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From Rags to Richie
Book by Richie, Shane, Crawford, Sue
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 22, 2011
I read this years ago (I was about 18), so I can't remember much about the book and details, except for really liking it. But I do remember talking about Shane Richie for months afterwards. Even my nana has mentioned to me how much I talked about reading his book. I will have to find another copy one day so I can re-read it.
(I'm so glad he's back in eastenders playing Alfie Moon.) :)
(I'm so glad he's back in eastenders playing Alfie Moon.) :)
July 30, 2013
The self-confessed product of a knee trembler in a Dublin back alley tells us that he has (as many celebrities, and in particular ones in British light entertainment do) always been the life and soul of the party, the attention seeker, the cheeky chappie, the geezer, the joker, the japer, but also of his darker, shyer and deep down more insecure side. That one that the marketing departments wring their hands with glee at. We get the whole... Mum was a grafter, the family had nothing, the father was a drinker, a joker, a cadger, an artful dodger. Been there, done that, got the soiled and grubby t-shirt.
Okay, I admit. I hold my hands up. I didn’t share a piss ridden bed with my brother, often too afraid in the process to leave it in fear of being attacked by the rats of North West London.
Shane always knew he wanted to be famous and on the telly, partly because they never had one. Awwwww. Chapter One and we are already in panto.
He didn’t really know his father, who just came and went every day.
“Most of the time it felt like he didn’t even know that Dean and I were there.”
Stop, I’m filling up here.
He tells us of his first drugs experiences with pot and LSD, in particular when he dropped acid in a room above a carpet shop and wanted to take one of the rough shags for a flying lessons. He parables that people had told him not to do it but “warnings weren’t enough for me. I needed to know for myself what it was like. I needed to put my hand into the fire.”
In the next breath, he states that “it was around this time (a drama school party) that I first saw two men kiss.”
Now he doesn’t go into great detail, but I get the feeling his ‘hand into the fire’ logic stops there.
Onto Pontin’s where our cheeky, chappy blagger uber-blagged his way through the Bluecoat audition as a fifteen year old, a good few years underage. Despite this, from Brackelsham Bay to Pakefield to Torremolinos, Shane fucked his way through the chalet lines and accomodated the female holidaymakers who were looking to bag themselves a bluecoat, including six girls from Chelmsford. He claims that he let them all have their wicked way with him at once.
The competitions he organises with his colleagues to collect the most soiled underwear took me back to my own days at a holiday camp, the same one incidentally that he found himself at when his career hit the skids. I used to live next door to these two waiters. Good looking kids. I guess they were both about 19. Their walls were full of letters and photographs, some of which were very graphic polaroids. They were from their many similar conquests and rather than the dirty garments they had peeled off their victims, instead their quest was to collect as many displays of adulation and devotion as they could, as they actively attempted to make every single girl fall unceremoniously in love with them, which they both found completely hilarious. Their romances would start on the first night at the showbar. As we had intakes on a Monday for midweekers and Friday for the weekenders. This was an opportunity to score at least two points each week. Aswell as the holidaymakers, they would coax interest from the local college girls that would sneak into the camp and blag drinks from the openminded barmen and in the Summer there would always be a gaggle of females at the back gate waiting impatiently for one of them to appear.
This olympic display of anonymous sex more than set Shane up for the world of Giglism, which he discovered through a much older regular female patron of one of the bars, who pimps the young comic to a number of her business contacts and social acquaintances, including property tycoons and company directors. After thinking about the moral consequences and possible emotional complications for all of thirty seconds, he decides:
“Twenty quid for a bit of Hows your father? Yes please.”
He rationalises this decision by explaining that he was trying to as much back to his dear mum as he could...
Panto time again. Awwwwwwwwww....
...but he would have been happy to do all the same for nothing. Whether he actually offered though, is completely undisclosed. I can see the Daily Mail opener now:
“Former male prostitute, Shane Richie today...”
There’s a certain sense of arrogance and bravado when he tells us of a comic he worked with in Torremolinos that gave him a hard time and consequently went on to be not as successful. When I say not as successful, I actually mean carrying Jasper Carrott’s boots at a charity football match, 15 years later. He quite happily describes the incident as ‘what goes around comes around’ and you quite quickly get a sense of a deeply flawed man.
