Secrets of Tina’s panto drugs bust
What Tina Malone asked cast before being cautioned by cops for drugs
SHAMELESS star Tina Malone was arrested for cocaine possession and kicked off a panto after asking cast members if anyone had seen her “little bag of snow” before going on stage.
The 54-year-old actress, appearing in Sleeping Beauty as a wicked fairy, was led away by police past shocked theatregoers after the final curtain, begging not be handcuffed.
She was later cautioned over the Class A drug – and furious production bosses announced on Facebook her contract had been terminated.
A show insider revealed last night Liverpudlian Tina had caused “havoc” throughout the show’s run. And a cast member branded her “a nightmare”.
SWEARING
“A lot of people were pleased she had been arrested,” said the source. “She was really disliked, moody and always swearing – even at kids taking part in the panto.”
The drama unfolded on Friday night at the Cloud Nine theatre in Barrow-in-furness, Cumbria.
“Tina had been asking people earlier in the evening if they had seen her ‘little bag of snow’,” said our source. “No one realised what she meant.
“Then one of the parents noticed a white substance under her nose and asked what it was. She winked and said, ‘It’s showbiz snow’.”
Police were tipped off as Tina, who has appeared on I’m A Celebrity, was on stage playing Carabosse. The insider said: “As she came off, she heard a rumour she had been shopped.
“She tried to get a taxi, but police stopped her. She begged them not to handcuff her.”
Tina, who has also appeared in Victoria Wood’s Dinnerladies and Brookside and runs her own acting school, was taken to the local nick along with her fouryear-old daughter Flame and husband Paul Chase, 19 years her junior. Last night another show insider spoke of her “diva-ish” ways during the panto’s run.
“Tina complained constantly about her accommodation. We had to move her to an expensive hotel. She was late for rehearsal to start with and didn’t know songs for the first show. “She also had a habit of locking herself in the theatre’s one loo which she called her ‘office’. She was in there smoking away while people queued outside.”
PLAGUE
A member of the cast, which includes ex-eastenders star Ricky Groves and Big Brother’s Ellie Young, said: “Tina is a patronising nightmare to work with. When we are backstage we all try to avoid her like the plague as she thinks she owns us.”
A Cumbria police spokesman confirmed: “A 54-year-old woman from Merseyside has been cautioned for being in possession of a class A drug.”
Last night Tina was unavailable for comment.
The panto company, Joe Purdy Productions, said on Facebook a “mutual decision to terminate her contract” had been taken, adding the run would continue with a male actor in her role.
She was disliked, she was moody & always swearing. People were glad she was arrested
SHOW INSIDER ON DIVA BEHAVIOUR OF NICKED SHAMELESS STAR TINA MALONE