Geordie Shore star’s romps with troubled Sheridan Smith after she seduced him online

A REALITY TV star has told how troubled actress Sheridan Smith bedded him in a booze-fuelled hotel romp after seducing him on Twitter.

Geordie Shore’s Ricci Guarnaccio reveals that the Bafta winner made it clear their hook-up was “a one night thing” — but also returned to his room the following evening.

And he believes that she sought him out because she did not want to be alone.

Ricci told The Sun on Sunday: “Sheridan was the one who sent me a message on Twitter and then she came to my room after we got chatting.

“I was really surprised but she was a great girl — really cool and chilled — and we had great fun.
“I remember thinking that she was definitely a woman, rather than a girl. She was really mature.

“But looking back, messaging me in the middle of the night and coming over was quite a lonely thing for her to have done.

No one’s perfect, and if she had a drink before going on stage, so what? That might be the only thing getting her through

Ricci

“And it definitely would not have happened if we had not been drunk. I had been out earlier that night and she had definitely been drinking too.

“She was in Leeds filming an ITV drama and she was so much in the public eye.

“I felt for her because she always had eyes on her all the time.

“I feel more sorry for her now because of what she is going through.

“Like lots of us, I think she just wanted people to know the real her.

Shore thing . . . Ricci met up with Sheridan after tweets

“But since then, she seems to have gone from a confident, normal girl to someone very vulnerable who is at risk of being destroyed by fame.”

Ricci was in Leeds for a Halloween lads’ night out in 2014 when Sheridan — who last week pulled out of her starring role in West End musical Funny Girl — got in touch with him.

Sheridan has become one of Britain’s best-loved actresses after critically acclaimed roles in dramas such as The C Word, Cilla and Mrs Biggs. And in 2015 she was awarded an OBE.

But Ricci says she impressed him straight away with her down- to-earth charm.

He said: “The whole thing was very much on the spur of the moment. Sheridan knew who I was but I didn’t know at first that she was an actress.

“When she told me what she had been in, I was like, ‘Woah!’ But she wasn’t bragging, we were just chatting and having banter with each other.

“Then the next day we just met up again and went back to a room for the night. But it was always just a bit of fun, a one or two-day thing.

Sheridan in Funny Girl

“You’re not going to fall head-over-heels in love with everyone you hook up with and I wasn’t thinking about love, marriage and children.

“We didn’t have deep emotional conversations.

“But that said, I genuinely thought she was a lovely girl and I don’t have a bad word to say about her.

“We were on the same level and she knew this was a bit of fun, that we were going to get with each other and that was it.

“She was sound about it. She did say that it would be nice to see me again and we swapped numbers but

I was happy being single and wasn’t looking for a relationship.”

Looking back, messaging me in the middle of the night and coming over was quite a lonely thing for her to have done

Ricci

Weeks after her fling with Ricci, Sheridan went on to share a passionate romance with married actor Greg Wood, who she also seduced through Twitter.

But she dumped Greg last year amid claims he had grown close to his Hollyoaks co-star Tamara Wall.

And she went on to attack him in an explosive Twitter rant: “Just been hurt by an idiot boy again but not gonna lower myself to his standards — love and light.”

Following the split, Sheridan then asked The Enemy rocker Andy Hopkins on a date — also via the site.

But one month later she announced the end of the fling by tweeting: “Single!!!! :)))) Bring on funny girl, who’s coming???!! Can’t wait xxx.”

Sheridan won an OBE in 2015

Ricci, 29, who was once engaged to Geordie Shore co-star Vicky Pattison, says: “Twitter is such a big deal now, and if Sheridan wants to treat it like Tinder, to hook up with different guys, that’s her choice.

“It’s not like the old days when you could get on your bike and go to the corner to see the girl you fancy. People meet each other differently now.

“It’s a completely new world and it’s up to her how she wants to enjoy herself.”

Sheridan has been dogged with problems since her dad Colin was diagnosed with cancer this year. Last month fans said she slurred her lines on stage in a shambolic Funny Girl performance which was halted after only 30 minutes.

Bosses at London’s Savoy Theatre insisted the cancellation was due to “technical reasons”. But despite denials, there was online speculation that Sheridan was drunk.

And this month she pulled out of more shows, citing stress and exhaustion.

Defending the star, Ricci said: “I think that it is ridiculous that she is being judged when she is going through something so awful with her dad. No one is perfect, and if she had a drink before going on stage, then so what?

“That might be the only thing that is getting her through this at the moment.

“The people criticising her should flip the situation and ask themselves how they would feel if they were in her place right now, dealing with this. And then they should give her a f***ing break.

“She is probably sick to death of all the attention and is probably thinking, ‘Why the hell is this happening to me?’.

“Being famous is very lonely and it brings a lot of fakeness.

“One minute you’re on a high and lots of people want to be the ones who are there.

Sheridan on Press Night for Funny Girl

“But then when you have lows people aren't too bothered. That’s why you need your true friends and I’m sure she is very conscious of that now.

“She needs support, not to be criticised by people.

“It’s not the time or the place for everyone to start drawing the knives out and really going for her.

“I only knew Sheridan briefly — we haven’t spoken since we hooked up — but I genuinely wish her the best and hope she gets over this.

“You would have to be a nasty piece of work to do anything but that.

“If I met her in the street now, I would like to give her a hug and ask her how she’s doing.

“She clearly deserves — and needs — all the support that she can get.”