AceShowbiz - "The Business" star Danny Dyer faced fierce criticism from domestic violence groups after replying to a letter in his column for men's publication Zoo last year, telling a reader to "cut your ex's face, and then no one will want her" when asked for advice on how to get over a break-up.

Dyer was subsequently dismissed by magazine bosses, who blamed a "regrettable production error" for the furor, while the star insisted he was not to blame - claiming he had been misquoted.

Dyer has now spoken out about the controversial feature, admitting he only ever meant the comments as a "bad joke" that shouldn't have been made public.

He tells Britain's The Independent On Sunday, "I think the mistake I made was getting involved with a magazine like Zoo in the first place. It was a column I didn't write. It's a publication that's about being lady to the extreme. That's what they wanted from me."

"I'd get rung up by a journalist every week, we'd talk for a little while, they'd ask me about politics, and I'd say something stupid. And I just said a stupid thing. Which had no substance to it, I didn't mean what I said, at all. And I trusted them that they wouldn't print that."

"The idea of me advising anyone to cut the face of a girl is ridiculous. It makes me f**king disgusted. And with the backlash I got - it was a really dark time for me. People expected me to say something like that because of this persona that I had helped build, this sweary don't-give-a-f**k lad. And they made a serious error to print it because it was a little joke, but a really bad joke that should never have been printed."

"I sold out. I should never have got involved with it. It wasn't even for the money, it was just a nice little promotional tool."