candis magazine - september 2008

8/3/2019 Candis Magazine - September 2008

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As an entertainer there is always part

of you that wants to be loved. But the

difference now is that I can see it’s

more important to have the love of

my wife and my kids, than it is tobe loved by the general public



Shane Richie was born to

entertain – on and off screen. Sitting in his trailer,on set for a new drama in whichhe stars, he produces a wildrepertoire of funny accents,

jokes and hilarious anecdotes.One of these involves the time

when, as an almost unknown stand-up comedian, he found himself on the same bill as Cliff Richard at

a now long-forgotten variety show.During Cliff’s song, a dry ice machinecreated a cloud of fog so intensethat Cliff lost his bearings andwas singing with his back to theaudience. Thank goodness forShane who bounced on to the stage,righting the warbler by spinninghim 180 degrees to face the front.

“I thought I was doing him a

favour but, from the wings, I couldhear the show’s producer cursingand swearing. He was hissing,‘Someone get that little s**t off the stage!’” Shane explains. “Andhe wasn’t talking about Sir Cliff,I can tell you.”

Cue much laughter from Shane,who admits that in those daysand for some time after, he was so

hungry for fame and success, you’d

almost have needed a crowbar to

prize him away from the limelight.“Performing, applause, fame…it was all that mattered,” he admits.“But what I’ve learnt most in the lastfew years is that the job isn’teverything. I don’t eat, sleep andbreathe the business in a way thatI once did. And I couldn’t care lessabout fame. You can keep it.”

We’re on the subject because

Shane is about to take the leadingrole in Whatever It Takes, a modernday drama about our own out-of-control celebrity culture and thecorrupting nature of fame. Heplays JJ Marrick – a PR guru, in theMax Clifford mould.

Whatever It Takes tells the story of Daisy Cockram, a young police officerwho hits tabloid headlines after

being caught in the back of a carwith a famous footballer.

It finishes her police career, buther ‘saviour’ appears in the shapeof JJ Marrick who catapults her intothe world of glamour modelling. Fora while she enjoys her new-foundfame and becomes a millionaire,with the lifestyle to go with it.

“But the problem with fame is

that when it isn’t backed up with

shanerichie

September 2008 Candis 15

Pursuing a successful career used to come first for Shane Richie, now he tellsDaphne Lockyer why he’s much happier since he switched fame for family

any talent, the only way to hold on

to it is by getting column inches inthe press,” explains Shane. “Andwhen the tabloids get bored of you,or the lads’ mags have moved on tothe next 38GG beauty, it’s crash andburn time. When that happens, as itdoes to Daisy, the rats all leave thesinking ship and JJ Marrick is thefirst one over the side.”

For an actor best known for his

lovable, cheeky cockney roles, JJis quite a departure. “It’s true thatthe characters I’ve played in thepast, whether it be Alfie Moon inEastenders or Brian Guest in The

Good Samaritan, have all beenlikeable blokes who wear theirhearts on their sleeves and haveemotional baggage. JJ on theother hand is pretty much devoid

of emotion. Which, personallydoesn’t strike me as attractive.

“When I got the part, I thought,‘Hang on a minute – is thereanything likeable here at all?’ Andthe answer is, aside from his straightforwardness and complete lack of b******t, probably not.

“But then, as an actor, you dooccasionally want to show people

that you have other tricks up your

Entertainer

The



shanerichie

Candis September 2008 16

Shane Richie in

Eastenders (far

left); with wife,Christie and

son, Mackenzie

(left); in Lucky

Numbers

(right); and in

ITV drama,

Whatever

It Takes

(far right)

sleeve, and playing a baddie foronce has been great. The job is toshow that he’s a heartless b*****dand yet occasionally to show theodd chink in his armour. I didn’twant him to be a cardboard cut-out.But, at the same time, I really don’tthink you’re supposed to like him.”

On the other hand, it’s almostimpossible not to like Shane himself.Born and raised in Harlesden,he spent four years as aPontins Bluecoat,followed by ashort career

as a stand-up comedian. Later heworked in musical theatre, starringas Danny in the West End productionof Grease before going on to presentTV programmes like Lucky Numbersand The Shane Richie Experience. Healso did a series of highly lucrativeads for Daz washing powder inwhich, once again, he ingratiatedhimself with his sunny personality.

“As an entertainer there is alwayspart of you that wants to be loved,”he admits. “But the difference nowis that I can see it’s more important

to have the love of my wife and my

kids, than it is to be loved by thegeneral public.”It is his role as a father that

defines him these days. Hehas two sons, Shane Junior,

19, and Jake, 15, from

his marriage to Coleen Nolan, anda third son, Mackenzie, two, fromhis current marriage to dancerChristie Goddard. He’s also justbecome the proud dad to amuch-wanted daughter.

