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Dayle Hudson is a British actor. He initially did an apprenticeship before attending Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. After graduating, Hudson worked as a bricklayer and would audition. In 2019, Hudson had been cast in the role of Peter Beale on the British soap opera EastEnders, becoming the seventh actor in the role. Hudson's debut aired in February 2020, and he remained in the role as a regular until he was written out in 2022. Hudson has also performed in various theatre productions and in the 2017 short film Sleight.

Career

Dayle Hudson comes from a family of bricklayers and would help his father on building sites. Hudson completed his apprenticeship before attending Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. He also took part in several theatre productions. After graduating from the drama school in 2017, Hudson went back to working as a bricklayer and would audition during the week. In 2017, Hudson appeared in the short film Sleight.

In December 2019, it was announced that Hudson would take over the role of Peter Beale on the British soap opera EastEnders, becoming the seventh actor in the role. The character had last been portrayed by Ben Hardy from 2013 to 2015. Hudson said that he was grateful and excited to be able to "work on such an institution of British television, alongside some incredible actors". The actor added, "Peter has been away for some time so I can't wait to find out what he's been up to and I'm very excited to see what the future holds for him". This was Hudson's first television role. EastEnders executive producer Jon Sen said of his casting, "As soon as I met Dayle, I knew he'd be the one to bring Peter Beale back to Walford. Peter's a young man with a big heart but a bruised soul and Dayle's a talented actor who captures his complexity perfectly. I welcome him to the company and can't wait to start working with him". Peter was one of several regular EastEnders characters to be recast during Sen's tenure, with others including Peter's half-brother Bobby Beale and their uncle Ben Mitchell. BBC Head of Continuing Drama Kate Oates explained that she believed that it would make sense to explore what Peter had done since his departure and was looking forward to more drama in the Beale clan.

""I was doing a building job in Lewisham and I kept having to book days off to go to the 'dentist'. So I went to the audition and then my agent called a few days later when I was building a wall at work and told me they wanted me on EastEnders. I couldn't believe my luck – especially as it was coming to the end of winter and it was really cold and wet."

When Hudson auditioned for EastEnders, he was told that the role was for a character called Tommy and was unaware that it was actually Peter Beale, believing that the role would only last a few months. Hudson screamed of shock when he found out that the role was for Peter and felt "on top of the world", especially as he found out shortly before his birthday. Hudson used to watch EastEnders before he went to acting school, and his parents were happy that he was cast on the soap as they had watched it since he was young. Hudson was "intimidated" to be joining the Beale family but felt welcomed by his onscreen family members and felt that he had gotten closer to the cast and could ask them for help. To research the role, Hudson watched old clips of Peter and had a lot of communications with producers, which he felt was important. Being the seventh actor in the role, he tried to not stress about it and knew he had to put his "own spin" on the character; he also felt lucky that Peter had been offscreen for five years as it meant that the character had changed into a different person, giving him a "blank canvas to work with". Hudson also spoke to Thomas Law, who had previously portrayed Peter between 2006 and 2010, as his mother still worked on EastEnders. Hudson told Digital Spy, "We got on like a house on fire. Tom then got in contact and was like, 'My mum absolutely loves you!' and we started speaking. It was lovely. I asked Tom for a bit of advice and he has been sound. He's been in the industry a lot longer than I have so he's been on hand every time I needed to ask him something. He's been so easy to talk to. It's literally been perfect".

Hudson's debut as Peter aired on 18 February 2019, during the soap's 35th anniversary celebrations week. Following Hudson's debut as Peter, several viewers commented on how they thought he was good looking. Viewers and critics also commented on Hudson's height in comparison to Peter's previous portrayers, which prompted Hudson to reveal on social media that he is 6 ft 3 in, as he felt that he looked taller onscreen as he was wearing "massive" boots and jacket. Hudson felt that the reaction towards Peter had been "huge" and acknowledged that he would be recognised by viewers whilst in public. During his time on 'EastEnders, filming was temporarily suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in London; Hudson later posted and deleted a picture of the scripts of the soap's return to filming, which revealed that episodes would return to broadcast in September 2020. Hudson called his EastEnders experience "amazing" and that it had taught him a lot professionally.

During Hudson's stint on the soap, Peter's storylines included his rocky relationship with various family members, including his father Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and his half-brother Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell), taking over Ian's businesses, having sexual relations with Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold), Ash Panesar (Gurlaine Kaur Garcha), her mother Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) and Bobby's girlfriend Dana Monroe (Barbara Smith), and getting attacked by his uncle Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) in a case of mistaken identity. In 2021, Hudson told Inside Soap that his girlfriend would help him with the storylines, especially in regards to race and women and finding the "elements of truth in a story". Hudson enjoyed exploring a storyline where Peter struggled to support Ash following racism from Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman) and suggested future storylines for Peter, including beginning a friendship with Callum Highway (Tony Clay) and having a business rivalry with his father. Hudson believed that EastEnders had only just begun to "scratch the surface of Peter and his fun side", which he hoped had come across well. Hudson had previously told Digital Spy that he wanted Peter's former stepmother Jane Beale (Laurie Brett) and his ex-girlfriend Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) – who he described as "the one that got away" – to return to the soap in order to explore Peter's relationships. Hudson felt nervous filming Peter and Suki's affair scene but found it exciting and was shocked by the storyline. The role also required Hudson to perform a partially nude scene for the first time in his career. Clay and Hudson lived close to each other and thus would run scenes together, which Hudson found "amazing". Hudson had admiration for Gillian Taylforth, who portrays Peter's grandmother Kathy Beale, due to her being on the soap opera for so long and still enjoying her job and keeping it "fresh". Hudson also had admiration for his colleague Danny Dyer (Mick Carter) as he wanted his acting career to be similar to his. Hudson also commented that Peter's attitude towards women is different to his, as Peter does not want commitment.

In June 2022, it was announced that Hudson, along with three other EastEnders cast members (Ricky Champ (Stuart Highway), Kelsey Calladine-Smith (Jada Lennox) and Smith), had been written out of the soap by new executive producer Chris Clenshaw as part of a "shake-up" for a "new era" of EastEnders. The four cast members filmed their final scenes that summer. An EastEnders insider explained that it was "nothing personal" to the cast members, adding, "it's simply a creative decision – for big storylines to happen you have to say goodbye to people, that's the nature of soap". Hudson's last episode aired on 14 July of that year, with Peter's exit storyline focussing on a "dramatic breaking point" in his relationship with various family members. Following his exit, Hudson thanked his co-stars and EastEnders, calling his experience "one hell of a ride" and a "socially distanced dream", which received comments of support from other EastEnders actors. The following year, the role was recast again to Law.

In July 2022, it was announced that Hudson had joined the cast of the pantomime version of Jack and the Beanstalk as the villainous Nightshade. Rehearsals for the play began in November 2022 and the performance ran from 10 December 2022 to 7 January 2023 at the Norwich Theatre.

Personal life

Hudson has two older brothers. In 2021, Hudson revealed on his Instagram account that he was in a relationship with a model and dancer called India, with it being reported that they had begun dating in the summer of 2020. Hudson joked that she did not want to hear about Peter's romances in EastEnders. In 2023, it was reported that the pair had broken up.

Acting credits

Filmography

Stage

References

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External links

• Dayle Hudson at IMDb

• Living people
• British male soap opera actors
• 21st-century British male actors
• Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts