“I was on Dᴇᴀᴛʜ In Paradise and there’s a reason no one stays for long”

Ardal O’Hanlon has revealed the reason no one stays on Dᴇᴀᴛʜ In Paradise for long as he detailed the “gruelling” nature of the job (Image: BBC)

Ardal O’Hanlon has candidly shared his experience with Dᴇᴀᴛʜ In Paradise – warning new lead star Don Gilet that the role is “gruelling” and typically unsustainable for more than a few years.

Looking back on his stint as DI Jack Mooney from 2017-2020 in the beloved BBC drama, which is filmed on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe Ardal revealed his own intense schedule of up to 12 hours a day, six days a week. “It was such a radical change of scenery for me going from a country where I hardly ever leave the house, to kind of living outdoors for six months of the year, for four summers, but it was gruelling because you have a huge workload,” he told The Mirror.

“And, of course, I’m not complaining about the work, but you have so much to prepare every day, so you don’t have much downtime at all, you don’t have the chance to enjoy the attractions out there. I used to be so jealous of the guest actors! The suspects and the victim, you know, there’d be five or six guest actors every couple of weeks, and they would come over and they’d have such an amazing time.”

Ardal – who assures he is eternally grateful for the role – admitted that he envied guest stars who could pop in and out of Guadeloupe, as some only had ‘two or three days’ of work, while he had ’12 hours a day, 6 days a week’.

“You just have to prepare so much every day, and you have to think quick on your feet. There was so many reasons for leaving it, I’d done four summers. That takes its toll at home as well. I knew the writing was on the wall, but my family stopped coming out to visit me, that was really the decider.”

Adding that he even got a warning from producers before heading out there, he said: “They kind of tell you that at the beginning, like they said, ‘You know, you might last two years or three years, but you know, you probably won’t last four! Nothing prepares you for it. I remember the producer came to visit me and we spent a day together. This is maybe a month before I went out there. And he was basically trying to go, ‘You know, you can still get out of this, if you want! ‘ Do you know what I mean, he was kind of almost… he was really painting a very bleak picture saying, ‘You know, like, it’s gonna be tough.'”

It was revealed in May that Don Gilet would be taking on the baton from Ralf Little, who played DI Neville Parker for four years. Don has taken on the leading role of DI Mervin Wilson..