Danny Dyer, soap tough guy and host of The Wall, was bullied during his childhood.
The EastEnders favourite, 44, opened up about being a victim of homophobia when he was younger.
Danny, who is not gay, revealed he came in for strife from his peers at school in his second autobiography, released in 2016.
He said his enthusiasm for performance led some of his friends to brand him with bigoted slurs.
Danny Dyer: What has he revealed about being bullied during his childhood?
An extract from the soap star’s The World According to Danny Dyer: Life Lessons from the East End was published in the Mirror in November 2015.
The passage included Danny’s views on growing up in a time when discrimination was rife.
However, he feels the people he grew up who were racist were “narrow-minded” rather than “bad”.
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Nonetheless, Danny maintains he suffered from homophobia from those mates who equated acting with being gay.
Offering an insight into his tormentors’ mindset, Danny wrote: “There is no difference between the two. The bullying I got was sometimes horrible.”
Anti-gay slurs hurled at Danny Dyer
Danny went on to explain he was labelled “actress” and “poofter” among other insults.
He continued: “It got so bad that I stopped telling people anything I was doing and used to sneak off to the acting and slide on back over the maisonettes smoking weed before anyone could even tell. It was like living two lives.
It got so bad that I stopped telling people anything I was doing.
“I’m not saying it made my life hell, just difficult.”
‘Proud’ Danny
Back in 2014, Danny said during an interview with Attitude that he was “proud” if his soap storyline with Mick Carter’s on screen son Johnny had helped any young men struggling with coming out.
However, he did admit to being surprised at being regarded as a gay icon.
Danny reflected: “I don’t know about this gay icon title I’ve been given.
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“I know some gay men look up to me for some of the movies and plays I have done and they have always supported me quietly.
“I suppose being on EastEnders they are thinking, well done. We always knew you had it in you.”
The Wall is on BBC One, Saturday March 12, at 7pm.
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