Fans ofDeath in Paradise were disappointed to hear that Danny John-Jules wouldn't be reprising his role as Officer Dwayne Myers in the eighth series of the show, which will air on Thursday night on BBC One. His former cast mates have now spoken about his exit for the first time, with Josephine Jobert (Florence Cassell) admitting that it was "weird" not having the Strictly Come Dancing star around.
© Photo: BBCDanny left the show ahead of season eight
Chatting to Digital Spy, she said: "It felt a bit weird, because he's been here since the very beginning. His character was very strong and very important. But [his replacement, Shyko Amos] is perfect. It's the best choice – her, and her character. People are going to love her, for sure. It feels like she's been on the show forever." Ardal O'Hanlon, who similarly replaced Kris Marshall as the show's lead, agreed, explaining: "We’re all dispensable. Absolutely, when I heard that Danny was leaving, I thought, 'Hmm. How will that play? How will the audience take that?' Because he’s a very popular character in the show, and he’s been there since the start as well, so there’s that. But we’ve seen time and time again that the show survives these cast changes."
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Danny played Dwayne in the series since 2011, before leaving ahead of season eight. Speaking about leaving the series, he told TV Times: "I left Death in Paradise because I wanted to get back on stage. I needed a bit more razzmatazz in my life, and then along came Strictly! I haven't done a [stage] show for more than 20 years, so this is as close as I'm going to get to doing the jazz hands again. I've also been working on my one-man show about Sammy Davis Jnr, that's why I'm always wearing a bowler hat!"
READ: Find out everything you need to know about Danny John-Jules
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