Danny Dyer joked he should marry Bowen instead as daughter Dani wed West Ham striker

Danny Dyer declared he was “in love” with West Ham striker Jarrod Bowen and joked the footballer was “marrying the wrong Danny Dyer” ahead of Bowen’s 2025 wedding to his daughter Dani.

The Football Factory actor, a lifelong West Ham supporter, made no secret of his admiration for his son-in-law after Dani, 30, and Bowen, 29, announced their engagement in 2024. The couple had already welcomed twin daughters Star and Summer a year earlier, having met in 2021.

“I think I’m in love with him,” Danny told Closer magazine ahead of the nuptials. “He plays for West Ham and he’s unbelievable, this guy. He comes in my house, I take his shoes off for him and I give him the remote control, and I say, ‘Mate, this is your house now.’ He’s an incredible person.”

Danny went further, suggesting no future partner of his younger daughter could ever measure up. “She could bring home a heart surgeon or somebody who cures cancer and I’ll go, ‘Well, really? Jarrod’s got the winning goal in a European final.’ I couldn’t have written a better script. He’s just such a beautiful man.”

That winning goal — Bowen’s late strike that sealed West Ham’s 2-1 victory over Fiorentina in the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League final — cemented his status as a club icon. The win prompted supporters to belt out their well-known explicit chant about Bowen and Dani, set to the tune of Gala’s Freed from Desire, with Bowen himself filmed jumping up and down to the song in the celebrations.

Danny gave the chant a cleaner edit for his father-of-the-bride speech at the wedding, leading guests in a version that swapped the expletive for “and he’s married Dani Dyer.”

Bowen has remained committed to West Ham despite the club’s relegation from the Premier League last season, signing a new contract and starting the EFL Championship campaign in strong form.

Dani, meanwhile, returns to television on Saturday when she makes her second attempt at Strictly Come Dancing after a serious injury forced her out of last year’s series before the live shows began. “If I’m really honest, my biggest fear is getting injured again,” she said. “I’m going to do everything I can to look after myself, stay positive.”