Actor Craig Charles suspended from Coronation St

[vegas]

If he is smoking crack then he is on a path to certain destruction

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5098390.stm

[faceless]

Actor suspended over drug claims
Actor Craig Charles has been suspended from ITV1 soap opera Coronation Street following allegations of drug taking and the BBC said Charles would not host his radio show on 6 Music while managers talk to him about the claims. The Daily Mirror alleged that pictures in the newspaper showed the 41-year-old smoking crack cocaine. It said it would make information available to police.

Charles plays cab driver Lloyd Mullaney in Coronation Street. A spokeswoman for the soap said the actor had no comment. "No immediate decision has been taken on the length of the suspension as further inquiries need to be made," she said.

The Mirror claims that the drug taking took place while the married father-of-three was being driven from London to Manchester. Charles presents a funk show on the BBC's digital radio station 6 Music every Friday and Saturday evening.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that Craig will not be presenting his show while we are talking to him about these allegations."

Charles found fame in the BBC Two sitcom Red Dwarf and hosted the channel's Robot Wars. He joined Coronation Street last year. He spent several months in prison in 1994 awaiting trial on a rape charge but was cleared in February 1995. PFD, the agency that represents Charles, declined to comment.

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I've always been a fan of him since the early days, and if I'm honest I couldn't care less what he does as long as he entertains me.

[pirtybirdy]

Oh bummer! Sorry to hear about that. I hope he gets treatment and comes back soon. I've always liked him. He's always funny and has a great smile.

[fritz]

Thats a shame.I loved him in Red Dwarf

[tasst]

A great shame, still not a patch on the classic Red Dwarfs. :star:

[AHend09]

That is a shock, but did the same thing not happen to dev
alahan only saying his screen name because I cannot remember his own name Jimmi something, he was not off screen that long
if I remember right

[faceless]

EXCLUSIVE: THE CORRIE CRACKHEAD
By STEPHEN MOYES

DRUG-crazedCraig Charles took a hooker to a hotel for a 12-hour crack cocaine bender - then lay in bed with her as she helped him learn his Coronation Street lines. The star's personal driver Richard McKenna yesterday told how he walked in on the pair at the end of their marathon drug session.

He said Charles's seemingly unquenchable thirst for crack stunned even the junkie hooker. Richard said: "It had been 12 hours since he picked her up. Even though he'd not slept, he was still taking crack. The girl told him, "This is serious shit you're doing. You're a sad case". I knew things were bad when a prostitute told him he had a problem.

Charles, who plays chirpy cabbie Lloyd Mullaney, was suspended by Coronation Street bosses yesterday after the Mirror revealed he took 60 hits of highly addictive crack during a four-hour car trip and Richard gave another glimpse into the sordid secret life of the troubled star who plays one of Corrie's most lovable characters. He told how the married father-of-three regularly mixed with prostitutes and smoked crack with them - spending a staggering ?25,000 on his addictions in just four months.

Richard, who has been Charles's driver for more than two years, said the 12-hour binge with the hooker was a typical example of the Scouse star's excesses. It began when Charles left a posh BBC party to buy his regular ?600 supply of crack. As Richard drove Charles past King's Cross station in London, the 41-year-old actor spotted a prostitute soliciting on the street.

Charles, who was still in his tuxedo, ushered her into the back of the car and offered her cash - but she was more interested in sharing his drugs. Richard said: "He offered her ?50, but she replied: 'I don't want money, just your crack'." Charles and the girl headed for a Travelodge where they booked into a small room - and started to smoke the Class A drug.

Richard said: "I had to sit in the car and wait from the early hours while Craig and the woman were in the Travelodge. He told me to turn my mobile off so his wife Jackie could not get in touch. At noon the next day I knocked on Craig's room and was invited in. He was in bed with the girl. She was helping him learn his lines for Coronation Street. She was young, attractive and well-educated but a clear crack-head with rotten teeth. I couldn't believe it. Craig was risking so much by getting the prostitute to help - but he was out of his head on drugs. Richard said the session with the hooker was far from being a one-off. He claimed the actor regularly hung out with prostitutes when stoned - taking them to hotels or sometimes back to the filthy Manchester flat he uses as a drug den.