He has always loved his kids.“But,” he says, “I admit that whenShane Junior and Jake were little,my priorities were all wrong. I waschasing a lifestyle that came withbeing a celebrity but was alsomarried and had kids, and the two

just didn’t go hand in hand. I haveregrets about that. But I was young.

I’m a completely different dad now.As crass and boring as it mightsound, says Shane, his wife, kidsand home life are now his salvation.

“We’ve just moved house andso we’re still emptying boxes. It’spandemonium. My 19-year-old sonhas gone to Weston-super-Mareto work in a holiday camp, just likeI did. My 15 year old, who lives with

us, is at the Sylvia Young TheatreSchool and is about to appear ina musical. My two year old is pottytraining and we’ve just had anotherbaby. And that is my life. In bed by10.30 and up at six with Mackenzie



bouncing on top of me, shouting,‘Dad! Dad! Dad!’ I come to workfor a holiday,” he laughs.

Clearly, his relationship withChristie, who he married last year,is a huge stabilising influence too.“To be honest, I was a s**t husband,first time around. Ask Coleen. ButI’ve learnt from those mistakes.”

He had to learn the hard way, of course. Now aged 46, he is happy,settled and on good terms with hisex-wife, a presenter on LooseWomen. “We’re still very much bothparents to our two sons and we talk

if there’s any kind of problem there.But we’re not on the phone everyday. I have to tune into her showto find out what she’s doing!”

Ten years after their divorce,Shane has reached an amicableunderstanding with his ex. But atone time his life was a mess – not

just emotionally, but also financially.After his marriage broke down, he

was persuaded to invest £700,000 of his money into the film, Shoreditch,in which he also starred. Whenit flopped, Shane lost everything.

“It wasn’t a good time,” he says.“It wasn’t long after my divorce and

September 2008 Candis 17

the boys were living up north withColeen, which was hard for me. Iwas so wrapped up in this film thatI re-mortgaged the house and usedall my savings. All the money fromthe Daz ads got washed away,” helaughs, although those events musthave been devastating at the time.

For a while, he admits, he was

bitter. “But you can’t let it ruin yourlife. I had to accept that, financially,I couldn’t come back from it. As anactor you can’t make that kind of money back again – unless you’rea very high roller. I had lost myfamily through my naivety, my egoand my persistence in putting workabove everything else. And I lost mymoney through trusting the wrong

people. But you learn your lessonsand you move on.”

When he met Christie, seven yearsago, he had nothing. It was thesame when he was first cast inEastenders in 2002. “It was likestarting from scratch.”

Playing Alfie was a process of reinvention. “Once you sign up fora show like Eastenders everyone

wants to know your business. Itmeans giving up your social life.Even going to restaurants orshopping becomes a problem. Buton the plus side it gets you lots of freebies and holidays. And in mycase it led to all the other roles thatI’ve been offered since. I had a ballon Eastenders and learnt so muchabout acting. And I honestly believe

that if you can hold your own on

R e x

F e a t u r e s ,

R e t n a ,

N i c

k y

J o h n s t o n ,

B B C ,

G r a n a d a ,

I T V

something as high-pressured asEastenders you can act in anything.It was a fantastic training ground.”

At the time he got used to goingto newsagents and seeing himself on the cover of 15 magazines. “Andif you measure success by that, I’mdestitute right now. It’s over. Butfortunately within the industry

that’s not how it’s judged at all.And I’ve been proving myself inother ways since I left Eastenders.”He’s been on the London stage asthe legendary McMurphy in OneFlew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest andstarred in a series of TV dramasincluding Father Frank . He was evenpersuaded by his son, Jake, to takethe role of a pervy teacher in Skins.

“I couldn’t say no or my kids wouldhave killed me,” he says.

On top of this he performeda voiceover in the animated filmFlushed Away , will be appearing inthe action movie Prisoners of the Sunand is hosting the Sky One gameshow, Don’t Forget The Lyrics. Butthough all this may constitute areturn to his roots, there won’t,

he promises, be a return to his oldways. “I do think that there havebeen huge changes in the way thatI look at life,” he says. “I wouldn’twant to go back to the way I was.”

He wouldn’t be like Daisy in hiscurrent drama then, selling bodyand soul for 15 minutes of fame.

“Definitely not. I learnt the hardway that fame is a drug that’s more

powerful than any addiction.”■

I was chasing a lifestyle that came with

being a celebrity but was also married

and had kids, and the two just didn’t go

hand in hand. I have regrets about that

candis magazine - september 2008

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