Shane Richie has revealed that he slept rough when he was just a teenager starting out in his career.
The EastEnders star, 54, admits that he was left homeless after an acting job fell through when he was just 16 years old.
Read more: EastEnders’ Sophia Capasso reveals she has received online ‘hate’
Shane, who plays Alfie Moon in the BBC soap, told the Mirror that he was forced to sleep on the streets when he moved to Plymouth for a role but was left “alone and virtually penniless”.
When the part didn’t materialise, he was forced to spending the night in a shop doorway – and later a park bench.
He said: “I slept rough for no more than 10 days, before the grim reality kicked in and sent me home with my dirty, unwashed tail firmly between my legs.”
Read more: Shane Richie ‘wearing high heels on the school run’
He continued: “When I think back, I see a 16-year-old boy who hadn’t been abandoned by his family, who didn’t have mental health issues or drug and alcohol addictions. But what I did experience was being invisible; being looked through.”
Despite spending a relatively short time on the street before moving back to London, Shane acknowledged that he was lucky to have another option.
He added: “I didn’t choose to be homeless, no-one does but, unlike others I met in the same predicament, I was lucky enough to have options to go to back in London.”
During his time on the streets, Shane found a homeless community, which gave him a different perspective.
He explained: “The people I’ve spoken to over the years, who are living on our streets, are not looking for pity but dignity.
“So next time you pass someone curled up in a doorway in the freezing cold, just think that whoever it is under that filthy blanket is someone’s son, daughter, brother, sister, mum or dad… And that, in the blink of an eye, it could be me or you.”
The actor and singer went on to say that the experience was “his lowest time” and “will always have a lasting effect on me”.
Shane made a dramatic comeback to EastEnders at the end of last year, and was involved in an explosive Christmas storyline when he was revealed as the father of Hayley’s baby Cherry.
He was then pushed down the stairs by a furious Hayley, but survived the fall.
He is currently on a break from the soap, and starring in theatre production Everyone’s Talking About Jamie, at the Apollo Theatre in London.
Does this article make you think differently about homelessness? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!