EastEnders star Danny Hatchard hits back at Michael Greco after "classless" drunk acting jibe

EastEnders' Danny Hatchard clapped back at former soap star Michael Greco for comments made about his acting online. Greco starred in the BBC soap from 1998 to 2002 as Beppe di Marco, while Hatchard has played Lee Carter on and off since 2014, returning to the soap this year as part of his sister Nancy Carter's shock baby plotline.

Despite never sharing EastEnders scenes, Greco had plenty to say about Hatchard's acting in the show, responding to a post on X showing Carter drunkenly stumbling through Walford.

He wrote: "The art of playing drunk is to try and be as sober as you can. This is everything that is wrong."

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Hatchard responded to Greco's criticism on his Instagram page, labelling his comment "disappointing and classless" and urging others to "be kind".

Sharing the post and Greco's comment, he wrote: "Disappointing and classless behaviour from a man I once respected.

"Having been in this business for over 15 years, I’ve developed a pretty thick skin. I’ve also learned that for every hater, there are a hundred people showing love and support. Those are the people I choose to focus my energy on.

"But scrolling past someone I once respected jumping on a hateful bandwagon to publicly criticise a fellow actor’s work, based on a nine second clip shared by a troll on X, completely stripped of context, is a level of disrespect I genuinely struggle to understand."

He continued: "We work in an industry where we should be supporting one another, not tearing each other down for a few likes.

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"I’m just grateful I’m no longer in my early twenties, because back then, something like this would have absolutely destroyed my confidence.

"Anyway, onwards. More fuel in the tank, more lessons learned and more motivation to keep growing. Remember to be kind, folks. Even if you are Beppe."

Greco apologised in the comment section, admitting there was "no need" for his original post.

"I apologise for my comment. Was no need for it," he responded. "Should’ve been the bigger man and seen the bigger picture. I haven't watched Eastenders for many years so I don’t even know who you were or what I was commenting on. No need for it."

EastEnders airs on Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.

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