Shane Richie has revealed he was bankrupt before starring in EastEnders.
The actor was cast as Alfie Moon in the popular soap back in 2002, and became one of the show’s most iconic characters.
The 56-year-old spoke to Mo Farah and Victoria Derbyshire on I’m A Celebrity: Get Me Out Of Here about his audition for the role, revealing the part was made especially for him.
Shane explained: “I remember going in and Gary Beadle, Tish Dean and I think Dean Gaffney were all in the Queen Vic and I did a little [scene].”
“By the time I’d got to the car my manager had called and said: ‘They didn’t think you were right’.
“Then my manager gets a call saying they’d like you to come back and do some improv, they have this idea of this family
they’re working on.
“So I’ve gone in and Tony Jordan, who created the Slaters, was a big fan of John Sullivan [from Only Fools and Horses] and he always wanted to create The Trotters but in EastEnders.
“So I kept coming back but still no idea what was going on. So we go on holiday, I’m bankrupt because of this film I’d invested in – I’ve got nothing. I’m selling the house, no work,” he admitted.
He's played EastEnders' Alfie Moon for 18 years, but @realshanerichie remembers his first day on Albert Square like it was yesterday! 🎬 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/G2d1sJCOYU
— I'm A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 22, 2020
“The phone goes and it’s my manager and he goes EastEnders want you,” Shane told his campmates.
“I started getting teary and he told me about this character called Alfie Moon, and in my first episode I’d be coming in and taking over the Queen Vic.
“I started crying,” he confessed, “And from 2002 onwards, it just went mental. All about the timing.”
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