Adam Peter Rickitt (born 29 May 1978) is an English actor and singer. He portrayed the part of Nick Tilsley on the British soap operaCoronation Street from 1997 to 1999, and again from 2002 to 2004. He later joined the New Zealand soap Shortland Street for a three-year stint between 2007 and 2010. From 2017 to 2020, he appeared as Kyle Kelly on Channel 4's Hollyoaks. His other credits include the BBC's Doctors (2001; 2016; 2023).
Rickitt was born in Crewe, the youngest of four brothers who grew up in Cuddington, Eddisbury.[2] His father was the co-owner of an estate agency. Rickitt was educated at Sedbergh School, a boarding school in Cumbria.[3] Rickitt has spoken publicly about suffering from bulimia in his teenage years and about how male sufferers have largely been neglected.[4]
Career
1997–2004: Coronation Street and music career
Prior to his acting career, Rickitt was briefly a child model. He subsequently modelled for magazines including Attitude and Cosmopolitan. Rickitt auditioned for the ITV soap opera Coronation Street in 1997. He did it as a joke, having never watched an episode, and his agent said that he would not get it.[2] However, he was cast in the role of Nick Tilsley and remained on the soap until 1999, returning briefly in 2002 and for a longer spell from 2003 to 2004. His most famous and controversial storyline was in 2003, when his character was involved in the series' first gay kiss with Todd Grimshaw (Bruno Langley).[2]
Rickitt left Coronation Street in 1999 to start a music career. He signed a six-album deal with Polydor Records, although he only released one album - Good Times (1999). Rickitt's first single, "I Breathe Again", reached number five in the UK and was certified silver by BPI. The album peaked at number 41 on the UK Albums Chart.[5] Rickitt was then dropped.[2]
Rickitt starred as Mark Cohen in the 2001 UK tour of Rent, before moving to London's West End.[6] He made a return to the London stage to star in Bill Kenwright's production of Office Games, followed by a new play, Final Judgement, and also appeared in Nick Moran's play Telstar on UK tour in 2005.[7]
2005–2010: Political ventures and Shortland Street
In October 2005, Rickitt was approved as a prospective parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party.[8] He was asked into politics as a way of getting young people engaged in voting and admitted that he had no real intentions of progressing far.[2] In February 2006, he appeared on the political debate show Question Time[9] as the non-partisan guest.[10] In May 2006, he was one of 100 would-be MPs chosen for the Conservative party A-list.[11] The following month, he appeared on Sunday AM with Andrew Marr.[12] He attended national and local Conservative party functions in the hope of being selected as a candidate.[1]
Alongside 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 over 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."[13][14][15] Rickitt was unsuccessful in progressing his political career.[16] According to his website, in July 2007, he decided to continue his acting career in New Zealand rather than seek selection as a candidate.[17]
In March 2006, he took part in the Channel 4 reality series The Games. He took part as a replacement, after the scheduled contestant, Goldie, had to pull out, following an accident. Rickitt himself sustained two black eyes after over-rotating off the diving board.[18] In December 2006, Rickitt appeared in his first pantomime, Cinderella, in the role of Prince Charming at the Norwich Theatre Royal.[19]
Rickitt joined the cast of the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street in early 2007, portraying the role of Kieran Mitchell, with his first appearance being shown on 16 March 2007. Rickitt was given the opportunity to have creative freedom with the character since his storylines had not been fully formed.[20] The character was written out of the series in 2010, with Rickitt's final episode broadcast on 2 August 2010. His death episode saw high ratings for the soap.[21] He had said that he preferred his role on Shortland Street to working on Coronation Street.[22]
He returned to the political scene in October 2010 as a guest reporter for the ITVbreakfast television programme Daybreak covering the Conservative Party Conference from Birmingham, and hosted a conference gay party.[23] However, in 2014, Rickitt agreed with a comment that the world would be a better place without the conservative party.[24]
He was then cast in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks as regular character Kyle Kelly. He left the soap in June 2020 when his character took his own life.[27] In June 2023, it was announced that Rickitt would be returning to Doctors.[28] His episode aired in December 2023, where he portrayed Michael Harvey.[29]
Personal life
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.[13] He has an autoimmune disorder called ankylosing spondylitis, which made Rickitt infertile, with a sperm count of two.[30] The disease causes the spine's vertebrae to fuse together if they remain still for too long, so Rickitt exercises for two hours daily.[2]
Rickitt worked for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals as a capital appeals manager.[34] He left in 2013 to begin working with the cancer charity Help Harry Help Others, and Chief Executive of the mental health foundation, the Caerus Partnership.[35]
Legal issues
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 beans from an Auckland supermarket. During an interview with Herald on Sunday he claimed that it was an honest mistake[36] though later claimed that he was drunk at the time of the incident.[37]
In August 2020, Rickitt drove 600m whilst under the influence of alcohol to pick up a takeaway.[38]
