Shameless star Tina Malone admits she used to drink 40 gin and tonics a day
Former Shameless star Tina Malone admits she used to drink 40 gin and tonics a day.
The actor played Mimi Maguire in the comedy-drama series as well as Mo McGee in the Liverpool-based soap opera Brookside back in the 90s.
Malone has now been alcohol-free for 25 years and previously revealed on Good Morning Britain that she’s also 10 years drug-free.
The 60-year-old told Closer Magazine: “My biggest vice was always the drink and now I’m 25 years sober. Do I miss it? No I don’t.”
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You might know Malone for her acting roles as well as for her appearance on the sixth series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2009, alongside the likes of Coolio and Ulrika Johnson.
The scouser has also appeared on Celebrity Masterchef and Celebrity Four Weddings.
But in 2014 she released the book Back in Control: My Story, opening up about her struggles with alcoholism.
She revealed she’d match her work ethic with some intense partying, saying: “In those days a typical night out for me would start off with a bottle of champagne at home while I was getting ready, then some spirits.
“I could put away 30 or 40 gin and tonics no trouble, half a bottle of brandy, a bottle of champagne, ten bottles of Beck’s…”
But after a hospital scare in 1995, when paramedics put her on a stretcher in a Holiday Inn, it was made clear to Malone she had a drinking problem.
And she struggled to accept it.
She wrote: “My idea of an alcoholic was an unkempt bloke on a park bench with a can of Special Brew.
“That wasn’t me. When I said as much, he laughed, told me I was being ridiculous.”
But she managed to stop, went to the odd AA meeting but ‘in all honesty I never felt tempted to touch another drop’.
Forgetting the world of 30 to 40 gin and tonics a day, the Shameless star said: “As with everything in my life, it had to be a case of all or nothing, and my days of drinking were well and truly over.”
Although she’s no longer drawn to the drink or to drugs, Malone admitted to Closer Magazine she can’t abstain from food.
She said: “It’s a battle for me.”
But one thing she’s certainly not struggling with is sex.
The 60-year-old opened up about the wild times she has with her 41-year-old husband Paul Chase.
Malone said: “Sex just gets better as you get older, I'm 60, so I'm comfortable with myself.
“I like to think I'm accomplished at most things in my life now - and that applies in the bedroom too! Paul and I still have so much passion, after 13 years you know each other so well.”
Jess Battison