His co-stars were surprised when he landed a role in the forthcoming high-brow Sky drama The Death Of Bunny Munro.
But it appears that Katie Price’s ex-husband Kieran Hayler left no one more shocked than the show’s leading man Matt Smith.
The former Doctor Who was so baffled by the one-time stripper’s hiring he asked for him to be edited out of the scenes he has recorded.
Sources close to Smith, who played a young Prince Philip in The Crown, are said to be ’embarrassed’ that he was to appear alongside Hayler. He was apparently cast by mistake for the black comedy, adapted from singer Nick Cave’s second novel.
A Sky source said: ‘When Matt realised Kieran was on the same show, he was quite surprised.
Matt smith pictured filming for the forthcoming high-brow Sky drama The Death Of Bunny Munro
Anthony Harvey and Katie Price pose together at a film premiere in 2017
The production was shooting at Saltdean Lido near Brighton (pictured) on July 2. It will star Smith in a six-part series, which is based on an adaptation of Australian singer and writer Nick Cave’s 2009 dark comic novel
Smith’s (pictured filming the show at Saltdean Lido) team intervened and asked that Anthony Harvey’s scenes were removed, according to a source
‘Both men have been on the set now and they have filmed scenes, but Matt’s team decided that he couldn’t possibly appear alongside someone like him so asked production staff to edit him out.’
The source added: ‘It is amazing to think that Matt would be in the same show as Kieran who, as far as anyone knows, hasn’t acted before. It’s a high-quality production with not only Matt but also Robert Glenister on the roster.
‘So Matt’s team couldn’t just stand by and allow this to go on. They intervened and asked that he was removed. You can hardly say it would have been good for Matt’s reputation.’
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Hayler, 37, who worked as a stripper before meeting Ms Price, is best known for being her third husband. In recent weeks, he was spotted filming at the same time as Smith, 42, for the six-part Sky Atlantic drama that tells the story of Bunny Munro, a sex addict who meets women through his job as a travelling beauty products salesman.
Hayler married Ms Price, 46, in 2013 and the same year they had a son, Jett. The following year they welcomed daughter Bunny.
Within months, their marriage faltered when former glamour model Ms Price accused him of having an affair and said they could only try again if he had therapy for sex addiction. But she later accused him of another affair and they divorced in 2021.
Bunny Munro is similarly afflicted with a weakness for the opposite sex and cannot stop seducing women. But he also has a young son who he has to take sole care of after his wife kills herself.
Filmed in the south of England, the series also stars Roadkill actress Sarah Greene.