Danny Dyer praises wife for standing by him when he 'lost the plot'

Danny Dyer has praised his wife for standing by him through "a lot of s***".

The 46-year-old actor first met Joanne Mas - with whom he has kids Dani, 27, Sunnie, 17, and nine-year-old Arty - at school when they were 13, and they finally tied eight years ago after being on a real "journey" together as they started to live their life in the public eye.

Appearing on the 'How To Fail' podcast, he said: “It f***** my head up when I became really famous. I didn’t quite know what to do with it and I suppose she stood by me for a lot of s*** and had to be very patient with me.

“And of course I do believe in the marriage vows and sickness and health and for better for worse.

"So it’s hard to stay in a relationship for that long with the press attention and with me being a p**** for many years, because I was, I hold my hands up, I lost the plot for many years.”

He pointed out being with someone since being a teenager can be "so rare".

He said: "Because if you think about who you was at 13 and who you are now, to grow with somebody at the same time, at the same rate, and then you throw fame in the mix, and what happened with me, which she never wanted, and she came along for this ride with me, both from the same council estate.”

Joanne keeps him "grounded", and has helped him through difficult times while dealing with her own struggles.

He explained: "I didn’t quite know who I was and I suppose she had to suffer all that on a national level.

"I love her with all my heart. You know, she challenges me every day. She’s kept me very grounded. I’ll tell you that now.”

Back in 2001, he suffered a "major panic attack" after taking drugs and staying out late the night before he performed Harold Pinter's 'Celebration' on Broadway.

He recalled: "I take it very seriously, my work, and I love it, and I strive to be better every night and I’d never got in a situation, I’d heard about people that had dried on stage because it’s a massive thing and all that, and it never happened to me.

“Anyway, I thought that I could sit up all night, smoking crack, and then walk on stage, and of course you can’t f****** do that, it’s a ridiculous idea.”

He forgot his lines on stage and "didn't have a clue what to say", and broke down after going off stage in between scenes.

He added: "I have to come back on again in a bit and I come off stage going, ‘I can’t go back on, I can’t, I just had a major major panic attack’, but I just had to get on with it."

Pinter himself came to give him "a cuddle" and words of comfort, which was a "wake up call".

Danny said: "I have done many plays since (and) that fear has never left me."