How decade-long bitter feud between Danny Dyer and Mark Wright was smoothed over… despite 2016 brawl
THE explosive fight between hardman actor Danny Dyer and ex Towie star Mark Wright was the talk of V festival back in 2016, I remember it well.
The brawl resulted in both parties having to keep a wide berth, Danny having a black eye and wife Jo hiding in her tent, as they were supposed to be celebrating their stag and hen dos.
I remember Jo telling me at the time she just wanted to enjoy headliner Justin Bieber.
But when I saw Danny, now 47, jubilant after having just won a prestigious gong, chatting away to Mark’s sister Jess, 39, in the smoking area at the Bafta TV awards earlier this month, it was clear that the decade-long rift between the two influential families was over.
Now, in an exclusive interview with Danny’s missus Jo, she has revealed that it is in fact friendly Jess, a mainstay on the showbiz circuit, who has helped smooth over the rift.
She explained: “There is no beef with them. We don’t see them, but Danny has seen Jess a lot.
“He sees her at the gym and he saw her at an event a couple of weeks ago and Jess was there and they were cool, they speak. There is nothing there.”
Not only is Jo happy for Mark and wife Michelle Keegan’s new baby, but she loves their choice of name so much she wishes daughter Dani had named one of her granddaughters Palma.
She said: “Do you know what I love? I love the name Palma. I said to Dani, ‘Oh my god, why did we not name your little girls Palma. That’s where my dad is from.”
Peacemaker Jess and Danny’s eldest daughter Dani, 28, who is due to marry West Ham Utd star Jared Bowen later this year even follow each other on Instagram and regularly message.
Nowadays the pair are much more family friendly with Mark presenting his own show on Heart FM, and Danny starring in corporate Disney+ drama Rivals.
A showbiz insider tells me: “Danny and Mark have both grown up a lot since the clash and don’t have any bad blood. In fact, quite the opposite, they’re both family men, who look out for their own and have a fair bit of respect for each other.
“They’re both self made and work hard to support their families. Danny thinks Jess is sweet as she always makes an effort to say hi and has a smile on her face.
“They live fairly near to each other in Essex and see each other’s clan at showbiz parties.
“That’s no bad blood, but that’s not to say there wouldn’t be a bit of banter on the football pitch if they ever get reunited at a charity football match, they both love football and have played for Soccer Aid before.
“Essex blokes are always going to be full of bravado, but you can count on the women to be the peacemakers and smooth things over.”
Their bitter feud erupted over a decade ago, when movie hardman Danny, the Dyers’ patriarch, bad-mouthed Mark during a 2013 interview while noting his utter disgust at once being mistaken for him and mocking his rival’s lofty acting ambitions.
Mark’s not up my street. He’ll never be a mate of mine. Good luck to him, just stay away from me Danny Dyer
Danny said: “I got mistaken for Mark Wright once. In a café. It put me right off my beans.
“I don’t know him, but he’s everything I hate about this whole celebrity world.
“It’s mainly because of some of his quotes saying he wants to be the next James Bond. If he’s the next James Bond, it’s over for me. It’s the arrogance of it all — it irritates me.”
He added: “Mark’s not up my street. He’ll never be a mate of mine. Good luck to him, just stay away from me.”
Years later, during a charity football match, the fallout turned physical after Mark slapped Danny in a changing room.
The ugly altercation was made public by Mark’s brother Josh, who reacted to Danny having a fresh pop at the ex-Towie star, who is also a DJ on HeartFM and appeared in adverts for a yoghurt brand.
Writing on Twitter, he joked: “My worst nightmare would be listening to Heart FM while eating an Oykos yoghurt. It would be like p***ing razor blades.”
Ex-footballer Josh replied: “You must still be hurting from when Mark gave you a slap in the changing room that day. Get over it you melt.”
Danny then informed his followers that the slap happened at a “charity football match for terminally ill children” and accused Mark of hiding behind his dad after the slap.
He added: “What a geezer. My bird hits harder.”
Josh replied: “Not sure it happened like that mate, you ran your mouth as always and pushed him into corner so he protected himself by slapping you.”
Danny responded: “We all know what happened. He took a bang liberty. End of. He ain’t a bit on me. Crack on.”
Mark only got away with it, Danny said, as “there was kids waiting outside with months to live”.
But animosity between the pair really blew up in the battlegrounds of Chelmsford, at the 2016 V Festival, when the former EastEnders’ favourite was attacked by five of Mark’s pals in front of his daughter Love Island Dani, who was just 20 at the time, shocking fellow revellers swigging free booze in the event’s notorious Louder Lounge VIP section.
‘Complete carnage’
Danny was enjoying his joint stag and hen do ahead of his wedding to wife Jo, 48, and was left with a nasty black eye. Mark was in the toilet at the time.
The fight was allegedly sparked by Dani, who called Mark a “c***”.
A witness said: “I saw a young woman shouting at three men, calling them c***s over and over again.
“She was screaming, ‘Mark Wright is a c***!’
“Then Danny came round the corner to intervene and I saw him throw a punch at one of them.”
Danny’s onscreen son on EastEnders, Danny “Boy” Hatchard, piled in and started throwing punches, as Dani continued with her verbal attack.
Another eyewitness described the scenes as “complete carnage”.
Danny is not an aggressive person. He wouldn’t have wanted to fight anyone. They’ve ganged up on him Jo
Speaking about the incident at the time Jo said: “Danny is not an aggressive person. He wouldn’t have wanted to fight anyone. They’ve ganged up on him.
“There were five guys against one and Danny still went for them. But the most f***ing disgusting thing is it was all in front of my 20-year-old daughter. They’re a bunch of talentless Essex t***s.”
Mark attempted to play down the fight on social media, but Danny hit back: “No. True. Where was ya?? Do you wanna declare who ya snakey 2 Bob mates are??
“Especially the 1 squaring up to my Dani. No daughter should have 2 see their old man being toe-punted in the nut by 5 complete p****s.”
Later, Danny shared a picture of Mark and a group of his friends, with the caption: “Friends eh. How to ruin ya pals career before it had even started. Legends. Other than that I had a proper night. X.”
Maybe we’ll see them supporting their beloved West Ham together soon…
