EastEnders icon Shane Richie has reportedly joined other celebrities with utilising the government’s furlough scheme.
According to official files from HMRC the TV legend’s business was listed alongside over 600,000 other businesses to be claiming cash during the global pandemic.
The 56-year-old, who is yet to provide a comment, had appointed himself as co-director of his firm back in July last year, joining his wife Christie with running the operation.
It is unknown at this stage if the actor had used the system to obtain money for himself or if he has instead claimed cash for staff at his company, Bluebelle Skye Productions, The Sun reports.
Daily Star has contacted Shane’s representatives for comment.
Shane is believed to be using the governments furlough scheme to claim money (Image: LightRocket via Getty Images)
Prior to his stint on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Shane had been open about the fact he had been dipping into savings, which was not leaving him with much money to survive off of during the Covid-19 pandemic which prevented many from working.
At one point the capital for his company had dipped to just £4,165 until he fortunately struck up a starring role on the ITV reality show and headed off to Wales.
Shane admitted before heading to Wales for I’m A Celeb… that Covid-19 had left him skint (Image: BBC)
The soap star even admitted that he’d had to borrow money from friends and the bank in order to keep a roof over his head.
Speaking before entering Gwrych Castle, Shane said: “I was going on tour, doing a TV series and panto but it all got cancelled in March. Now I am literally skint!
“You save for a rainy day but you don’t expect the rainy day to last eight months. Thankfully, I’ve been able to borrow money from mates, my family and the bank.”
Shane had to borough money from pals in order to stay afloat before I’m A Celeb (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Kin)
Money became so tight that Shane even resorted to giving up a car as the repayments were too costly.
He added: “I got rid of my car but only because I lease a car for my wife for the school run. I can get around on a moped.
“I am alright, I have had a career and if it all finishes tomorrow, so be it. If the worst comes to the worst, I’ll do stand-up or resurrect a musical.”
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Shane explained during his time on the ITV programme that the Daz adverts had killed off his career (Image: ITV)
After undergoing numerous gruelling Bushtucker Challenges, Shane managed to land himself fourth place on the programme and was loved by fans for his honesty.
While on the show, he made an admission that although he swooped up a whopping £500,000 for 21 days work on the famous Daz advertisements, he felt it has killed off his career.
He told camp mates: “It killed my career. I was Mr Saturday Night, Grease, the jobs were coming in as an actor, even dramas for the BBC. I did the job and my career, it stopped overnight.
“No one was calling as you become a TV personality.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