No Shane, fate hasn’t held him back just because he wasn’t nice to you. All kinds of reasons and factors , none of which you even care to suggest, could have been responsible, assuming he didn’t actually harbour dreams of becoming said Birmingham comic’s assistant.
I’ve already lost interest, respect and heart for this character and I’ve got another 290 pages to go. Shit.
Shane was never one to be a snob though.
It wasn’t just the holidaymakers and the powerful, rich older women. The young Shane spread his love to the people he worked with every day. Shane fucked the bar staff. Shane fucked the hairdresser. Shane fucked the cleaners. Shane fucked the waitresses. Shane fucked... you get the idea. Thousands of women passed by his hairy loins, he reckons.
In a way, it made me want to go back and re-live the five years I spent at the holiday camp. I feel like I missed out somewhere along the line. Serves me right for just slowly pining for the one unattainable girl, really. But Shane’s heart caught up with him at the end,
“I still had to put up the facade of the happy-go-lucky, care free bloke and that just wasn’t me all the time. I’d grown tired of bedhopping and trying to remember names.”
Please. I get a sense of something not quite ringing true in some of the excuses that he gives throughout this book. That things are not quite what he says they are or holding back certain details about incidents that happened. Like the aforementioned incident in which he laid down to fate. He was accused of taping another comic’s routine in the DJ box, which I don’t believe he needed to rationalise as much as he does or did, but there is just a sense from his narrative, along with other incidents through the book that he is not telling the whole truth. This was probably a result of the editing though.
Another example of this was when his ex-girlfriend commits suicide after he had gotten serious with The Nolan, someone that he met and got along with while still with her. Instead of dealing with the subject in a respectful way, Shane spends just ONE paragraph devastated until he realises life and career must go on and throws himself into his work instead in order to deal with his loss, not to mention his heightening popularity and never mentions her again. It feels even less sincere when he then plans to create life in the next breath.
Dating and going steady with a Nolan did wonders for Shane’s life overnight and before you know it, he’s attending flash parties and the doors start to open and the TV offers and variety supporting roles come flooding in. He then begins to meet and work with his heroes.
One of them quite oddly, comedian and light entertainment legend of yesteryear, Bobby Ball (the man that co-wrote a book called Christianity for Beginners) is painted as some showbiz godfather, forever looking out for Coleen Nolan, offering advice and warnings of broken legs at every opportunity.
Despite the fear of a past it, evangelical comic coming after him, he still treats her like shit, lied to her, soon having an affair and now she has agreed to be his wife. There’s lots of TV chat about people and programmes that are not around anymore or any good. I’m getting a bit bored now. Yawn, it’s dull.
Errr... getting tattoos and drinking Jack Daniels with Billy Idol? On Sunset Boulevard? I think I have picked up the Motley Crue book by mistake.
The Vietnamese lady has tattooed ‘Colin’ instead of Coleen on his backside. Oh dear, perhaps his whole ‘what goes around comes around’ philosophy is right after all. If that wasn’t enough to ruin his day, he’s also found out that via his boss being interviewed on Points of View that his show (one with a regular 10 million viewership) is being axed. Tough and harsh at the top, but Shane was always one step ahead and is soon covering his arse.
He quite openly (but probably unwisely) admits arranging for ticket touts to be outside the production of Grease, which he stars in. That is until his producer (unbeknown to this) asks him whether he knew anyone who could have a word with them. Shane asks them to disappear for a few weeks, until his producer notices he difference and rewards the actor with a bunch of guess what... complimentary tickets, which went straight to the tout who then went onto sell them to unsuspecting punters outside, at a large profit for Richie.
Now I’m no expert on law bookselling, but I believe that’s illegal.
