Danny Dyer says it was a 'complete shock' to learn Shirley is Mick's mum in EastEnders

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Danny Dyer has confessed he was just as shocked as EastEnders fans to discover Shirley Carter is actually his on-screen mother.

Viewers were left stunned when a drunken Shirley (Linda Henry) blurted out to Phil Mitchell that brother Mick Carter, played by Danny, is in fact her son. And Mick still has no idea of the truth.

But Danny, 36, told Digital Spy: "I did not see it coming at all! It was a complete shock to me.

"This is a massive revelation for the audience, but they've found out a long time before Mick will. I think it's a while off that Mick finds out."

Linda, 51, knew that Danny was going to turn out to be her on-screen son three months before he did.

He revealed: "When I found out, Linda didn't know that I'd been told, so I sent her a little text message saying, 'Hope you're having a good evening, mum!'"

EastEnders fans must now wait to see how Mick reacts when he learns the woman he thought was his sister is actually his mother.

 

– Press Association

Patrick McLennan
Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.