| Adam Rickitt | |
|---|---|
Rickitt performing on the main stage at the Cardiff Mardi Gras, 2010. |
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| Born | Adam Peter Rickitt 29 May 1978 Crewe, Cheshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Ethnicity | White British |
| Occupation | Actor, model, singer |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Television | Coronation Street Shotland Street |
| Website | |
| http://www.adamrickitt.co.uk | |
Adam Peter Rickitt (born 29 May 1978) is an English actor, singer and model.
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Rickitt was born in Crewe, Cheshire, the youngest of four brothers. His father is co-owner of an estate agency. Rickitt was educated at Sedbergh School, a boarding school in Cumbria.
Rickitt has spoken publicly about suffering from bulimia in his teenage years and about how male sufferers have largely been neglected.[1]
Prior to his acting career, Rickitt had briefly been a child model. He subsequently has modelled for numerous UK magazines such as Attitude and Cosmopolitan.
Rickitt is most famous for his role on popular ITV soap opera Coronation Street, where he took over the role of Nick Tilsley in 1997. His girlfriend sent his pictures to various showbusiness agents, one of whom was Nigel Martin-Smith. At first Martin-Smith had the idea of putting him in a boy band he was forming, but when he found out that Coronation Street were re-casting the part of Nick, Rickitt auditioned for the part and got the job. The part had previously been played by actor Warren Jackson until 1996 when the character moved to Canada.
Rickitt left the series in 1999, returning briefly in 2002 and for a longer spell from 2003 to 2004 after which he along with several cast members were sacked when a new producer came to the show. His most famous and controversial storyline was in 2003 when the character of Nick was involved in the series' first gay kiss with Todd Grimshaw (played by Bruno Langley).
Rickitt left Coronation Street in 1999 to start a music career. He signed a six-album deal with Polydor, although he only released one album - Good Times - in 1999. Rickitt's first single, "I Breathe Again", reached no.5 in the UK and was certified Silver by the BPI,[2] but follow up singles "Everything My Heart Desires" (also recorded by Mandy Moore), and "Best Thing" were less successful, reaching no.15 and no.25 respectively. The album was also a commercial failure, peaking at no.41 and dropping out of the chart after only one week.[3] Rickitt was then dropped by his record label, and he abandoned his career in pop music. In 1999, at a performance at The Prince's Trust Party in the Park, a member of the audience sprayed gas onto the stage when Rickitt was performing. Rickitt fainted after inhaling the substance and was taken to hospital.[4]
In 2010 Rickitt announced that he was working on a new album. The first single from it, "Tonight", failed to chart.[5]
Although he claims he is not gay, Rickitt actively courted gay audiences during this period, appearing regularly at gay venues, the BBC series Gaytime TV and in a photoshoot for gay lifestyle magazine Attitude, as well as children's television and mainstream pop festivals. During his 2010 comeback attempt, his stage appearances were almost all at gay venues and events.
Rickitt joined the cast of the Shortland Street in early 2007 as the mysterious Kieran Mitchell with his first appearance being on 16 March 2007. The character was written out of the series in 2010, with Rickitt's final episode airing on 2 August 2010. Previously he said that he preferred his role on Shortland Street, to working on Coronation Street.[6]
Rickitt starred as Mark Cohen in the UK National touring of the musical Rent, moving to the West End of London for a record-breaking run. He made a return to the London stage to star in Bill Kenwright's production Office Games, followed by a new play, Final Judgement, and also appeared in Nick Moran's play Telstar on UK Tour.[7]
In December 2006, Rickitt appeared in his first pantomime, Cinderella, in the role of Prince Charming at the Norwich Theatre Royal.[8]
Rickitt now works for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals as a capital appeals manager.[9]
Rickitt also took part in the Channel Four reality show The Games during March 2006, although he only had two weeks' training, compared to the other contestants' 12. He took part as a replacement, after the scheduled contestant, electronic musician Goldie, had to pull out, following an accident during training for the water ski jump, in which he fractured his femur. Rickitt himself sustained two black eyes after over-rotating off the diving board.[10] He finished last in the contest.
In October 2005, Rickitt was approved as a prospective parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party.[11] As part of this attempt to reinvent himself, in February 2006 he appeared on the political debate show Question Time,[12] as the non-partisan guest.[13] In May 2006, he was one of 100 would-be MPs chosen for the Conservative party A-list.[14] The following month, he appeared on Sunday AM with Andrew Marr.[15] He attended national and local Conservative party functions in the hope of being selected as a candidate,[16][17] as well as developing a political blog on his website. However, a newspaper article alleged[18] that he was not a member of the Conservative Party and had only decided to support them because of his dislike of then Prime Minister Tony Blair.[19] Rickitt refuted these claims and confirmed that he was a member,[19] while the newspaper retracted its claims the following week.[20] Along with David Cameron, he also provoked the anger of Sir Nicholas Winterton when it was revealed that Rickitt was being tipped to stand for the safe Conservative seat of Macclesfield, which the outraged Winterton had represented for nearly thirty years. Winterton responded that he had no intention of standing down from this seat: "I wish Adam luck, but there are no vacancies here."[4][21]
Rickitt has so far been unsuccessful in progressing his political career.[22] According to his website, in July 2007 he decided to continue his acting career in New Zealand, rather than seek selection as a candidate, although politics remains a long-term goal.[23]
He returned to the political scene in October 2010 as a guest reporter for the ITV breakfast television programme Daybreak covering the Conservative Party Conference from Birmingham,[24] and also hosted a conference gay party.[25]
On 21 September 2007, Rickitt was arrested and charged with shoplifting a block of cheese, a bottle of HP sauce and a jar of coffee from an Auckland supermarket. During an interview with Herald on Sunday he claimed that it was an honest mistake[26] though later claimed that he was drunk at the time of the incident.[27]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit? | Clive |
| Year | Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–99, 2002, 2003–04 | Coronation Street | Nick Tilsley | Series regular |
| 2001 | Doctors | James Neville | 1 episode: Sun God |
| 2005 | Judge John Deed | Roy Storidge | 1 episode: Popular Appeal |
| 2007–10 | Shortland Street | Kieran Mitchell | Series regular |
| Year | Information | UK Album Chart Position | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Good Times
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| Year | Single | UK Singles Chart Position | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "I Breathe Again" |
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| "Everything My Heart Desires" |
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| 2000 | "The Best Thing" |
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| 2011 | "Tonight" |
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