Richard told how one hooker named Vanda turned up to meet Charles in a Manchester pub - naked except for a fur coat. She whispered in Charles's ear as he sat at a table near a group of Coronation Street producers before the pair went off to his flat.

Richard revealed Charles's incredible ?25,000 spree on hookers and drugs sparked a terrible row when Jackie discovered the cash gone from their joint account. She rang the bank and reduced his daily cash withdrawal limit from ?1,000 to ?750. Richard said Jackie blamed him: "She went ballistic. She rang me and screamed that it was all my fault. Craig had told her that he has to pay me a fortune to drive him. But really she knows he only gives me ?250 a trip. She later apologised. I think she knows all about his drug-taking but he tries to hide the women. They have terrible rows. Jackie has left him many times and gone home to Ireland. But she always comes back in the end. Craig now gets round his reduced cash limit by withdrawing ?750 in the evening to cover his drugs money, then waiting until after midnight and taking out the same amount for his whores."

It was not the first time Charles had allowed his secret drug world to seep into his family life, Richard claimed. He said the star recently spent ?500 on crack that he had put aside as a present for his 17-year-old son from first marriage to Band of Gold star Cathy Tyson.

Richard also claimed Charles spends hours phoning sex lines while out of his head. He said: "He once made me pull over and jumped out of the car to pick sex call-cards out of a phone box. He enjoys dialling the phone numbers and talking dirty. Or he makes me stop at newsagents and garages and buy pornographic magazines for him. He will then flick through them and ring the sex chat lines. He will often put the girls on speaker phone so I can hear them. He spends up to two hours a time ringing ?1.50-a-minute phone sex lines on his mobile. I've heard him ask 'Have you ever been gang-banged? Do you like that sort of thing?' Sometimes he'll arrange to meet up with the girls.

On other occasions, Charles's drug dealer, nicknamed Fire, will hook him up with like-minded girls. Richard said: "Fire will provide him with girls as well as crack. I took two women with him to Manchester last month and then later drove them back to London."

Richard drives Charles from London to Manchester after his Friday night funk show on BBC radio channel 6 Music finishes at 10pm. Charles regularly smokes himself into a crack stupor during the drive - referring to the binges as his Naughty Fridays. But Richard is convinced that Charles, who earns ?500,000 a year, sometimes takes drugs at the BBC studios in Portland Place, West London, before the drive north.

He said: "Some Fridays, Craig will emerge after his funk show on 6 Music already wired. He has clearly already had his first fix. His Naughty Friday routine can vary. But he always turns his phone off and I am under instruction not to answer my phone to Jackie while driving him. Most weeks she will leave voice mail messages screaming blue murder at me. It's awful because I get caught up in their relationship. She knows I cover up for him. He lies to Jackie about when he is filming Coronation Street. He uses any excuse to stay at his flat in Manchester but he only uses it to meet prostitutes and take drugs."

Yesterday the Mirror revealed the rented flat is in a well-to-do area just a stone's throw from the Coronation Street set but inside it looks like a scene from junkie movie Trainspotting. Rooms are littered with the remnants of drugs. There are even pint glasses full of what appears to be urine around the stained mattress in the bedroom. The revolting tip is a far cry from his luxury homes in Southampton and Manchester. Richard said: "It is disgusting inside his crack den. I am the only person allowed in to clean it because of the drug evidence."

JACKIE, 42, is said to have become increasingly suspicious of her husband's behaviour since she discovered the money went missing from their account. A month ago, she and their two girls moved to the family home in Manchester - closer to the flat where Charles was spending so much of his time.

Richard said: "Now Jackie is in Manchester, he is running out of excuses about why he stays over at the flat. Two weeks ago, he told her my car broke down and we got to Manchester so late that he stayed at the flat because he did not want to wake her up."

