'No one thought I'd keep the weight off but I did - I'll prove everyone wrong again', says Tina Malone

Tina Malone beams as she introduces the members of her self-named drama school at Manchester's Hotel Brooklyn. The former Shameless star is determined to give the diverse group of young actors the best start to their drama careers, sharing her own experiences after 30-odd eventful years in showbiz.

And she's got a big goal in mind to do just that. She's aiming to raise enough funds on a crowdfunder to take them all to perform off Broadway in New York.

She needs to raise £70,000 and she knows it's a massive target - but Tina knows all about defying expectations. Tina says: "I know what it's like to beat the odds. I got a gastric band ten years ago and I know people said: "oh bless her she thinks she can be a size 8" - but you know what? I got to a size 6.

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"Then people were saying: "Oh bless her, she thinks she can have a baby at her age - and you know what? I did, at the age of 50. So, I know I'll raise this money for these kids."

It has been ten years since Tina had her gastric band fitted - and she went on to lose a huge 12 stone - dropping from a size 32 at her biggest to a size 6 at her slimmest. She's managed to keep the weight off all that time and says having the band fitted is one of the best decisions she's ever made.

"It's the best thing I ever did," she says. "I did it because I was getting married and I didn't want to look like a pig in a frock. I went to see a doctor and he said 'you're morbidly clincally obese' so I knew I had to do something about my weight."

Tina, who played Mimi Maguire in hit drama Shameless, is now determined with her latest goal to raise the £95,000 needed (with the hope of £70,000 by Crowdfunder donation ) to take her