I’m A Celebrity’s Shane Richie discusses his close friendship with Reggie Kray

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I’m A Celebrity’s Shane Richie reveals he had such a close friendship with Reggie Kray the London gangster once burned down the OFFICE of an agent who owed him £8k

By Roxy Simons For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

I’m A Celebrity‘s Shane Richie detailed his unexpectedly close friendship with Reggie Kray in a new interview on Tuesday.

The soap star, 56, spoke candidly about the London gangster, saying he even had the office of a man who owed Shane money burned down after he refused to pay.

Shane would often visit Kray while he was in Maidstone Prison, and one such social call in the 1990s saw him explain how he’d been cheated out of £8,000 by an agent who wouldn’t pay him after hosting a slew of gigs at Butlins.

Pals: I’m A Celebrity’s Shane Richie revealed on Tuesday he had such a close friendship with Reggie Kray the gangster burned down the OFFICE of an agent who owed him £8k

Speaking to The Sun, Shane said of the agent: ‘When I asked him for it he told to stick my request up my a**e because I didn’t have a contract. I’d trusted him and he’d tricked me.

‘I told Reg that this guy lived in Canvey Island and that I was trying to take him to court to get my money back. I gave him the guy’s name but thought no more of it.

‘I don’t know exactly to this day what happened but word has it Reggie made a call, the agent told him where to go, and, low and behold, his office was burnt down.’

Incident: Shane said the agent 'told [him] to stick my request up my a**e', and said Reggie 'made a call, the agent told him where to go, and, low and behold, his office was burnt down'

Incident: Shane said the agent ‘told [him] to stick my request up my a**e’, and said Reggie ‘made a call, the agent told him where to go, and, low and behold, his office was burnt down’

Shane explained that after the incident he received a cheque for the full amount he was owed, and was also sent flowers to ex-wife Coleen Nolan and toys to their children Jake and Shane Jr.

In 2017, Coleen revealed on Loose Women that Reggie once sent drawings to the family from prison which she said she destroyed.

She said: ‘People have asked me if I still have them as they’d be worth a fortune but I ripped them up.’

Coleen also made an amusing faux-pas as she claimed Reggie ‘loved’ Alfie’s EastEnders character Alfie Moon, despite dying before he made his debut in the role

‘He used to try and get in touch with Shane and all of that to speak to him,’ she explained, even though Reggie died in October 2000 and Shane first starred as Alfie in 2002, potentially confusing him with his twin Ronnie who died in 1995.

Shane has been busy with his 2020 stint on I’m A Celebrity, which is being filmed in Gwrych Castle in Abergele, North Wales, after the coronavirus pandemic meant the show couldn’t take place in Australia as per usual.

Aftermath: Shane explained that after the incident he received a cheque for the full amount he was owed, and was also sent flowers to ex-wife Coleen Nolan (pictured in 1997)

Aftermath: Shane explained that after the incident he received a cheque for the full amount he was owed, and was also sent flowers to ex-wife Coleen Nolan (pictured in 1997)