She announced her shock split from toyboy husband Paul Chase in October last year, revealing her sadness that the couple had parted ways after 11 years together.
Now, however, Tina Malone is thrilled to say that, after four months apart, the pair have worked out their differences and their relationship is back on track. Not only that, but they are also hoping to renew their vows to mark their 10-year wedding anniversary this summer.
“The love never went away,” says the Shameless star, revealing their break-up came after they both struggled with mental health issues and crippling financial worries. She continues, “We’re working on things now. Our problems were compounded by depression, but I’ve learned that, in tough times, you have to pull together and not apart.”
Tina, 56, said their split marked the lowest point of “two years of hell”,which began in December 2017after she wasarrested for possession of cocaine while performing in pantomime.
Just three months later, Paul, 37, lost his long-term job caring for violent teenagers and they found themselves close to bankruptcy. Then, in the same year, Tina faced court proceedings and a possible jail sentence after sharing an apparent current photograph of someone in witness protection on her Facebook page.
Tina – who shares daughter Flame, six, with Paul– tells Closer, “I remember my agent said, ‘You won’t work for a year’ after the panto arrest, but I thought I’d never work again.” Although Tina accepted a caution, she maintains the drugs were planted on her. She says, “I remember feeling like my life was falling apart. Things just kept going from bad to worse. I thought I would never get through it. I was suicidal.”
CHECK OUT the cast of Shameless - where are they now?
Shamless cast - where are they now?
1 of 1David Threlfall
David played Frank Gallagher in the show, who was the father to nine children and stepfather to two children. Oh he was a busy man. His character was best known for his speeches at the beginning of each episode, which ranged from quotes from Shakespeare, the Bible and philosophy. He had plenty of ups and downs on the show, from jail stints to becoming an alcoholic, but he still remained a loveable rogue to many.
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Paul then spent months struggling to find work. Tina says that, as her mental health improved and she landed a role in Channel 5 show Clink a year ago, Paul turned to drinking and sunk into depression.
She explains, “He was literally trawling the streets with his CV, asking for work in factories and shops. He was drinking and he was so low. I could recognise the depression in him, but he couldn’t see it.
“We were either arguing, bickering, or not talking at all,” she says, adding that they protected Flame – whom Tina gave birth to at 50 after undergoing IVF – from their marriage troubles. “I’d end up putting Flame to bed and falling asleep next to her. Paul and I had always had a great sex life but were barely touching each other. At one point, we didn’t have sex for five months.”
Things came to a head in September last year, and Tina says it was her who finally called time on their relationship. She explains, “The tension between us was horrendous. We’d tried for 18 months to get through it. I told Paul to go and said, ‘I want a divorce’. We were both devastated. I knew I’d never love anyone else but we couldn’t keep going like that.”
Paul moved in with his mum following the split, and the couple kept their issues from their daughter, who thought her dad was away working.
“It felt like somebody had died. I missed him so much,” Tina says. “We spoke regularly, but the calls always ended in arguments. We’d never spent more than a few days apart in our whole relationship, so it was hell.”
Things started to improve when Paul got work in the army, quit drinking and started taking antidepressants. Then, three days before Christmas, he moved back into the family home.
Tina says, “Paul has learned he needs to recognise depression in himself and we are working on things. I say to him now, ‘I might want to kill you, but I’ll never divorce you.’ And our sex life is back on track. We slept together more over Christmas than in the last two years!”
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And Tina – who also has daughter Danielle, 37, from a previous marriage – discussed plans to have another baby via a surrogate in 2017, but she and Paul decided against it before their marriage hit the rocks. Now, however, she has plans to hold a “second wedding” for the pair to mark ten years of marriage in August.
“It’s not a fresh start, as you’ll never forget everything you’ve been through together, but if we can afford it, we’d love to renew our vows,” she says. “I’d have a proper Catholic ceremony in my local church and then a party afterwards. We had 650
guests at our first wedding, but this would be much smaller. I’ll still have the big wedding dress, though!”
Read more in this week's Closer magazine, out now