JESS OUT OF CONTROL
Exclusive by Grant Hodgson
TROUBLED TV star Jessie Wallace was so paranoid after a cocaine and booze binge she frantically searched her daughter's nursery for listening devices. The former East Enders star crawled around toddler Tallulah's bedroom because she was convinced her home had been bugged by spies. Jessie - who is currently filming new BBC drama A Class Apart - broke down in tears after finding nothing. The astonishing scenes were seen by her best friend, drag artist Stephane Rocco, who watched with mounting concern as Jessie's drink and drugs sessions got heavier and her behaviour became more erratic.
Stephane has now decided to speak out because he fears Jessie's life is in danger of spiralling out of control. He said: "It was terrifying to see her in such a state. Jessie was crawling around looking underneath Tallulah's toys. She had taken so much cocaine she was totally paranoid. She needs something or someone to stop her acting that way and anything like that happening again."
Gay Stephane, who met Jessie when he was an extra in an East Enders episode filmed in his home town of Brighton, also reveals how the star: Believed a pair of walkie-talkies he bought might also contain secret listening devices. Hit a man in a nightclub during a drunken night out because she thought it was a "laugh". Hoped to have a baby with Stephane and live together as a family - despite him being gay. Drove her last lover Chris Osborn away because he couldn't handle her feisty temper.
Stephane who appeared in the film Kinky Boots, instantly clicked with Jessie when they met in Brighton. He said: "We smiled at each other and exchanged pleasantries. A couple of months later we met by chance at a restaurant. We went to a bar. The night ended in disaster but it bonded us as friends. She'd parked her Mercedes illegally and it had been impounded by the police and I helped her get it back."
At the time Jessie was the Queen of East Enders, and one of Britain's best-loved stars. She won 12 TV awards for her role as brassy barmaid Kat Slater in five years on the show before leaving last December. At the same time, Jessie got together with Dave Morgan, who was the policeman assigned to looked after her amid huge Press interest when she was charged - and then banned - for drink-driving. Stephane said: "After she and Dave got engaged, Jessie would come to Brighton with him and stay at my flat, then after they split she would come down on her own." Jessie's turbulent on-screen love-life was mirrored in real life. Her split with Dave came less than six months after their daughter Tallulah was born in November 2004.
She then had a brief fling with Joel Beckett (Jake Moon in East Enders) before getting together with builder Chris Osborn, 37, in August. The couple have now split. Stephane added: "In the summer, she joked that she got together with Dave because she thought it might help with the drink-drive charge." Stephane knew Dave could not and would not have done that, and added: "It made me sad to hear her say what she did - especially as they had Tallulah, who's such a beautiful little girl."
Talking about Jessie's outrageous drinking habits, Stephane said: "Jessie loves the booze, always has. We'd spend most weekends together, either in Brighton or her place in East London. Even after a night out the first thing she would say in the morning was, 'I need a drink'. Once we were in a London nightclub when an older guy with a cap on was falling asleep - and she slapped him on the side of the head. He woke up and she did it again. I said, 'You have to stop this, you are going to get in trouble'. But she just said, 'I think it's funny'. She'd later joke, 'Oh I'm just a stupid old alcoholic'. But she would never do anything about it. One time she was in Spain with a girlfriend. She later told me that after a heavy night out, she woke up, saw a glass of wine with dead fly in it, scooped the fly out and drank it. She thought it was hilarious."
Jessie has confessed to taking cocaine, saying: "I've done drugs. But I've never been a complete druggie. It was a social thing for me." But Stephane - who performs in nightclubs as drag queen Stephanie Starlet - was stunned by the amount of drugs he saw her take. He said: "I move in the club scene so I'm not too shocked by drugs, but Jessie used cocaine so much it made her really paranoid. I saw her have a mini-breakdown at her home because of the cocaine. She started crying and insisted on looking for listening devices, in Tallulah's bedroom. I also had a couple of walkie-talkies which I'd bought to use at .a nightclub I was working at. She had to dismantle them to see if there were any bugs inside them, too. I was shocked and was desperate to help her"
"At other times she asked me to get her coke because she didn't want to do it herself. This started to happen more and more. She needs help." During their nights out, Jessie would also tell him about her fall-outs with fellow East Enders stars and her thoughts on the new one-off drama, A Class Apart, which she had been filming for the BBC. Stephane said: "She fell out with Steve McFadden, who plays Phil Mitchell, and convinced herself he was putting her off whenever they filmed scenes together. She also fell out with June Brown, who is Dot Cotton. Another time she had a stand-up row with Barbara Windsor. Jessie convinced herself Babs engineered the argument to create publicity for the show.
"It was crazy. I even spoke to her about the new drama she is making about being a single mum with a mixed-race baby. At first, she didn't like the script and thought she was being typecast - the usual feisty, council estate mum. She was very worried about leaving East Enders and was aware that her first project after she left had to be good." Stephane also told how Jessie asked him to get her the morning-after pill after she had a one-night stand with a nightclub DJ. She was really keen on this guy and told me how gorgeous he was. She even told me the website his pictures were on. She asked me to get the pill so she could take it when she got to Brighton. The problem was, being a man, I couldn't get it on her behalf."
Stephane and Jessie's friendship became so close they even talked about having a baby. "She said many times we should have a baby because we really did love each other, even though I'm gay. Whenever I was with her and Tallulah it felt like being part of a family. I even taught Tallulah to say words such as sea, it was wonderful. She is so special and means the absolute world to Jessie. I was touched by the idea of having a baby with her and I think it would have happened if we hadn't fallen out. I really regret that now it will never happen."
The friendship began to cool in August after she grew close to one of Stephane's best friends. I felt she was replacing me. I didn't get a call on my birthday, which upset me. We haven't spoken for a while." Earlier in the year Jessie confessed she has taken cocaine and had a problem with drink. The star, who has two convictions for drink-driving, said: "I've done drugs. But I'm not proud of it and it's in the past. I was never an alcoholic, but booze did cause me a lot of problems."
Stephane added: "Jessie still needs to sort herself out and I hope she realises that by talking about her problems I'm only doing what a true friend would do. I want to help her. She can be a wonderful person. She has a tough, Kat Slater-like public image, but underneath she is really as vulnerable as a child. I fear that unless she turns her life around, she could lose everything."
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Will keep a look out for this one. Thx.