DODGE SHAME Lee Ryan’s regret over scheme to avoid revenue bill

STRICTLY star Lee Ryan invested cash in a tax avoidance scheme.

The Blue singer, 35, decided ploughing his earnings into the controversial project would be “a good idea”.

His money-saving ploy is likely to anger millions of hard-working taxpayers watching him on Saturday night TV. Confirming he attempted to dodge tax, Lee said: “I put my money in one of those fabled tax avoidance schemes, which I was assured was a great idea. Instead, my tax bill went through the roof and that was it.”

Lee insists he now regrets investing in the scheme.

He added: “If I’d known then what I know how, I would have run a mile from it. Hindsight is a beautiful thing.”

Lee’s confession puts him at risk of a backlash from the public.

Avoidance schemes are designed to help investors pay less tax – sometimes by through offshore companies, or by putting money into charitable funds that have lower tax as a reward.

But it didn’t help him dodge bankruptcy in 2015.

When Blue were at their peak, they scored three No.1 hits and sold out arenas across the country.

But Lee squandered a fortune estimated at £10million.

At the time sources close to the star blamed his financial issues on “bad investments”.

In tell-all autobiography All Rise, which he penned with his Blue bandmates, he insists going bankrupt was good for him.

The dad-of-two said: “Of course the government want to discourage this kind of thing but going bankrupt actually made me better off financially, because the banks were no longer able to chase me for interest payments.

“At one point I received a phone call saying ‘We’re coming round for your possessions’ and I replied ‘Well I’m bankrupt and you’ve had everything, so what were you thinking of taking?’.

“It gets to a point where you literally have nothing to lose.”

Lee is among a host of stars who have tried to avoid tax by investing in schemes.

Comic Jimmy Carr, 46, was ordered to pay back £500,000 in corporation tax he avoided using an offshore scheme.

And after radio presenter Chris Moyles, 44, used one scheme it was closed down by the tax authorities.