Emmerdale’s Danny Miller has celebrated one year of sobriety and has vowed to ‘reinvent’ himself, in a clip shared to Instagram on Friday.
The actor, 35, who is best known for playing Aaron Dingle in the ITV soap, confessed he was the ‘biggest drinker’ within his group of mates.
He recalled how he would be hungover and distant around his children, Albert, four, Edith, two, Vincent, 10 months, who he shares with wife Steph.
Now, keen to turn his life around, he said: ‘Hi, I’m Danny. I’m 35. And today marks one year of sobriety. One year since I last had a drink…
‘One year of reinventing myself for my family, trying to be better for myself, my children, for my wife, for my family…
‘It’s an emotional day for me, because I never in a million years believed this was achievable, genuinely…
Emmerdale’s Danny Miller, 35, has celebrated one year of sobriety and has vowed to ‘reinvent’ himself, in a clip shared to Instagram on Friday
The actor, who is best known for playing Aaron Dingle in the ITV soap (pictured), confessed he was the ‘biggest drinker’ within his group of mates
‘A year to the day. A Friday. That was always the thing that stuck in my mind ‘who gives up drink on a Friday’ – well, me…
‘Steph has been my absolute rock throughout it, despite me itching for a drink every now and again. I’m not an alcoholic by any means.
‘This is to better myself for my family, for my career, for my children. Mainly I wanted them to get the best version of me without me being frustrated that they were there and present when I wasn’t during a hangover.
‘And it became too much, I became distant from them.’
Danny then explained that when they would plan family days out, he would have to check if there was a bar nearby.
‘I’ve now changed,’ Danny affirmed as he captioned the post: ‘If I can do it. So can you! For my kids, my wife, for me. One year, no beer’.
His post comes after he opened up about the devastating impact of his father’s dementia on Good Morning Britain.
He appeared on the ITV show to chat to Susanna Reid, 55, and Ed Balls, 59, about his father Vince.
Danny revealed that his dad had been diagnosed with dementia back in May 2025, and has been very honest about his health, as well as how he deals with the disease as a family member.
‘Dementia is a syndrome (a group of related symptoms) associated with an ongoing decline of brain functioning,’ according to the NHS website.
He recalled how he would be hungover and distant around his children, Albert, four, Edith, two, Vincent, 10 months, whom he shares with wife Steph
‘It’s sad, me and my dad were thick as thieves at one point, and losing him over and over again, it’s awful,’ Danny told the hosts.
Ed brought in his own experience to the chat as his mother Carolyn was diagnosed with dementia in her late 60s, and in 2023, he revealed she had been living with the disease for ‘almost 20 years’.
He said: ‘Those words ‘losing’ are important, you miss the man he was, when you are with your dad there will be moments you will see him flicker of his old self. At the same time, I always feel guilty about this, you’re also slightly in mourning aren’t you?…
‘You feel as though they are alive, but the person you knew, has gone, it’s not the same. There is a loss, isn’t there?’
Danny replied: ‘Absolutely. Over and over again. I live a couple of hours drive from my dad now, which breaks my heart…
‘I have my own family, I have a job in Yorkshire, Emmerdale. Being around in Manchester isn’t easy anymore, so I moved my family up there. It was a really tough thing to do because I am not there as much as I would like to be. I miss him, terribly…
‘The days I do see him, I often get a good visit. I usually find if I play Matt Monro my dad was a comedian, but he was a singer as well.
‘Matt Munro was a friend of his. I played it one day and he pointed and it and said ’10 December 1970 whatever’, I googled it and he was right!
‘It was his birthday when it was released. Then on, it’s a normal thing now, I put it on the side and play and just talk to him normally. I tend to get a better visit. It took us quite a while.’
Susanna asked: ‘Just talk to us, for those who don’t know what it is like to intereact, especially with a parent, what is it like having a conversation with your dad right now?’
Danny explained: ‘There are good days and bad days. There was a time last week where I didn’t know if I would be sat here, he’s up and down with his general health, anyway…
‘But Dementia does make it feel somewhat worse, water infections or urine infections that suddenly make them more confused. Then his health declined, he looked ill, he looked ill.’
Ed asked: ‘Does he sometimes not know it’s not you?’
‘That will break my heart, I’m not there yet. We’re not there yet, luckily, but it will break my heart,’ an emotional Danny confessed.
Ed bravely told Danny: ‘I’ve been there for seven years, and sometimes she won’t speak at all. But you still believe deep within her, I know she watches videos of us on television, I’m sure your dad watches you…
‘Even when they are not speaking, they are still recognising and reacting. I think you always have to find the positive, even when it gets hard.’
Danny continued: ‘It’s tough because I was always ‘This is my son, Danny from Emmerdale’. It was never ‘This is my son, Danny.’
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