Birthday boy Richie shows wild side in tiger suit
EastEnders star Shane Richie showed fans his wild side tonight in an impromptu appearance for fans outside his home dressed as a tiger.
Richie, who plays big-hearted landlord Alfie Moon in the soap, took time out as he was celebrating his 40th birthday to spring a surprise on fans gathered outside his Buckinghamshire home.
As photographers and local children amassed around the gates eager to spot his celebrity guests arriving for his birthday party in Denham, the birthday boy slipped out almost unnoticed among the fans wearing a cartoon tiger costume.
He mingled with the crowd for almost 10 minutes without revealing his identity before pulling off his tiger mask and shouting “ta-ra folks” as he stood at the gates of his home between two large monumental lion statues before heading in to enjoy his party.
In a reference to rumours that there would be Siberian tigers roaming the grounds at the bash, Richie shouted: “I’m a Siberian tiger”.
Richie turned down an offer from a glossy magazine to cover the event, opting to sell the rights to The Big Issue for just £1.10 (€1.61.
He chose the magazine because he was once homeless himself.
In 1980, at the age of 16, he moved to Plymouth hoping to get a job as a DJ but the promised employment fell through leaving him unable to pay the rent and forced to sleep rough.
Ex-wife Colleen Nolan arrived clutching a Mont Blanc money clip as a birthday present for Richie.
Nolan, who stars in ITV’s The Bill, said her former husband was relaxed about turning 40.
She said: “I don’t think he’s that bothered, nothing bothers Shane, we are just really looking forward to it.”
Asked what she intended to do at the party she said: “To get very, very drunk indeed.”
The other woman in Richie's life, his on-screen wife Kat, real name Jessie Wallace, arrived shortly afterwards in a car with blacked out windows.
Other cast members arriving at the party included Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale, Kim Medcalf, who plays Sam Mitchell, Charlie Brooks, who plays Janine Butcher, and actor Dean Gaffney better known as Robbie Jackson.
Former EastEnders star Shaun Williamson, who starred as the ill-fated Barry Evans, revealed how he had worked as a Blue Coat on a holiday camp in the Isle of Wight with Richie in his youth.
Speaking on behalf of his fellow cast members he said: “We all think the world of Shane, to be honest. He always was a good man. I used to be a Blue Coat with him down on the Isle of Wight, he's a top man. I rarely go to these things but this guy is a bit special.”
The first celebrity guest to arrive was his on-screen grandmother, Nana Moon, actress Hilda Braid.
She stopped and walked out from her car signing autographs for local children before going into Richie’s home.
Asked what she had brought as a present, she revealed “I’ve brought a bottle of Port and some Stilton and biscuits.”
Among other early guests to arrive were boxer Chris Eubank, who was driven in wearing a black bowler hat and white tie, and This Morning co-presenters Philip Schofield and Fern Britton.
Also spotted arriving was Fern Britton’s former co-presenter, John Leslie. Fellow co-stars of EastEnders also made an appearance including Ray Panthaki, who plays transplant patient Ronny Ferreira, as well as James Alexandrou who plays Martin Fowler.
Later in the evening a top flight music superstar is being promised as the highlight of the event but their identity is currently being kept secret.
