Ex-Shameless star Tina Malone has admitted that she used to drink up to 40 gin and tonics a day.
Malone, 60, first shot to fame playing Mo McGee on the iconic Scouse soap Brookeside throughout the 90s.
But Tina made her name playing barmaid and brash Mimi Maguire on the legendary Channel 4 comedy series.
READ MORE: Tina Malone reveals she borrowed money from her priest after Jon Venables case
As well as her acting career, Tina also appeared on Channel 4’s Celebrity Big Brother, starring alongside rapper Coolio, host Ulrika Johnson and Liberty X singer Michelle Heaton.
But despite her character’s drug dealing roles, the Shameless star was secretly battling her alcohol and drug dependence.
(Image: Channel 4)
Speaking to Closer Magazine, the actress opened up on her previous struggles with alcohol and drug use throughout her career.
“My biggest vice was always the drink and now I’m 25 years sober. Do I miss it? No I don’t,” she said.
Tina is happily free from the bottle, having given up the booze 25 years ago, also opting to be drug-free for a decade.
The Celebrity Masterchef star outlined her struggles with substance abuse in her book, Back In Control: My Story, released in 2014.
“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,” she explained.
“I could put away 30 or 40 gin and tonics no trouble, half a bottle of brandy, a bottle of champagne, 10 bottles of Beck’s…”
(Image: Daily Mirror)
Malone said that she realised she had a problem when she was taken to hospital in 1995 after being carried out on a stretcher from a Holiday Inn.
But Tina admitted that she found it hard to accept, saying that her idea of an alcoholic was “an unkempt bloke on a park bench with a can of Special Brew”.
She confessed that she did not want to believe that was her, adding that people laughed at her, telling her she “was being ridiculous”.
But after her scare, Malone was determined to get herself off the booze, opting to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Since then, Malone has not looked back on her 40 gin and tonics a day lifestyle, beaming: “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”.
Despite her ditching the booze and drugs, she has admitted that her newest obsession is with food.
She confessed with the magazine that it was “a battle” for her.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
