances on Celebrity Googglebox, Celebrity MasterChef. She also co-fronted the travel series Absolutely Dyer: Danny & Dani Do Italy with her soap star father. Her dad, Danny Dyer, is best known for his role as Mick Carter in the BBC soap opera EastEnders , a character he played from December 2013 to December 2022. Dani shared how much Danny comes to see her children, as she admitted: “He always wants to see the kids. If he’s not seen them for a few days, he’ll be ringing me saying, ‘Are you in? I want to come over’, or he’ll pick up Santi from nursery for me or come over and cook me dinner. “He’s so supportive and so loving, he’s such an emotional man and since he’s become a grandad, he’s even more emotional.” The father and daughter duo also have their own podcast, Live and Let Dyers. It offers a candid glimpse into their family life with them often sharing stories and experiences with each other. After her split from Jack, Dani ended up in a long-term relationship with Sammy Kimmence. She had her first child, Santiago, with him but Sammy was imprisoned for defrauding pensioners back in 2021. However, things turned around for the TV star as that same year she started dating her neighbour, West Ham footballer Jarrod Bowen. They tied the knot in in May this year in a Bridgerton-style wedding ceremony in Buckinghamshire. Talking about how they first met, Dani shared: “I’ve never really spoken about this. I moved into the house I was in with Santi and he was only a few months old. “It was a really small, cute little neighbourhood. I loved that house. People were like ‘oh, Jarrod Bowen lives next door’ but I didn’t follow football at the time, just wasn’t interested in football. “Then he knocked on my door a couple of times because my parcels went there. I remember the first time I opened the door… you know what it’s like, slicked-back hair… and I opened the door and I didn’t know this is Jarrod Bowen and he was hot. Blue eyes, blonde hair, a bit of me.” The couple now have two twin girls who they welcomed in 2024, Summer and Star.