Tina Malone confirms husband died by suicide in devastating first interview: ‘I’ll never get over it’

Shameless actress Tina Malone has given her first interview since the devastating loss of her husband, Paul Chase.

The TV icon’s partner took his own life at the age of 42, with Tina now vowing to set up a mental health charity in his honour after the army veteran struggled with his own in the year before his suicide.

Tina, 61, confirmed Chase’s cause of death for the first time publicly this week, saying she wants the world to know because she ‘believes in transparency’.

‘I’ll never, ever get over it, never, because I miss him so badly and I love him so much and he is all around us. One thing I know… he’s in a better place than here,’ she added.

Tina explained to OK! Magazine that she ‘just knew’ something terrible had happened when her husband didn’t return home the previous night before police officers arrived at her house with blue lights and sirens.

The soap star, who met Chase at a boot camp in 2009, went on to say that her daughter is keeping her going.

Flame, 10, was born when Tina was 50, following her parents’ marriage despite their 21-year age gap.

‘If I didn’t have Flame, I really wouldn’t want to be here,’ Tina confessed.

Delving into her late husband’s mental state before he died, she explained: ‘He felt lost, he felt useless, he couldn’t fight any more.

‘Drugs weren’t recreational. Drink wasn’t recreational or social. The burden of responsibility was too much.’

May 28 would’ve been Chase’s birthday so, on this date, Tina will launch Paul’s Flame, a charitable foundation assisting people in crisis.

With suicide rates shockingly high among military veterans – in 2021, deaths by suicide per 100,000 veterans aged 35 to 44 were higher than those in the general population – Tina wants to make a change.

She believes that witnessing the horrors of war led to Chase’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with which he was diagnosed three years ago.

Then, as his anxiety and depression deepened, he turned to alcohol and drugs.

‘This is a man who served his country and saved lives. He admitted it in the end but, by then, things had gone too far. He couldn’t find a way back.

‘We have to talk more about suicide – that’s why I am speaking out now. It is the biggest cause of death in men under the age of 50 but there is still a stigma around it; there’s not enough support.

‘What are we actually doing to help people like Paul?’

Tina has kept a relatively low profile since losing Chase.

However, she did return to social media briefly to thank fans for their support.

Tina wrote on X: ‘I am totally overwhelmed at the cards, flowers, messages, calls, texts, emails I’ve received from friends, family, colleagues, Paul’s army brothers. I

‘t’s a great comfort for us, I will reply to everyone soon as I am able to.

‘The support and kindness on here too has deeply touched me too xx.’

Marking six weeks since his death, she later wrote: ‘Six weeks ago today was the worst day of my entire life,my world fell apart,my hubby Paul is dead,but he lives forever in my heart x’.

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