Shane Richie is one of the UK’s beloved stars but it’s fair to say the cheeky chap has had a rather wild love life!
Best known for playing Alfie Moon on EastEnders, Shane – who is on Michael McIntyre’s Big Show today (January 24) – has become a firm favourite on screens over the years.
Away from the TV sets though, Shane’s love life has often made the headlines – sometimes for the wrong reasons… Here, ED is taking a look inside his colourful love life.
Shane Richie’s ‘orgy with six girls’
In his 2004 book Rags To Richie, Shane opened up all about his sordid sexual past, revealing he had a drug-fuelled orgy with six Essex girls.
Shane spent his late teens working at Pontins Holiday Park on the Isle of Wight. And it turns out he was rather popular with the ladies…
“One week in July a group of six girls came down from Chelmsford they called themselves the Sexy Six and they were all blonde,” he recalled.
Shane added: “They invited me to a club. I said I’d bring some mates along, but they told me I should come on my own.”
The actor ended up back at the girls’ chalet and before long, he was getting hot and heavy with two of the girls. Shane was then told that some of their other friends wanted to join in. He headed to another room to find the girls naked, smoking a joint and drinking wine.
Shane soon took part in the orgy, describing in his book that he was “passed around from girl to girl”.
Shane and Coleen Nolan’s marriage
Soap star Shane started dating Loose Women star Coleen Nolan in the late 1980s and ended up eloping to Florida in 1990 to make things official and tie the knot. They welcomed their first child together, Shane Jr, in 1988, and in 1992, they had their second son Jake.
But Coleen didn’t get her happy ending as the couple were soon hit with infidelity claims – something Shane eventually confessed to.
In 2018, she spoke about her regret for staying with him after she found out he had cheated on her. She told the Big Issue: “I stayed two years too long. But I was massively in love with him. To me, there was nothing missing in our relationship.”
Why did Shane Richie and Coleen Nolan split?
Whereas Shane admitted there was “no excuse” for his behaviour – especially as at the time he presented a wedding-themed show, Love Me Do.
“What I did to Coleen was unforgivable and I could never apologise enough,” he once said to The Guardian. He added: “And I was pulling the wool over the public’s eyes, so what do you think was going to happen?”
Shane has also candidly admitted that his drinking habit led to the breakdown of his marriage with Coleen.
He told Daily Mail’s Event Magazine in 2017: “I lost my first wife through my drinking. A bottle of Jack [Daniel’s] and I was off,” before revealing: “It went to my head and I was a bit out of control.”
He also added: “I’d be on TV advocating monogamy [on his marital game show ‘Love Me Do’] while I was having an affair, for God’s sake.”
Shane marries Christie Goddard
Shane went on to find love with actress Christie Goddard, whom he married in 2007. Shane and Christie also have three children together – Mackenzie Blue, Lolita Bell and Romani-Skye Angel Shelley.
However, in 2011, it was reported that Shane had a six-year affair with a fan called Alison Hall.
According to Alison – who ran his fan club – they first had sex when she was 22. Alison also claimed that the pair continued to see each other throughout Shane’s two-year engagement and later wedding to Christie.
However, after Shane allegedly ended things, Alison exposed their ‘affair’ to Christie with evidence in 2010.
“I was completely besotted and he took advantage of that. It broke my heart. He was my life and when he dropped me I felt like I had nothing to live for,” Alison told the Mirror at the time, as Digital Spy reports.
Shane ‘was very remorseful’
A heartbroken Alison claimed she then sent Christie an email that hinted about the alleged affair. This is said to have resulted in a meeting at Christie’s mother’s house, where Alison revealed the evidence of the reported affair to Christie, her mum and her sister Kelley.
“I made sure she knew it was just about sex – that Shane had no feelings for me and I was aware of that. It was difficult but l had known that was true for a long time,” she went on to say.
She added: “She also said that Shane had been very remorseful when she confronted him and it looked like they might try to patch things up. Christie and her family are lovely decent people.”
Shane Richie and wife Christie’s adoption plans
Despite the alleged affair, Shane and Christie have managed to work things out.
In 2020, Shane even shared that the couple have contemplated adopting. Shane told The Sun: “We always talk about it, myself and Christie. And because she is 15 years younger than me and she is only 41, so there is still time.
“We have been talking about having another baby and there is still time. She is always talking about wanting another kid (her own biological chile). And I know our daughters would love another brother or sister.
“But now we are talking about adopting and because we live in Surrey, the rules there are very different to when we lived in Bucks, which was a long time ago, but am still up for it.”
Watch Shane Richie on Michael McIntyre’s Big Show on Saturday (January 24) at 6:45pm on BBC One.
Read more: Shane Richie’s ‘awkward’ moment with ex-wife Coleen Nolan on live TV
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