Celebs Go Dating: Dean Gaffney wants fans to see him "not Robbie"
Former EastEnders star Dean Gaffney has revealed the real reason he signed up for E4 reality series Celebs Go Dating – and it's not just because it "pays well". (Although that helps, we're sure.)
Dean, whose character Robbie Jackson was written out of the BBC One soap last year, admitted that he was struggling to find love, complaining that it gets "harder when you're older" to commit to the dating scene.
"I don't want to be in a club these days, it's about a good bottle of wine and a nice meal now," he added (via The Mirror).
Related: EastEnders' Dean Gaffney doesn't want his daughters to go on Love Island: "It's not right"
It's not all about the romance, though, as Dean also confessed that he signed up to the series so he could show fans "Dean rather than Robbie", hopeful that any questions about Albert Square or Wellard will be kept to a minimum.
"This show pays well", he then added, before revealing his daughters had given him strict instructions not to do anything embarrassing: "They were the first people I asked before I signed up to do the show, they were like, 'Dad, just don't embarrass us'."
The actor quietly left EastEnders last year, with his exit from the soap confirmed back in October. In somewhat low-key scenes, Robbie Jackson was seen jetting off to India to visit his son Sami.
Related: Celebs Go Dating coach Anna Williamson welcomes her second child
Dean will be joining a brand new cohort of stars hoping to turn their love life around with the help of Celebs Go Dating's trusted agency, including the likes of This Morning presenter Alison Hammond, Love Island's Amy Hart, and Made in Chelsea's Olivia Bentley.
Celebs Go Dating returns Monday, February 24 at 9pm on E4.
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