He’s actually stayed quite humble throughout this book but by the time Chapter 11 comes along and he takes the lead in Grease (covering the latest departed Neighbours actor), it’s full throttle, balls to the wall ego mania. Shane got a taste of what he calls (in the most annoying way) ‘the business’ when he storms his first night in the lead role and acts like a cock at the end of it, attempting some sort of statement by tossing his Danny Zuko comb at the producer in one of the boxes and then wonders why they decided to keep looking for Craig McLachlan’s replacement regardless. He won them over in the end, or was it just another blag? I’m losing track.
He admits that not only did he fall in love with another girl while he was in love with Coleen but he also lied to his mistress, saying that was sleeping in seperate beds to his wife, despite happily getting his end away in both camps. All around him, his closest friends, the guys he would have previously laid down his life for told him otherwise tells him to shape up (‘cos she needs a man) and just pushes them all away instead. Shane clearly admits that his undoing was being blinded by the sheer amount of money he was earning and the free crates of Jack Daniels he is sent on a regular basis. I know how he feels. Not.
When it all came to a head and Shane is callously served (he feels) divorce papers by his wife, it was little Shane who took it the hardest.
He reportedly cried for a whole twenty minutes.
He knows he deserves what he got and he dives into the most wallowing period of despair and career freefall when his bubble burts, along with his credibility. He foolishly squanders all of his capital and worth into an indie British film a la Lock, Stock long after that bubble has already burst and has nothing to fall back on when he loses contract after contract after the revelation of his affair and resulting sides of the story is sold to the News of the World. But like a phoenix from the flames, Shane comes from being chased by creditors once more to landing the job and the girl of his dreams. Everyone lives happily ever after (and briefly rather incestuously) under the same roof.
What this book acheives is very much the exposure of what are essentially the trappings of fame and success. When you are in vogue, you are king. When you are not, you are a washed up has-been, losing presenting contracts to Big Brother presenters and resorted to basic cabaret at holiday camps once more. What he does is shows up showbusiness as the evil handed, twisted beast that it is. When you have money and exposure, you are golden. When you don’t, they will walk all over you. With high heels on. That’s TV and that’s celebrity and Shane is the embodiment of the industry, from his surprising success with Boogie Nights to his seemingly constant exposure on TV, proving that no matter how naff his programmes and cover versions are, he was a huge, charismaticand troubled star.
He is not the real hero of this book though. Not by any stretch. The support group around him are priceless. Coleen Nolan acts with with dignity, grace and some would say, naievety but still she stands by him through all of his troubles and woes. But the main star of this show is his long time friend and fellow Bluecoat, Goz who never once loses faith or support for his problematic friend and the crazy life that follows him. Shane, forever the old punk ...until it comes to choosing songs to sing, sums up his life in one lyric by The Jam.
“Better stop dreaming of the quiet life, ‘cos it’s the one we’ll never know...”
Interesting that he would choose A Town Called Malice. I saw his life throughout this book and thought more of a lyric from the song, Down the Tube Station at Midnight, it goes:
“Hey boy they shout - have you got any money? And I said - Ive a little money and a take away curry, Im on my way home to my wife. She’ll be lining up the cutlery, You know shes expecting me.”
Okay, I admit. I hold my hands up. I didn’t share a piss ridden bed with my brother, often too afraid in the process to leave it in fear of being attacked by the rats of North West London.
Shane always knew he wanted to be famous and on the telly, partly because they never had one. Awwwww. Chapter One and we are already in panto.
He didn’t really know his father, who just came and went every day.
“Most of the time it felt like he didn’t even know that Dean and I were there.”
Stop, I’m filling up here.
He tells us of his first drugs experiences with pot and LSD, in particular when he dropped acid in a room above a carpet shop and wanted to take one of the rough shags for a flying lessons. He parables that people had told him not to do it but “warnings weren’t enough for me. I needed to know for myself what it was like. I needed to put my hand into the fire.”
In the next breath, he states that “it was around this time (a drama school party) that I first saw two men kiss.”
Now he doesn’t go into great detail, but I get the feeling his ‘hand into the fire’ logic stops there.
