Shameless star Tina Malone has said her husband, war hero Paul Malone, committed suicide following his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Paul, 41, died two months ago, on March 13, after what the actress had confirmed was a long struggle with her mental health.
Tina previously revealed how her “world fell apart” after the death of her spouse of 13 years, and says she is speaking out about how he died in the name of “transparency” and to encourage conversations about supporting veterans.
She has revealed that he turned to drink and drugs in a bid to cope with his time serving in the armed forces, and believes he is now “in a better place”.
Brookside actress Tina, 61, said tonight: “I haven’t spoken publicly about this until now.” This is the first time I have said it and confirmed it. Paul committed suicide. “I believe in transparency.”
Paul was a former member of the 22nd Cheshire Regiment, and served in Northern Ireland, Belize, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Falklands, where his squadmates nicknamed him Chevy after his surname, in honor of the comedian.
Tina Malone has confirmed her husband committed suicide and says she is speaking out in the name of “transparency” and to encourage others to speak out about mental health.
Tina with her husband Paul in 2015. She said he turned to drink and drugs in a bid to cope with his poor mental health after serving in the armed forces.
Paul (pictured during his time in the Cheshire Regiment) served all over the world, including in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Falklands.
The couple shared a daughter named Flame, now 11, whom Tina gave birth to in 2013 after IVF, when she was 50 (pictured all together in 2014).
She wrote on Twitter: “Six weeks ago today was the worst day of my entire life, my world fell apart, my husband Paul is dead but he lives forever in my heart x.”
But Tina said he often talked about the military when he was drunk and encouraged him to seek help to cope with what he saw while serving his country.
Paul, with whom she had her daughter Flame, now 11, through IVF, was finally diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder three years ago.
Tina said: “When he would get drunk he would ramble on about the army and I would say, ‘You have depression, you have emotional problems because of what you’ve seen.’ But he would brush it off. He would say, ‘How will I get a job if I have that?’ “‘
She and Paul met at a boot camp event where he was a personal trainer after her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother.
But their relationship was troubled in 2017 as Tina was arrested and reprimanded for cocaine possession, being fired from a pantomime in the process, while Paul lost his job looking after violent teenagers.
The couple was left on the brink of bankruptcy and Tina says her mental health skyrocketed during this time, using prescription medication and cocaine in an attempt to cope before attempting to take her own life.
He was admitted to psychiatric care and was given help by a veterans’ charity, but Tina said he would experience mood swings.
In the end, Tina said, Paul “couldn’t fight anymore.” After preparing food for Flame, he kissed Tina, walked out, and hours later died.
“He felt lost, he felt useless,” she said.
Tina’s comments, reported by mirrorHe comes because he intends to launch a new charity in his name, Paul’s Flame, to help people in times of crisis.
He added: ‘This is a man who served his country. The only way to move forward is to fight for change, to address the issues that veterans and soldiers face, to try to help others.’
Last year, statistics on suicides by British military veterans were published for the first time and exposed the mental health crisis our soldiers face as they leave service and attempt to return to civilian life.
According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2021 (the most recent figures available), suicides committed by men aged 35 to 44 were almost twice as high among veterans as non-veterans, 33.5 per 100,000, compared to 18 ,8.
Tina previously confessed that she is ‘devastated’ following the death of her husband Paul, after revealing the last conversation they had on the day of his death.
In a social media update, she responded to fans who had left her ‘kind messages’ and shared their own personal stories of loss.
Tina Malone said her husband Paul Chase’s death was the “worst day of her entire life” in a heartbreaking post on Wednesday (seen in 2014)
Tina Malone and Paul Chase pictured together in 2017. She says his death left her ‘bereft’
Tina took to social media this week to admit that the loss of her husband has left her “bereft.”
In a heartbreaking post, she detailed Paul’s final hours before he died, revealing that he had made his daughter breakfast and kissed Tina goodbye.
She tweeted: ‘Four weeks ago today at 4pm my husband made scrambled eggs, bacon, beans and sausages for Flame, kissed me and said see you later….
“Ten hours later he was dead, I am devastated, very helpless.”
Paul was buried two weeks ago, with a crowd of mourners gathered outside Tina’s home in Liverpool, where she joined them and received hugs and comfort from friends and family.
Many could be seen wiping their eyes as fellow veterans helped carry Paul’s coffin to his hearse, which was draped in a flag with his Cheshire Regiment dress hat placed on top.
The Cheshire Regiment Association, to which Paul belonged, shared photographs of the former officer in his military uniform, in honor of the man they affectionately knew as ‘Chevy’.
Friends of the regiment flocked to his funeral, many in the group wearing regimental ties and some of the pallbearers proudly displaying their medals.
A statement on Facebook read: “We have received the very sad news that Paul ‘Chevy’ Chase died yesterday at the age of 42. Paul was married to actress Tina Malone.
‘Rest in peace Pablo. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this sad time.”
Tina married Paul, 19 years her junior, in 2010 and they were married for nine years, before briefly separating in 2019 and getting back together just months later in February 2020.
After their 2020 reunion, the soap star said their relationship was back on track and said “their love never went away.”
She told Closer magazine at the time: “Love never left, we’re working on things now, our problems were compounded by depression, but I learned that in difficult times we have to come together and not separate.”
