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I was morbidly obese on Big Brother Id do it totally different now, admits Tina Malone

EXCLUSIVE: Shameless icon Tina Malone has revealed the truth about her Celebrity Big Brother stint, admitting she was "morbidly obese" and battling personal struggles during her time in the house

[Tina]

Tina starred on the show in 2009(Image: Channel 4)

Shameless star Tina Malone has lifted the lid on her Celebrity Big Brother stint admitting shed do it totally different if she ever got the chance to go back.

The 62-year-old actress, best known for playing no-nonsense Mimi Maguire, entered the CBB house in 2009 alongside some of the biggest names of the time. And while she insists it was an incredible experience, Tina confessed she wasnt in the best place when she first walked through those iconic doors.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Star in collaboration with casino.org, she said: Do you know what? It was a fascinating, incredible experience. When I did it, it was at its peak, and the people in there were absolutely huge.

La Toya, Mutya [Beuna], Michelle Heaton, Ben Adams, Tommy Sheridan, Verne Troyer, Coolio, Ulrika, Terry Christian, Lucy Pinder... I mean, you'd have to live under a rock to not know who we were. We weren't people who'd been on TV for three weeks, like youd get now. It was fascinating being involved in it.

[Tina Malone]

Tina has lost a lot of weight since then(Image: Instagram/tinamalone23)

But Tina revealed the real story behind the headlines was far more complicated. She added: I was also morbidly and clinically obese. Although I was in Shameless, which was phenomenal, I was having high highs and low lows, as I'm bipolar. But I was also very depressed.

I had a skinny girl inside, a fat girl trying to get out, and probably wasn't in the greatest of places mentally. I'd lost my dad a few years before, which had a huge effect on my life and my mental health.

Looking back, Tina says shed handle things differently if given another chance: What I would say, given the opportunity to do it again, I do think you'd go in with a completely different attitude. I wish I'd had a rehearsal. But you cant.

It was an incredible time, something I will never forget or regret.

[Tina]

She would do things differently this time(Image: E4)

When asked if she was till in touch with any of her co-stars, Tina said: "I've occasionally spoken to Mutya and Ulrika. But then Verne has obviously passed away now. Coolio too. Over the years, Ive spoken to Terry a couple of times.

"But the truth is, most of us dont even have enough time these days for the friends and family we truly love and cherish. So how could we possibly make time for colleagues we shared an intense, fleeting chapter with? Its the same with every celebrity show: while youre in it, caught up in the whirlwind of showbiz, everyone feels close and connected. But once it ends, and you return to your own city, your own home, and your own life, its very much over.

[Tina]

Tina isn't in touch with her co-stars(Image: Tim Merry/Mirror Express)

"A lot of people don't admit that. But you've got to imagine whether you're an actor or a performer or a reality star, when you're in the moment, whether you're with that group of people stuck in Luton for 30 weeks, or say, on a shoot for something else.

"The intensity is there because we're all performers. We open up, stupidly, sometimes. Everything is heightened. Good times, low times. You bond, you become close, but then it wraps, and you go home."

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