Adam Rickitt

Adam Rickitt
Born	Adam Peter Rickitt
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Website	http://www.adamrickitt.com

Adam Peter Rickitt (born 29 May 1978, Crewe, Cheshire), is an English actor, former singer and model. He is best known for his role as Ben Chatham in the hideously non-canon Doctor Who spinoff fan fiction by Sparacus, a gay history teacher from Colchester who fancies him and is also crazy enough to regard his stories as canon.

Biography

Rickitt is the youngest child of four in his family. He has three older brothers: Timothy Grant, Mark Edward and Samuel James. The family business is the estate agency Rickitt Grant which operates in Chester and London. Adam was educated at Sedbergh School, a boarding school in Cumbria, where he played in the rugby first team .

Rickitt has spoken about suffering from bulimia in his teenage years and about how male sufferers have largely been neglected. He lost 3 stone (42 lb; 19 kg) in weight.

After leaving school, he considered a career in journalism, but his work experience placement at the Northwich Chronicle in Cheshire lasted only one day.

When Rickitt turned 20, fans swamped him with 200 teddy bears, mountains of chocolates and bunches of flowers. He stated: "I didn't know what to do with them all. The house was full to bursting. It was amazing." He handed the gift bonanza over to local hospitals and other charities.

Rickitt is 5 foot 11 inches (1.80 m) tall.

Career

Coronation Street

He 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).

Pop career

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 2000. Rickitt's first single, "I Breathe Again", reached no.5 in the UK, 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 in the UK album chart. Rickett was then dropped by his record label Polydor, which led him to abandon his career in pop music. According to Rickitt's official website, he was awarded a Silver award for his single I Breathe Again and a Gold award for his album Good Times.

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. However in 2003, he played Mark Cohen in the musical Rent

Modelling

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.

Conservative Party

In October 2005, Rickitt was approved as a prospective parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party. As part of this attempt to reinvent himself, in February 2006 he appeared on the political debate show Question Time, as the non-partisan guest. In May 2006, he was one of 100 would-be MPs chosen for the Conservative party 'A-list'. The following month he appeared on Sunday AM with Andrew Marr. He attends major party functions and local party functions in the hope of being selected as well as developing a political blog on his website. However, a newspaper article alleged he was not actually a member of the Conservative Party, and had only decided to support them because of his dislike of then Prime Minister Tony Blair. Rickitt however refuted the claims and confirmed that he was a member. Along with David Cameron, he also provoked the anger of Sir Nicholas Winterton when it was revealed that Rickitt was tipped to stand for the safe Conservative seat of Macclesfield which Winterton had represented for nearly thirty years. Winterton was outraged, stating that he had no intention of standing down from this seat: "I wish Adam luck, but there are no vacancies here."

To date, Rickitt has been unsuccessful in progressing any kind of political career. According to his website, as of July 2007 he has elected to continue his acting career in New Zealand rather than seek selection as a candidate, although politics remains a long-term goal.

Shortland Street

Rickitt is currently playing the role of Kieran Mitchell in the New Zealand drama Shortland Street and he has said that he prefers Shortland Street, to working on Coronation Street.

His character was originally the main suspect for the serial killings of various characters, but has now been cleared. Kieran Mitchell has now become the owner of local bar The IV and Rickitt's contract with the show extended for another year.

Other ventures

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 appearing in Nick Moran's play Telstar on UK Tour.

He 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' twelve. He had replaced the scheduled contestant, electronic musician Goldie, had to pull out during 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. He finished last in the contest.

In December 2006 he appeared in his first pantomime, Cinderella, in the role of Prince Charming.

Alleged shoplifting

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 said that it was an honest mistake.

Discography

Studio albums

1999

• Adam Rickitt - Good Times

Singles

1999

• Adam Rickitt - "I Breathe Again"
• Adam Rickitt - "Everything My Heart Desires" (later recorded by Mandy Moore)

2000

• Adam Rickitt - "The Best Thing"

References

• Adam Rickitt at IMDb