Onto Pontin’s where our cheeky, chappy blagger uber-blagged his way through the Bluecoat audition as a fifteen year old, a good few years underage. Despite this, from Brackelsham Bay to Pakefield to Torremolinos, Shane fucked his way through the chalet lines and accomodated the female holidaymakers who were looking to bag themselves a bluecoat, including six girls from Chelmsford. He claims that he let them all have their wicked way with him at once.
The competitions he organises with his colleagues to collect the most soiled underwear took me back to my own days at a holiday camp, the same one incidentally that he found himself at when his career hit the skids. I used to live next door to these two waiters. Good looking kids. I guess they were both about 19. Their walls were full of letters and photographs, some of which were very graphic polaroids. They were from their many similar conquests and rather than the dirty garments they had peeled off their victims, instead their quest was to collect as many displays of adulation and devotion as they could, as they actively attempted to make every single girl fall unceremoniously in love with them, which they both found completely hilarious. Their romances would start on the first night at the showbar. As we had intakes on a Monday for midweekers and Friday for the weekenders. This was an opportunity to score at least two points each week. Aswell as the holidaymakers, they would coax interest from the local college girls that would sneak into the camp and blag drinks from the openminded barmen and in the Summer there would always be a gaggle of females at the back gate waiting impatiently for one of them to appear.
This olympic display of anonymous sex more than set Shane up for the world of Giglism, which he discovered through a much older regular female patron of one of the bars, who pimps the young comic to a number of her business contacts and social acquaintances, including property tycoons and company directors. After thinking about the moral consequences and possible emotional complications for all of thirty seconds, he decides:
“Twenty quid for a bit of Hows your father? Yes please.”
He rationalises this decision by explaining that he was trying to as much back to his dear mum as he could...
Panto time again. Awwwwwwwwww....
...but he would have been happy to do all the same for nothing. Whether he actually offered though, is completely undisclosed. I can see the Daily Mail opener now:
“Former male prostitute, Shane Richie today...”
There’s a certain sense of arrogance and bravado when he tells us of a comic he worked with in Torremolinos that gave him a hard time and consequently went on to be not as successful. When I say not as successful, I actually mean carrying Jasper Carrott’s boots at a charity football match, 15 years later. He quite happily describes the incident as ‘what goes around comes around’ and you quite quickly get a sense of a deeply flawed man.
No Shane, fate hasn’t held him back just because he wasn’t nice to you. All kinds of reasons and factors , none of which you even care to suggest, could have been responsible, assuming he didn’t actually harbour dreams of becoming said Birmingham comic’s assistant.
I’ve already lost interest, respect and heart for this character and I’ve got another 290 pages to go. Shit.
Shane was never one to be a snob though.
It wasn’t just the holidaymakers and the powerful, rich older women. The young Shane spread his love to the people he worked with every day. Shane fucked the bar staff. Shane fucked the hairdresser. Shane fucked the cleaners. Shane fucked the waitresses. Shane fucked... you get the idea. Thousands of women passed by his hairy loins, he reckons.
In a way, it made me want to go back and re-live the five years I spent at the holiday camp. I feel like I missed out somewhere along the line. Serves me right for just slowly pining for the one unattainable girl, really. But Shane’s heart caught up with him at the end,
“I still had to put up the facade of the happy-go-lucky, care free bloke and that just wasn’t me all the time. I’d grown tired of bedhopping and trying to remember names.”
Please. I get a sense of something not quite ringing true in some of the excuses that he gives throughout this book. That things are not quite what he says they are or holding back certain details about incidents that happened. Like the aforementioned incident in which he laid down to fate. He was accused of taping another comic’s routine in the DJ box, which I don’t believe he needed to rationalise as much as he does or did, but there is just a sense from his narrative, along with other incidents through the book that he is not telling the whole truth. This was probably a result of the editing though.
Another example of this was when his ex-girlfriend commits suicide after he had gotten serious with The Nolan, someone that he met and got along with while still with her. Instead of dealing with the subject in a respectful way, Shane spends just ONE paragraph devastated until he realises life and career must go on and throws himself into his work instead in order to deal with his loss, not to mention his heightening popularity and never mentions her again. It feels even less sincere when he then plans to create life in the next breath.
