Pregnant Dani Dyer admits she’s ‘petrified’ about having twins with Jarrod Bowen as she reveals funny parenting concern
SHE may be only 26, but heavily pregnant Dani Dyer does not feel it.
Already mum to two-year-old son Santiago, the TV presenter is expecting twins this summer with her footballer boyfriend Jarrod Bowen, 26 – and she’s exhausted.
“Oh my god, the bags under your eyes are permanent,” she says. “The first trimester was really difficult. I was absolutely exhausted.
“I felt so sick and I couldn’t really eat much. One day, I cried because I was too tired to fold a towel!
“But it’s hard because you can’t say to your toddler: ‘I can’t be your mum today, I don’t feel great. Off you go.’
“Everyone told me: ‘Dan, enjoy your first pregnancy, because your second is going to be so different’.
“And it is, because you’re looking after someone else and if you’re tired, you still have to get up and go.”
Despite her protests, Dani looks radiant. She’s currently dressed in a tight patterned dress from her new Little Mistress capsule collection – she admits she “loves showing off her bump”, so sizes up rather than buying maternity clothes.
During our photo shoot she’s juggling phone calls from her dad, former EastEnders star Danny, AKA “Big Danny”, and Jarrod to work out childcare for Santi.
“Of course, with identical twin girls on the way, the juggle is going to get a lot more difficult.
“We really wanted a baby, but twins was a massive surprise,” she admits. “It was such a shock.
“I was lying there at the 11-week scan thinking it would be the same as with Santi and then [the sonographer] said: ‘Oh, twin pregnancy!’ and I was like: ‘No it’s not.’
“We went back and forward a few times and she said: ‘It is,’ and she got them up on the screen. We just giggled then. It was the best day ever.
“Jarrod has twins in his family, but identical twins can happen to anyone. My best friend is having them as well. We’re both in sync, which is really weird.”
Having one baby can be a lot for anyone, so how does Dani feel about the daunting task of having two at once?
She confesses: “It’s such a blessing and I’m so grateful, but I’m not going to lie, I’m petrified!
“Sleep deprivation is the worst. It’s a form of torture in some countries and I can totally see why.
“You’re just so tired. Santi was a nightmare for a good five months. I used to rock him to sleep and think: ‘I am never doing this again.’
“It’s going to be tough, but I know it’ll get better when they settle. Whereas in the beginning [with Santi], I thought: ‘I’m never going to sleep again. This is it.’”
Her concerns include the babies always crying and the fear that she won’t be able to tell them apart. So she’s come up with an ingenious solution.
“I follow a lady on Instagram who still doesn’t know which baby is which,” she laughs. “I know I’m going to keep their hospital bands on with their names, baby one and baby two.
“Then I’m going to paint one of their toenails. I’ll write in my notes: ‘This baby is called… and has a pink nail.’ Otherwise, they’ll go years and they won’t know who they really are,” she laughs.
“In the beginning I think I’ll dress them the same. But then as they get older, I want them to have their own identity, even if it’s the same jumper in different colours.
“I’m going to try to breastfeed them, too. If I’m stressed and not enjoying it, I’ll always have formula in the cupboard. One of my friends couldn’t breastfeed her first, then with her second she was like a cow.”
It’s lovely to see her so happy after a tumultuous few years. Dani – who won Love Island in 2018 with Jack Fincham, 31, before the couple split the following year – had always dreamed of having the perfect family.
She then rekindled her relationship with stockbroker and amateur footballer Sammy Kimmence for the third time, and the pair welcomed baby Santiago in January 2021.
But just six months after Santiago was born, her world fell apart when Kimmence, 26, was convicted of conning two pensioners out of £34,000 and jailed for three and a half years, and the couple split.
Just as she was facing life as a single mum and feeling lower than ever, Jarrod swept her off her feet. It’s clear she’s found her soulmate in him.
She grins: “We’ve been together nearly two years. It’s just been the best time ever.
I adore him. I really do love him. He’s one of my really good friends. You need that. You need a friend and also a boyfriend.
We have a laugh together. He’s also so fit, which is quite nice as well!”
She says her love for him has only deepened watching him with her son, and with how he’s treated her during pregnancy.
“Jarrod’s amazing,” she says. “He is looking after me. I cannot fault that boy. He’s so good. I potter around the house and he says: ‘Just sit down and relax.’ He makes me rest.
“And he’s so good with Santi, they have an incredible bond. He came into his life at seven months – so he missed the hard bit! But he did the nappies, and he’ll bath and feed him, he knows all of it. He’s going to be incredible with the babies.
“He‘s just made to be a dad, and he’s so excited. When he found out they were girls, he was like: ‘Oh my god, two girls will have me wrapped around their fingers!’”
It’s unlikely Dani could find a guy who is more her family’s type on paper.
With Jarrod currently the star winger for West Ham United – the team her dad famously supports – he was always going to get the seal of approval, and Danny has even confessed he was “starstruck” the first time his daughter introduced him to Jarrod.
“I think at the beginning he was,” she laughs. “I never really followed football and Dad did. But now, obviously, I watch it. But it must be weird for him. He watched Jarrod play and all of a sudden he’s round his house, so it must be a bit surreal.
