Danny Dyer has responded to fans’ shock about developments with his Rivals character in the second half of season two.
Over the course of the show, viewers have fallen in love with Danny’s character, Freddie Jones, and found themselves rooting for him in his affair with Katherine Parkinson’s Lizzie Vereker.
As a result, many fans were surprised and disappointed to see Freddie in a romantic clinch with his wife, Valerie, when the trailer for the latest instalments of Rivals was released back in September.
During a new interview with Digital Spy, Danny conceded that it did “come out of the blue” to see Freddie and Valerie becoming intimate again.
He pointed out that Freddie and Valerie “don’t have sex”, and, in fact, he “sort of repulses her in a way”.
The former EastEnders star went on to say that “we do go into this a bit with Freddie and Lizzie” later in the season.
“[Lizzie] finds out that [they’re] having sex and gets a bit jealous, even though she is married to someone else,” he claimed.
“That’s what makes it interesting, by the way. She’s married to someone, I am married too. We’re not meant to be together.”
Speaking to Disney ahead of the series, return, Danny said of Freddie and Valerie’s love scene: “Episode seven is a mad episode for Freddie because he probably hasn’t had sex with Valerie in a long time.
“And then he has that moment with Lizzie, goes home and Val’s laying there like a little broken bird. She’s upset because she really liked Monica, even though Monica hated her. Valerie’s not really good at reading the room.
“Freddie gets in bed in satin pyjamas, in satin sheets with a satin quilt – he comforts her and is shocked when she wants a ‘special cuddle’, as she calls it. So, that’s when the guilt starts coming in, because he does love Val, of course he does. He doesn’t love her the way he loves Lizzie, and Val is pretty horrendous to him and the children, but she has this vulnerable moment, and he tells her she’s very loveable.”
On Freddie’s complicated situation, he added: “It should be complicated. It’s complicated because it’s people in their late 40s finding their soulmate, but they’re already married with children, so like, what do you do?
“You’re only here once, do you just stay in the marriage and not break people’s hearts, or do you break your own heart? That’s the question.”
Rivals continues on Wednesdays on Disney+.