Richard also claimed Charles's drug hunger is so bad that he pulled out of Celebrity Big Brother at the last moment in January 2005 because he could not do without his fix. He said: "Craig told me, "I can't exactly go cold turkey in front of millions of viewers on live television".

Richard said Charles regularly hands over his debit card to dealers so they can take money out of his account. One card was stolen last year and hundreds of pounds were swiped. Charles did not report the theft. Richard said he regards Charles as a friend and fears his drug fixation will eventually kill him. He added: "I'm speaking out now because Craig is in such a bad way and needs help. I am worried for him. He is ignoring his responsibilities as a father and husband. I am worried he could kill himself if he continues taking so much crack. He promised his son he'd go and watch his band playing at least 10 times but failed to go because he is on a drugs high.

Yesterday the Mirror revealed how Charles bought ?600 of the deadly crack crystals from his dealer Fire after meeting him in a dimly-lit street near Portland Place. Then he used a makeshift crack pipe made from an empty lager can to smoke himself into a stupor during a four-hour drive from London to Manchester.

Charles, who first tasted fame with sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf, was arrested in 1994 over accusations that he raped an ex-girlfriend. After spending months in custody he was cleared following a trial in London. He has admitted to drug abuse in the past but managed to re-establish his career. A legal representative for Charles last night said: "He categorically denies paying for sex with prostitutes." When asked about claims the actor rang phone sex lines, the representative declined to comment.

The use of crack is known to increase sexual desire. One effect of regular use is impotence.

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I hope that's salacious enough.

[Griffo]

This sucks. He is a right legend. Gotta' love White Dwarf

[faceless]

[img]Craig in bid to save his job[/img]
Exclusive By Brian Roberts

SHAMED Coronation Street star Craig Charles will go into drug rehab to save his job and marriage - after telling friends: "I'll do anything to get my life back on track." The 41-year-old actor says he has been "devastated and humbled" by The Mirror's revelation he smoked 60 hits of crack on a four-hour car journey. He admits the expose has forced him to confront the fact he has a serious drug problem that threatens his career and marriage to wife Jackie and Charles, who plays chirpy cabbie Lloyd Mullaney, has agreed to take up Granada TV's offer to get him medical help to overcome his demons.

A friend said yesterday: "The Mirror's revelations have made Craig a very humble man. He feels he has let so many people down. He's made no secret of his willingness to explore any avenue that will enable him to keep his job at Coronation Street. It's a job he absolutely loves and he realises that if he is to be kept on he has a lot of work to do to make sure he gets himself better. A spell in rehab is on the cards."

Charles, a father of three, has been suspended by both Coronation Street and the BBC, for whom he hosts a Friday night funk show on radio station 6 Music. But Corrie executives are said to have been impressed with his attitude when he was summoned to a meeting on Tuesday over the scandal.

A source said: "Craig Charles knows what he has to do to have a chance of being allowed to stay in the show. He isn't being bullish or stroppy about the drug allegations. He realises he has to behave and take medical help. Not taking it is not an option. His storylines have been put on hold for a while until matters are sorted out."

The source also revealed there had been a wave of sympathy from Corrie fans who feel the Scouse star should be helped rather than axed.

Charles yesterday spent the morning having a heart-to-heart with 42-year-old Jackie at their home in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. The couple, who have two young daughter, were stony-faced as they later drove away in a black Jeep but they returned looking more cheerful, strolling arm-in-arm from the car to their front door.

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good luck to him, if all the allegations are true then it's gonna be quite an uphill struggle to get some kind of normality back...

[tasst]

Thanks faceless for the indepth update on this matter.
tasst

[pink ranger]

well hopefuly C street will help craig with his battle. Lets hope that he can recover and save his career and his family good luck and support to craig and his family

[Link]

Ech, that's not good. I hope the rehab works for him. It would be a shame to lose him permanently off of Coronation Street.