Shane Richie

Profession: Actor
Place/Date of Birth: Hampstead, 11 May 1964

Eastenders makes you fat! - 24/10/03
Chubby Shane Richie has made a pact with co-star Jessie Wallace to go on a diet.

Both Shane and Jessie, although not exactly fat, have been looking not exactly slim on the set of Eastenders recently. The standard ’Alfie Moon’ attire of leather jackets and checked shirts have been getting tighter and tighter on Shane recently, making the soap star look a bit more like a chunk than a hunk. And curvy co star Jessie has gone from fit to tight-fit.

Both have blamed the fact that their Eastenders’ characters work behind the bar - so they are always snacking on packets of crisps, which Shane blames Jessie for encouraging him. But although they have denied being asked to lose weight by BBC bosses, they have decided to go on a low carb diet to fight the flab. A typical Shane meal now consists of cereal for breakfast, a baked potato for lunch and no carbohydrates for his evening meal.

However, since Shane and Jessie win every single Sexiest Soap Star award going - why do they need to lose weight at all?

The Shane Awards! - 02/10/03
The Inside Soap Awards should be renamed the Shane Awards - Harlesden born Shane Richie won four on the night.

Can Shane Richie do any wrong? Ever since he stepped on our screens as Eastenders heart-throb Alfie Moon women everywhere have fallen in lust and men would like to buy him a pint. Now he has won four awards at the Inside Soap ceremony that show our appreciation!

Shane received the Awards for Sexiest Male, Best Newcomer, Funniest Character and accepted Best Soap Family for his Eastenders family the Moons.

Shane said ’Working for EastEnders is just getting better and better and Leslie coming back has created a real buzz to the show - it feels like playing for England just before they win the World Cup.’ Bless him!

We Love Shane! - 19/09/03
Eastenders love Harlesden born Shane Richie at the moment, after hearing that he has been nominated for five awards at the Inside Soap bash.

Shane shot to the hearts of the nation with his portrayal of Alfie Moon behind the Queen Vic. Almost overnight women of all ages were confessing that they actually find him very sexy, and he is now one of the top soapland hunks to be found on screen! The power of a good role eh.

But sexy Shane does have a little twinkle in his eye and that and his acting skills have landed him the nominations that span from Best Actor to Sexiest Male. Go Alfie.. er.. Shane!

Shane snogs a man! - 27/08/03
Eastenders heartthrob and Harlesdon born Shane Richie’s film career started with a kiss - but not with a woman.

He played a gangster in the low budget movie Dead Clean, and the script called for him to shoot a fellow bad guy. What the script didn’t call for was the full on snog Shane decided would enhance the scene before he shoots the rival!

Director Chris Barfoot, who made the low-budget movie Dead Clean six years ago, recalled: "The kiss wasn’t part of the script but Shane decided to ad lib. It provided real shock value so we kept it in."

Chris went on to say ’Far from being embarrassed, he told me he used it in his showreel to impress soap bosses at his audition to play Alfie!’

Sexiest man in Soap land! - 15/05/03
Harlesden boy Shane Richie has certainly won the female hearts as Alfie Moon.

Shane Richie won the Sexiest Male Award at the British Soap Awards, although he didn’t seem to take his awards too seriously. He said "Me, Brad Pitt and George Clooney are getting together for a follow-up to Ocean’s Eleven. It’s called Seaside Six."

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Biography

Shane Ritchie was born in Harlesden on 11th March 1964. Raised by his Irish parents - Harry a bin man and Lily a cleaner; he remembers being ’so skint that my parents couldn’t afford a TV until I was 11’. He didn’t like school very much, apart from the drama lessons, and did amateur dramatics in his spare time. At 16 he travelled to Plymouth on the promise of a DJ-ing job, but when the job fell through he ended up sleeping rough on a park bench, before being charged with vagrancy!

Shane auditioned for Pontins to be a Bluecoat that summer, and lied about his age, pretending he was 18. He got the job and enjoyed being a 16-year-old bouncer and turning away older lads trying to get into the holiday camp bar. Shane also called the bingo, organized Donkey Derby’s and was part of the live entertainment in the evenings.

He enjoyed doing stand up comedy and went on to do gigs with Lenny Henry - who persuaded Shane to change his surname to Richie. Work offers started coming in and he worked with Cannon & Ball - who christened Shane ’The Legend!’

When Shane finished his contract with Pontin’s he had his first appearance on TV - in a variety show called Summertime Special. He impressed the producers so much that they asked him to appear regularly. This led to a gradual build up of Shane on the box - he hosted many shows such as Up to Something, You Gotta Be Joking, and Caught in the Act. He was also the fella to be found doing outside broadcasts for SKY One at the BAFTA’s. By 1992 he had added dozens of DAZ commercials and a childrens show ’Run the Risk’ on CBBC’s Going Live. In between all this Shane was also starring as Kenickie in the stage show Grease. He took time out to film the show ’Win, Lose or Draw’ - which was loved by grannies and students alike and he ran riot - cracking jokes about Dale Winton, doing impressions, singing - and running the quiz!

1994 saw Shane take over the lead role in Grease as Danny Zuko and yet more TV shows - Lucky Numbers and ’The Shane Richie Experience’! The last received a lot of press attention - some bad, some good as a couple would win a quiz to get married live on air. After a while the show was called ’Love Me Do’.

At the end of 1997, Shane started to write his own musical - Boogie Nights. This was a huge success and the only other actor to have written, starred in and produced a play at the Savoy theatre in London was the late, great Noel Coward!

But it has been playing as Alfie Moon - the wideboy pub landlord in EastEnders, that has managed to cast off the cheesy gameshow host persona and won Shane a host of new fans. In fact, the character of Alfie has been a tonic to Eastenders, and Shane has fitted in like he should have always been a part of the Vic.

Shane married Coleen Nolan (the youngest of The Nolan Sisters) and they have two children Shane Juinor and Jake. Shane and Coleen divorced in 1998, and Shane now lives with his girlfriend Christie Goddard. They live in Buckinhamshire, not bad for the boy from Brent!
February 2008