Danny Dyer doesn’t let his kids open any presents until they have each eaten a Brussels sprout in front of him.
The ‘EastEnders’ actor is a huge fan of the leaf vegetables, which are a Christmas eating tradition, and admits he doesn’t wait until the festive period to sink some sprouts, but he likes to encourage his offspring to have some at this time of year.
Danny – who has children Dani, 23, Sunnie, 12, and six-year-old Arty with wife Jo Mas – said: "I love a Brussels sprout. I don’t wait until Christmas. I’ll have a Brussels on a Tuesday, or a Wednesday.
"What we always do at Christmas dinner is the kids have to have one, and they’ve got to eat it in front of me.
"They’ve got to chew it and swallow it. Or they don’t get to open up any presents."
Danny – who plays Mick Carter on ‘EastEnders’ – has also looked back on his favourite-ever Christmas present, admitting one that sticks in his memory is a pogo stick he received in the 1980s – but he was "useless" at using it.
Speaking on an ‘EastEnders’ Instagram video, he said: "The best Christmas present I was ever given … I was born in 1977, so I was an 80s kid really.
"I got a pogo stick. I used to see the adverts on the telly, seeing people doing flips and jumping around on them.
"And I got one, and I was useless."
And Danny’s Albert Square co-star Emma Barton (Honey Mitchell) has admitted the worst Christmas present she received was an album of panpipe music.
She said: "The worst Christmas present I had one year was a CD of panpipe music.
"I mean, seriously?"
Danny recently admitted EastEnders’ Christmas special was "difficult to shoot" because there was so much "pressure" on the episode.
He said: "It’s powerful stuff. It’s really powerful.
"It’s difficult to shoot. There’s a lot of pressure on it, and it is weird having all the decorations up. Our decorations went up, end of September.
"The trees on the Square are so confused … it all gets very confusing for them.
"I feel sorry for them trees. Because they don’t quite know what’s going on."
Danny Dyer’s Brussels sprout rule
