Tina Malone has revealed she had a graveside barbeque with her daughter Flame in order to feel close with her late husband Paul.
The actress, 61, tragically told how her war hero husband took his own life after struggling with PTSD following his time serving in Iraq.
Speaking to Closer magazine, Tina told how she and her daughter took a barbeque to Paul’s grave to mark what would have been his 42nd birthday in late May.
She said: ‘People might think it’s crazy but we cooked a ribeye steak, flame stuffed olives with garlic and we got three bottles of Peroni beer. We took them to his grave and we sat and chatted to him. It was special to us and we felt close to him.’
Paul was a former member of the 22nd Regiment of the Cheshires, serving in Northern Ireland, Belize, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Falklands – where he was nicknamed Chevy by fellow squaddies because of his surname, after the comedian.
Tina Malone has revealed she had a graveside barbeque with her daughter Flame in order to feel close with her late husband Paul
The actress, 61, tragically told how her war hero husband took his own life after struggling with PTSD following his time serving in Iraq (pictured in 2015)
Tina admitted Paul’s death did not come as a shock as she saw how badly his mental health had been effected by his time serving.
She said he turned to ‘drink, drugs and painkillers’ in order to numb the pain.
The Shameless star also told how the house is exactly as it was since Paul died four months ago and she has washed and ironed all his clothes.
Recalling his funeral, Tina added: ”After the funeral, we partied until late. We ate all of Paul’s favourite food ad I was the first on the dancefloor because, well, that was just me and Paul.’
Tina added that her grief over losing Paul is still raw and she doesn’t think she will ever love a man like him again.
She said: ‘I have never and will never love any other man like I do Paul. I want to be with him and I will be with him one day.’
The actress told how she recently saw an old couple holding hands near her home and thought to herself she will never have that.
The soap star said an army officer told her the army doesn’t do enough to help soldiers readjust to civilian life, noting how other armies give ex-soldiers ‘a pot of money’ they can use to re-train or set up their onw businesses.
Speaking to Closer magazine, Tina told how she and her daughter took a barbeque to Paul’s grave to mark what would have been his 42nd birthday in late May (pictured in 2013)
She said: ‘People might think it’s crazy but we cooked a ribeye steak, flame stuffed olives with garlic and we got three bottles of Peroni beer. We took them to his grave and we sat and chatted to him. It was special to us and we felt close to him’
Tina added: ”After the funeral, we partied until late. We ate all of Paul’s favourite food ad I was the first on the dancefloor because, well, that was just me and Paul’ (pictured in 2017)
Tina is now launching a charity called Paul’s Flame alongside her late husband’s sister. The charity aims to help people with cash payments during desperate times.
Tina 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 cautioned for cocaine possession – being sacked from a pantomime in the process – while Paul lost his job caring for violent teenagers.
The couple were left facing bankruptcy and Tina says his mental health spiralled during this time, using prescription drugs and cocaine in an attempt to cope before attempting to take his own life.
He was admitted to psychiatric care, and was given help by an veterans charity, but Tina said he would experience mood swings.
The couple shared one daughter together called Flame, now 11, who Tina gave birth to in 2013 following IVF, when she was 50 years old (pictured all together in 2014)
Eventually, Tina said, Paul ‘couldn’t fight anymore’. After making food for Flame, he kissed Tina, went out – and was dead hours later.
Last year, statistics on British military veteran suicides were published for the first time and expose the mental health crisis facing our soldiers as they retire from service and attempt to return to civilian life.
According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2021 – the most recent figures available – suicides by men aged 35 to 44 were almost twice as high among veterans as non-veterans, at 33.5 per 100,000, compared to 18.8.
Tina tied the knot with Paul, who is 19 years her junior, in 2010 and they were married for nine years, before briefly separating in 2019 – getting back together just months later in February 2020.
Following their 2020 reunion, the soap star said their relationship was back to normal and said their ‘love never went away.’
She told Closer magazine at the time: ‘The love never went away, we’re working on things now, our problems were compounded by depression but I learned that in tough times you have to pull together and not apart.’
