Dead Clean was a first edit, and at the time it was made (six years ago), Shane wasn’t such the hot property he is now. Hard to believe now, as he seems to win ’newcomer’ awards every-time Alfie winks! Back then, Chris found it hard to raise interest with a film that had Shane’s name attached. However, since people have now decided Shane is the main man, the film is being re-edited and may be shown again.

Chris also went to Shane’s 40th birthday party, and told us of another joke played by Shane on the waiting media. The press had wrongly reported Shane was going to have Siberian tigers prowling the grounds of his Buckinghamshire house during the party. However, the only Siberian tiger to make an entrance was Shane himself, hidden in a tiger suit. He prowled outside by all the press, took off his tiger head and smiled, then went back inside to join the party! However, this then led to some media reports that he was having a fancy dress party - wrong again guys!

The party however sounded fantastic - the 70’s glam band Sweet - remember ’Blockbuster’! and the evergreen Tony Hadley belting out tunes such as ’Gold’ and ’True’. All his pals were there from Eastenders; plus friends and family, so as you can imagine, it must have been quite a party.

It tickled this writer when asked if I also attended, unfortunately I doubt Shane knows this exists, although Chris assured me Shane does try to read everything written about him - after all, he said, you haven’t written anything bad have you? Well if I hadn’t I certainly wouldn’t now, but how can you write anything bad about Mr Richie anyway, I mean, c’mon! Isn’t that right, Shane?!
By Mandy Carter

Shane sells up - March 04
Shane may be riding high as Eastenders golden boy Alfie Moon, but he is still tackling debts, and has had to sell his Buckinghamshire house.

Even earning £200,000 a year as Alfie doesn’t mean Shane can keep his six bedroomed Manor house, as he described it as a ’money pit’ with an ?8000 a month mortgage and a bridging loan threatening to push Shane into bankruptcy. He told friends "I loved that house but in the end I had to cut my losses."

He bought the house in 1996 for £400,000, but as his career slid downhill he re-mortgaged the house five times to stave off financial ruin, and accumulated debts of £1.6m. Shane’s bankers finally called in lawyers after he missed six months’ mortgage payments.

But there is a silver lining, Shane held his amazing 40th birthday party at the house he loved, and shortly afterwards got news of a buyer. Luckily the house will stay with its showbiz connections, as the new buyer is none other than Robert Lindsay, star of My Family. Let’s hope there are no cocktail sticks left on the lawn!

Shane’s Big Issue - March 04
Shane Richie may be up to his ears in debt, but he is not a sell out. With top magazines like OK! offering a ’golden handcuffs’ deal to cover his 40th birthday party, he chose instead to sell the rights to The Big Issue for just £1.10

It further turns out that OK! had offered him £200,000 but wanted control of his guest list, striking off names of Shane’s dearest friends and replacing them with more glamorous guests, half of whom Shane didn’t even know. So Shane promptly dropped the deal, and went with homeless mag The Big Issue instead.