Dating and going steady with a Nolan did wonders for Shane’s life overnight and before you know it, he’s attending flash parties and the doors start to open and the TV offers and variety supporting roles come flooding in. He then begins to meet and work with his heroes.
One of them quite oddly, comedian and light entertainment legend of yesteryear, Bobby Ball (the man that co-wrote a book called Christianity for Beginners) is painted as some showbiz godfather, forever looking out for Coleen Nolan, offering advice and warnings of broken legs at every opportunity.
Despite the fear of a past it, evangelical comic coming after him, he still treats her like shit, lied to her, soon having an affair and now she has agreed to be his wife. There’s lots of TV chat about people and programmes that are not around anymore or any good. I’m getting a bit bored now. Yawn, it’s dull.
Errr... getting tattoos and drinking Jack Daniels with Billy Idol? On Sunset Boulevard? I think I have picked up the Motley Crue book by mistake.
The Vietnamese lady has tattooed ‘Colin’ instead of Coleen on his backside. Oh dear, perhaps his whole ‘what goes around comes around’ philosophy is right after all. If that wasn’t enough to ruin his day, he’s also found out that via his boss being interviewed on Points of View that his show (one with a regular 10 million viewership) is being axed. Tough and harsh at the top, but Shane was always one step ahead and is soon covering his arse.
He quite openly (but probably unwisely) admits arranging for ticket touts to be outside the production of Grease, which he stars in. That is until his producer (unbeknown to this) asks him whether he knew anyone who could have a word with them. Shane asks them to disappear for a few weeks, until his producer notices he difference and rewards the actor with a bunch of guess what... complimentary tickets, which went straight to the tout who then went onto sell them to unsuspecting punters outside, at a large profit for Richie.
Now I’m no expert on law bookselling, but I believe that’s illegal.
He’s actually stayed quite humble throughout this book but by the time Chapter 11 comes along and he takes the lead in Grease (covering the latest departed Neighbours actor), it’s full throttle, balls to the wall ego mania. Shane got a taste of what he calls (in the most annoying way) ‘the business’ when he storms his first night in the lead role and acts like a cock at the end of it, attempting some sort of statement by tossing his Danny Zuko comb at the producer in one of the boxes and then wonders why they decided to keep looking for Craig McLachlan’s replacement regardless. He won them over in the end, or was it just another blag? I’m losing track.
He admits that not only did he fall in love with another girl while he was in love with Coleen but he also lied to his mistress, saying that was sleeping in seperate beds to his wife, despite happily getting his end away in both camps. All around him, his closest friends, the guys he would have previously laid down his life for told him otherwise tells him to shape up (‘cos she needs a man) and just pushes them all away instead. Shane clearly admits that his undoing was being blinded by the sheer amount of money he was earning and the free crates of Jack Daniels he is sent on a regular basis. I know how he feels. Not.
When it all came to a head and Shane is callously served (he feels) divorce papers by his wife, it was little Shane who took it the hardest.
He reportedly cried for a whole twenty minutes.
He knows he deserves what he got and he dives into the most wallowing period of despair and career freefall when his bubble burts, along with his credibility. He foolishly squanders all of his capital and worth into an indie British film a la Lock, Stock long after that bubble has already burst and has nothing to fall back on when he loses contract after contract after the revelation of his affair and resulting sides of the story is sold to the News of the World. But like a phoenix from the flames, Shane comes from being chased by creditors once more to landing the job and the girl of his dreams. Everyone lives happily ever after (and briefly rather incestuously) under the same roof.
What this book acheives is very much the exposure of what are essentially the trappings of fame and success. When you are in vogue, you are king. When you are not, you are a washed up has-been, losing presenting contracts to Big Brother presenters and resorted to basic cabaret at holiday camps once more. What he does is shows up showbusiness as the evil handed, twisted beast that it is. When you have money and exposure, you are golden. When you don’t, they will walk all over you. With high heels on. That’s TV and that’s celebrity and Shane is the embodiment of the industry, from his surprising success with Boogie Nights to his seemingly constant exposure on TV, proving that no matter how naff his programmes and cover versions are, he was a huge, charismaticand troubled star.
