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Danny Dyer to host Channel 4’s Alternative Christmas Message

Danny Dyer will host Channel 4’s ‘Alternative Christmas Message’ this year.
The ‘EastEnders’ actor will use his speech – which will be broadcast on Christmas Day (25.12.18) at 3pm, going up against Queen Elizabeth’s annual message – to compare the "backstabbing" in the government to the goings-on on the BBC One soap.
In a teaser clip posted on Channel 4’s YouTube channel, he says: "This year has been pretty full-on to be honest. Like that shambles down in Westminster, what a palaver that is.
"I mean, where are our leaders? Where are they? There’s been more backstabbing than we have in Albert Square."
He will also take aim at US President Donald Trump, describing him as an "absolute melt" after the politician cancelled a visit to a cemetery in France in November "due to the weather".
Danny says: "It ain’t any better for the Yanks though, is it? What an absolute melt they’ve got there.
"He don’t want to turn up to memorials because it’s raining. He don’t fancy a little trip to Britain because there’s people here that just don’t like him. Leave off."
The ‘Football Factory’ star will also pay tribute to one of his heroes, late playwright Harold Pinter – who died in 2008 aged 78 – describing him as a "father figure I didn’t even know I needed".
He says: "My dad … he weren’t around when I was a kid. And er, you know, I love him and that, I don’t blame him.
"I was brought up by my mum and my nan, and they were brilliant women, and they worked their socks off for me, but I was angry, and I got into trouble, you know.
"I had the Old Bill round my gaff every five minutes. I was a wrong un."
Channel 4 have broadcast their ‘Alternative Christmas Message’ every year since 1993, with the likes of Sharon Osbourne, Katie Piper, Jamie Oliver and a team of midwives from documentary series ‘One Born Every Minute’ all delivering messages over the years.
Last year, five young survivors from the tragic Grenfell Tower disaster – which occurred when a London tower block burst into flames in June 2017, resulting in 72 deaths – read out an emotional speech.