“It’s taken years for him to really like one of my boyfriends. Now he really loves Jarrod. We have such a good relationship with the family. My mum [Jo Mas] loves him.
“I think you really need that. And I’m so close with my dad, he’s one of my best friends in the world. It’s really nice that everyone just gets on.”
Of course, there is a slight element of awkwardness in the form of the chant that Hammers fans have started singing every time Jarrod scores, the lyrics to which are “Bowen’s on fire and he’s f**king Dani Dyer!”
“I don’t even know how it came about,” Dani laughs. “We had only just been seeing each other and I had loads of my friends messaging me about it.
“I was like: ‘Oh my god!’ We found it funny. I went to one away game and they were all filming me and singing the song. I was thinking: ‘What do I do? Do I sing it?’
“My dad does join in. He said we had to and it’s a compliment. I was like: ‘OK, we’ll take it as that.’ But it’s a football chant, so it could be a lot worse. It was funny, someone commented online: ‘Which Danny is he sleeping with?’ God, imagine that. Well, that would be a different story!
“I didn’t realise how much I like football until I went out with a footballer. You look at it from a different perspective as a girlfriend rather than a fan. It’s more emotional.
“You just want them to do well. If they lose a game, you think: ‘How is it going to affect them?’ Some games will really affect him, and if they lose he’ll be really gutted.
“But he’s good at waking up the next day and being absolutely positive. If that was me, I would be crying for days. He says: ‘That’s life, pick yourself back up.’ I like that about Jarrod.”
With the pair so loved-up, the family’s big seal of approval, and twins on the way, will the next step be tying the knot?
“I’ve always wanted to get married,” Dani says. “Everyone wants the fairy tale. We’re having twins together, so I’m sure it will be on the cards in the future.
“I’m pretty chill with it all. I know it will happen one day. To be honest, one of my friends is getting married and it sounds so stressful. I would be a bridezilla until the day I walked down that aisle. There’s time for marriage when the babies are older.”
Rather than veils and table settings, Dani is more interested in curtains and paint swatches, as the pair have just bought their first home together.
“We live together now, but this will be our first house together,” she explains.
“It’ll be nice to make new memories there. I love all of the interior things. We get to add all of the girl touches, all those little things. I said: ‘I want a bathroom that’s pink and a big wardrobe,’ and he just said: ‘Oh my god.’
“But this is it. Honestly, I can’t move any more. I just can’t. This is like my fourth time moving in four years. I’m trying to get organised, but it’s harder because I’m carrying so much more weight. “
But we’re excited, especially about the nursery. Right now, we’re living out of boxes, so I can’t order too much. It’ll be nice once we’re in.”
And are they planning on filling this house with lots of kids?
“Oh no,” she declares. “My mum said: ‘You’re not done.’ No, Mum, I am!
I’ve already had to get a bigger car. I’ve got a seven-seater now. I’m basically an Addison Lee driver. Between me and my friend, we’ll have six kids. We’re never going to be able to go out for dinner ever again. We joke that we can kiss goodbye to our friendship!”
There’s been no rest for Dani as she’s been filming her first documentary, Dani Dyer: Is This Anxiety? – which airs next month on E4 and All4 – investigating the link between pregnancy and anxiety.
She explains: “It’s taken a good eight months to film.
“It’s my first documentary and it was hard. It was really emotional and, for me, if someone is sad, I take it home with me. Some of the journeys these women have been on are heartbreaking.”
The documentary is particularly poignant for Dani because she suffered her own struggles while expecting Santi.
“I never had anxieties about my health until I was pregnant. Then I just had all these worries appear.
“I’d constantly be like: ‘Is he going to be OK?’ I just created these issues in my brain that didn’t even exist.
“All I did was worry. It really took the fun away from those early days, because I was constantly comparing.
“I decided to do a documentary about this because I’m passionate about it. I just want to know what’s normal and the differences between anxiety, baby blues and postnatal depression.
“I speak to mental health midwives, who explain how it’s OK to worry when you are pregnant. It’s been incredible to learn how it can really affect women on a day-to-day basis.
“I’ve had anxiety before, but never to the extreme I had it when I was pregnant. It was exploring that and meeting new mums and learning their experiences.
“And it’s definitely helped me, too.”
When Dani started working on the show, she had no idea that she was actually expecting herself.
“We were midway through and I was like: ‘I’m pregnant.’ That really changed the way I felt about it. It’s been good to share all my feelings about that on camera.
“I hope it can help a lot of women and show them they can open up and talk. It’s helped me. It’s been a real journey for me.”
- Watch Absolutely Dyer: Danny And Dani Do Italy tonight, 9pm on E4 and All4.
Fabulous Parenting Club
What’s been your biggest win?
My little boy turning one. The first year is such a celebration.
And the biggest parenting fail?
Not having spare clothes on me at all times, because if I don’t bring them, he will get dirty.
Any top tips?
Enjoy it, because it goes quickly. It’s an emotional journey – good and bad.
Is there anything you wish you’d known before having a baby?
I wish I’d enjoyed more lie-ins while I still could!
Who’s your parenting inspo?
My mum and dad. They’re chalk and cheese, but it works. They had me at 18, but were more relaxed than I am now.