He is not the real hero of this book though. Not by any stretch. The support group around him are priceless. Coleen Nolan acts with with dignity, grace and some would say, naievety but still she stands by him through all of his troubles and woes. But the main star of this show is his long time friend and fellow Bluecoat, Goz who never once loses faith or support for his problematic friend and the crazy life that follows him. Shane, forever the old punk ...until it comes to choosing songs to sing, sums up his life in one lyric by The Jam.
“Better stop dreaming of the quiet life, ‘cos it’s the one we’ll never know...”
Interesting that he would choose A Town Called Malice. I saw his life throughout this book and thought more of a lyric from the song, Down the Tube Station at Midnight, it goes:
“Hey boy they shout - have you got any money? And I said - Ive a little money and a take away curry, Im on my way home to my wife. She’ll be lining up the cutlery, You know shes expecting me.”
December 25, 2020
Though obviously an entertainer of some genius, I was disappointed with Richie's shallow approach to life. I suppose we were all immature once though it seemed to take the author longer than usual to grow up. I could not recommend the book to friends due to the writings often falling into the category of "too-much-information".
January 31, 2024
Fantastic read. Like to read how the famous people get where they get and how they get there.
April 21, 2024
I read this years ago, just after it came out and kept it. I have read it again numerous times and thought it really excellent. He is just a really brilliant person and it comes out in his book.
May 25, 2025
Shane Richie seemed to suffer with depression throughout his life but the end of his book finds him talking very positive about his future and the women he loves.
October 21, 2025
interesting reading about his life, where he comes from, his struggles, he's gone through along the way and where he is now.
October 30, 2010
This is the autobiography of one of Britains best loved soap opera stars. He stars in Eastenders and is very popular here in the role he plays. The book is very entertaining and I really enjoyed reading it.
Back Cover Blurb:
The son of a road sweeper, Shane Richie has come a long way from the streets of London's council estates. As Eastenders loveable rogue Alfie Moon he is now the 'darling' of every soap fan in Britain. But it has been an incredible roller coaster ride as he twice fought his way to the top.
Shane started life as a Pontins Bluecoat before establishing himself as the star of the musical Grease and the face of Friday and Saturday night TV entertainment with hit shows such as Lucky Numbers, Love Me Do and The Shane Richie Experience. He grabbed the trappings of fame with both hands, sleeping with a string of women and indulging in the champagne lifestyle to excess.
In Rags to Richie, he writes frankly about the years of womanising, the agonising break-up of his marriage to singer Coleen Nolan and his days of heavy drinking. Shane reveals how he coped when his career dramatically nose-dived, his despair over money troubles and how his semi-autobiographical musical Boogie Nights drove him to the edge of insanity.
In this candid autobiography, Shane reveals the highs and the lows of a life with more twists and turns than a soap opera plotline; a life that saw him move from Pontins to the Palladium in just four years. From Daz ads to Danny Zuko, from sleeping rough on the south coast, to touring comedy clubs on America's west coast, from warm-up man to West End star, Shane tells it all.
Back Cover Blurb:
The son of a road sweeper, Shane Richie has come a long way from the streets of London's council estates. As Eastenders loveable rogue Alfie Moon he is now the 'darling' of every soap fan in Britain. But it has been an incredible roller coaster ride as he twice fought his way to the top.
Shane started life as a Pontins Bluecoat before establishing himself as the star of the musical Grease and the face of Friday and Saturday night TV entertainment with hit shows such as Lucky Numbers, Love Me Do and The Shane Richie Experience. He grabbed the trappings of fame with both hands, sleeping with a string of women and indulging in the champagne lifestyle to excess.
In Rags to Richie, he writes frankly about the years of womanising, the agonising break-up of his marriage to singer Coleen Nolan and his days of heavy drinking. Shane reveals how he coped when his career dramatically nose-dived, his despair over money troubles and how his semi-autobiographical musical Boogie Nights drove him to the edge of insanity.
