23 February 2023 , 16:13
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Danny Dyer and wife Joanne Mas were just 14 years old when they met at school in London's East End.
They dated on and off for four years until Jo fell pregnant and issued Danny an ultimatum - make a proper go of it as a family, or leave and don't come back.
Having grown up without his own father, former EastEnders star Danny chose to stay and be a proper dad to daughter Dani, now 26.
The trio moved into a small flat, but the new father struggled to find work and his relationship with Jo reached breaking point.
"We stuck it out for nearly three years, talking maybe twice a week, the rest of the time blanking each other," he previously told the Irish Independent.
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Danny Dyer landed his breakout role in Human Traffic in 1999 (Rex)"So, one day I'm doing a puzzle on the floor with my little girl and she looked up at me and said, 'Daddy, no more shouting'. I realised I had to get out, even though I promised I never would."
His film career took off thanks to 1999's Human Traffic, and he briefly dated Billie Piper, although it was Jo who he was ultimately drawn back to.
But when he cheated in 2000, Jo kicked him out, changed her phone number, emptied their bank account and refused to let him see their daughter.
"And I didn't blame her," he told The Times in a new interview. "It was a mad period. I do now realise what's important to me are my family. They are everything."
Danny Dyer struggled to find work in the mid-nineties
His relationship with Joanne Mas suffered as a result (Getty)Both moved on with other people, but when Danny started visiting Dani again, old passions fired up and he and Jo embarked on an 'affair'.
Describing how they would 'sneak around like schoolkids', they decided to give it another go for Dani's sake.
Daughter Sunnie was born in 2007, followed by son Arty in 2013, and Danny and Jo made if official by tying the knot in September 2016.
But it wasn't all plain sailing.
Danny has been open about his cheating regrets (Getty Images)
Joanne has forgiven him several timesIn 2009 Danny admitted to cheating on Jo, confessing: "I've done so many things I've regretted.
"I've royally f***** up with my missus. I got caught doing something I shouldn't have.
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"I hate myself for what I did and for being tempted by forbidden fruit."
Then in 2014, their union was rocked by not one, but two scandals.
That January, the Mirror exclusively revealed the actor had been involved in a threesome at a hotel room in Blackpool.
Cara Chamberlain and a female pal bedded the actor who later gave them both "gifts" of his own T-shirts to remember the night.
Danny, Jo and their daughter Dani, who was born when they were just 18 (Getty Images)
The couple tied the knot in 2016 (Dave Benett/Getty Images)A pal said at the time: "Cara is not proud of what happened that night – but at the same time she is not in denial about what went on.
"Danny on the other hand likes to give the impression he bats away girls, but it certainly wasn't the case with her.
"He was even talking about Jo and his kids when he was with Cara.
"He said that they were still together, but it didn't seem to bother him."
In June 2014, this newspaper also told how he got caught cheating after a starstruck student took a picture of him naked.
Danny had a career renaissance thanks to EastEnders (BBC)The actor, who played Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter in EastEnders, honed in on the young brunette at a club and they went back to her bedroom.
The pair swapped numbers after their night together and the student hoped Danny would contact her again – but he never did.
In 2017, Danny moved out of the marital home amid claims he had a fling with late Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding on the set of 2012 movie, Run For Your Wife.
And he was also accused of sending a string of texts and an X-rated snap of himself to a blonde woman on his stag do.
Danny and Sarah Harding allegedly got close on the set of Run For Your WifeAccording to The Sun, he asked the woman to send him 'some filth' because he was feeling 'nawty' during the exchange.
However, an insider claimed Danny was just 'having fun' with the texts, insisting: "He's clearly moved on with his life since then and him and Jo have been getting on well."
Indeed, having undergone therapy for male abandonment issues, the father-of-three previously told The Mirror that the past is well and truly in the past.
Danny pictured with his younger children Sunnie and Arty (mirror.co.uk)"Young men, and I was guilty of it myself, you don't quite know about loyalty and commitment and you just sort of go with whatever your head is telling you and it's not the best decision to make. But you've got to learn that from a young age," he said.
"Me and Jo are going to be together for ever. Abso-f******-lutely. Completely. We will probably renew our wedding vows. I want to see my Dani tie the knot first, whenever that will be.
"We've gone through a lot me and Jo. I take full responsibility for most of our ups-and-downs. Most of the downs, really.
"We've been together since we were 14 so we have spent our whole life together.
"We were parents at 18, we were still babies ourselves but then we were trying to parent from 18 onwards with Dani. So we have gone through a lot together."