In this candid autobiography, Shane reveals the highs and the lows of a life with more twists and turns than a soap opera plotline; a life that saw him move from Pontins to the Palladium in just four years. From Daz ads to Danny Zuko, from sleeping rough on the south coast, to touring comedy clubs on America's west coast, from warm-up man to West End star, Shane tells it all.
March 5, 2013
I've been neglected today. The new Tomb Raider game has come out. So my boyfriend has spent the day with Lara Croft and I've had to make do with Shane Richie. What did I know about Shane Richie before I read this book?
1)He plays Alfie Moon in Eastenders
2(.....nothing.
As far as autobiographies go this one was pretty good. He lets people know about the good and the bad. He faces up to things he's done wrong. His 'Rags to Richie' story was a good one. And I actually have some respect for someone I never thought I would have - Coleen Nolan. I had no idea they had ever been married but the way she held herself and her family together though Shane's affair and their divorce. Even letting him cry on her shoulder when things were not going right with his new girlfriend. Thats something I would never be able to do and hats off to her for that. I will stop making fun of her now.
A must read for fans but a good read for anyone who enjoys random autobiographies.
1)He plays Alfie Moon in Eastenders
2(.....nothing.
As far as autobiographies go this one was pretty good. He lets people know about the good and the bad. He faces up to things he's done wrong. His 'Rags to Richie' story was a good one. And I actually have some respect for someone I never thought I would have - Coleen Nolan. I had no idea they had ever been married but the way she held herself and her family together though Shane's affair and their divorce. Even letting him cry on her shoulder when things were not going right with his new girlfriend. Thats something I would never be able to do and hats off to her for that. I will stop making fun of her now.
A must read for fans but a good read for anyone who enjoys random autobiographies.
Read
November 18, 2011I like to read biographies almost as a dark secret as it's really just prying into whatever secrets that the person in question wants to let out and they're usually things that seem to outrageous to be true. I did enjoy this book though it just underlines the slightly sleazy persona that Shane Richie seems to be adopting now with other allegations of affairs etc coming out in the press even now. Don't think he'd win the Daz doorstep challenge now! An enjoyable read even though I don't remember the Nolan sisters being 'cool' at the end of the late 80s or indeed any other time. Maybe it's because I wasn't a teenage boy.
November 3, 2014
I am an unusual woman as I don't watch Eastenders so I didn't know who Shane Richie is. So this is a totally unbiased review of his autobiography. A jaw dropping page turner. I read every page. His story is gripping. Carving his career out at such a young age when he was actually too young to be employed. A great read right to the end. I felt better about my own problems with reading Shane Richies book.
October 14, 2009
The autobiography of Shane Ritchie, a man who appeared to have it all and threw it away, then got given it again. Very readable but it's difficult to like him for a lot of the time, which obviously doesn't help.
July 5, 2011
I actually enjoyed this more than I thought. It was a good read, especially the bits about colleen. I finded some of it boring, but you do get that is most autobiographys. It didn't take me long to read and I do like Shane, so an insight into his life was great to read.
March 22, 2014
It was only during the last half of the book that i felt Shane genuinely opened up. It was a nice insight into behind the scenes of showbiz and what it can be like as well as the strain it has on relationships but overall i was expecting something more.
February 23, 2017
I enjoyed this autobiography as it's one of those that you can hear the subject reading aloud almost, as it's written as he would speak. It's honest, happy, sad and everything you'd expect Shane Ritchie's autobiography to be - with a (so far) happy ending!
May 8, 2014
I thought the book was ok but I did find it a little boring to my taste.
I'm sure other people who read the book will like it but I just found that it dragged for me.
I'll still give it 3* as some of it was entertaining but the book just wasn't for me.
I'm sure other people who read the book will like it but I just found that it dragged for me.
I'll still give it 3* as some of it was entertaining but the book just wasn't for me.
February 3, 2012
This was a really good read. Very honest account, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
July 29, 2012
Don't know why I read this... but I liked it anyway.
January 29, 2013
This was a story I couldn't put down either sad happy moving on
June 22, 2013
Red coat made good treated colleen pretty poorly.
January 14, 2015
a decent enough read from a well known face - sounds like he was being really honest esp about his Bluecoat days!
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