Ricky Whittle
Encyclopedia
Ricky Whittle is a British
actor
from Oldham
, Greater Manchester
.
serviceman Harry Whittle, Whittle grew up travelling with his father's career around the world, with a home base at Burghfield Common near Reading, Berkshire
.
A keen sportsman, Whittle represented England and the United Kingdom at youth level in football, rugby, American football and athletics. After having been watched by Arsenal
and Celtic
, an injury brought about the pursuit of a degree in criminology at the University of Southampton
.
, becoming the face of a Reebok
campaign in 2000. This brought him to the attention of casting agents for Sky One
's Dream Team
. Cast as Ryan Naysmith, Whittle left university to pursue an acting career. Carrying on with his sports ambitions, in the third series Whittle broke his leg in seven places, and was forced into a long hospital stay. The writers wrote a broken leg into the Dreamteam script, allowing Whittle a slower recuperation.
After playing his first gay character as a guest star on BBC One
's Holby City
, Whittle played Calvin Valentine
in the popular Channel 4
soap opera
Hollyoaks
, up until his character was killed off after Whittle decided to leave the show in May 2010.
In January 2008, Ricky appeared on a celebrity edition of The Weakest Link
, reaching the final, but losing out to Crimewatch UK
star, Rav Wilding
.
reality television series Strictly Come Dancing
, paired with Australia
n professional dancer Natalie Lowe
. A fellow contestant on the programme, Ali Bastian
, also starred with him in Hollyoaks. Whittle made it through to the final of the competition (beating Rav Wilding
, to whom he had lost The Weakest Link
in 2008), and competed against television presenter Chris Hollins
and his dance partner Ola Jordan
for the Strictly Come Dancing glitterball trophy. However, he lost the battle and ended up second, despite winning the judges' scores 190-186.
, who played Steph Cunningham
, residing in Billinge Higher End, Wigan
.
Having recovered from his broken leg, Whittle spends his spare time playing running back
for the Manchester Titans American Football
team.
At 5.30 a.m. on 27 November 2009 Whittle was arrested by Merseyside Police
on suspicion of assault
, after turning himself in at St Helens
Police Station. The car Whittle had been driving in the early hours of that morning had collided with paparazzi on Duke Street in Liverpool's City Centre. Whittle was released on bail
, after police questioning, later that day. The charges of assault were later dropped and replaced with a charge of dangerous driving
. Whittle has since instructed lawyers to take action against the papparazzi who made the initial allegations of assault.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
from Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
.
Biography
The son of former Royal Air ForceRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
serviceman Harry Whittle, Whittle grew up travelling with his father's career around the world, with a home base at Burghfield Common near Reading, Berkshire
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
.
A keen sportsman, Whittle represented England and the United Kingdom at youth level in football, rugby, American football and athletics. After having been watched by Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
and Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
, an injury brought about the pursuit of a degree in criminology at the University of Southampton
University of Southampton
The University of Southampton is a British public university located in the city of Southampton, England, a member of the Russell Group. The origins of the university can be dated back to the founding of the Hartley Institution in 1862 by Henry Robertson Hartley. In 1902, the Institution developed...
.
Career
At university, Whittle began modellingModel (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
, becoming the face of a Reebok
Reebok
Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...
campaign in 2000. This brought him to the attention of casting agents for Sky One
Sky One
Sky1 is the flagship BSkyB entertainment channel available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.The channel first launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, and is the fourth-oldest TV channel in the United Kingdom, behind BBC One , ITV and BBC Two...
's Dream Team
Dream Team (TV series)
Dream Team is a British television series produced by Hewland International which aired on Sky1 and Sky3 from 1997 to 2007; it chronicled the on-field and off-field affairs of the fictional Harchester United Football Club....
. Cast as Ryan Naysmith, Whittle left university to pursue an acting career. Carrying on with his sports ambitions, in the third series Whittle broke his leg in seven places, and was forced into a long hospital stay. The writers wrote a broken leg into the Dreamteam script, allowing Whittle a slower recuperation.
After playing his first gay character as a guest star on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
's Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
, Whittle played Calvin Valentine
Calvin Valentine
Calvin Valentine is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ricky Whittle. He arrived in July 2006 as a police officer with his mother and younger siblings and made his final appearance on 21 May 2010 after he was murdered by Theresa McQueen. Whittle...
in the popular Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...
, up until his character was killed off after Whittle decided to leave the show in May 2010.
In January 2008, Ricky appeared on a celebrity edition of The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and will end its run in 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ends her contract. The original British version of the show airs around the world on BBC Entertainment...
, reaching the final, but losing out to Crimewatch UK
Crimewatch
Crimewatch is a long-running and high-profile British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes with a view to gaining information from the members of the public. The programme is usually broadcast once a month on BBC One...
star, Rav Wilding
Rav Wilding
Rav Wilding is an English television presenter, former security guard at Harrods, former soldier and former police officer who, since June 2004, has been a presenter on Crimewatch.-Early life and education:...
.
Strictly Come Dancing
In August 2009, Whittle was announced as a contestant on the BBC OneBBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
reality television series Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
, paired with Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n professional dancer Natalie Lowe
Natalie Lowe
Natalie Lowe is an Australian professional dancer and Ballroom expert.She is a four-time Australian Dance Champion, She is from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
. A fellow contestant on the programme, Ali Bastian
Ali Bastian
Alexandra Louise "Ali" Bastian is an English television actress, best known for playing Becca Dean in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks from 2001 to 2007, and PC Sally Armstrong in long-running ITV drama series The Bill from 2007 to 2009.-Biography:Born in Windsor, Berkshire, to Paula C. Marriott...
, also starred with him in Hollyoaks. Whittle made it through to the final of the competition (beating Rav Wilding
Rav Wilding
Rav Wilding is an English television presenter, former security guard at Harrods, former soldier and former police officer who, since June 2004, has been a presenter on Crimewatch.-Early life and education:...
, to whom he had lost The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and will end its run in 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ends her contract. The original British version of the show airs around the world on BBC Entertainment...
in 2008), and competed against television presenter Chris Hollins
Chris Hollins
Chris Hollins is an English journalist, presenter and sportsman, currently employed by the BBC and best known for being the sports correspondent for BBC Breakfast, and for winning Strictly Come Dancing 2009.-Early life:...
and his dance partner Ola Jordan
Ola Jordan
Aleksandra "Ola" Jordan is a professional Latin dance specialist best known for her appearances on the British TV show Strictly Come Dancing. After winning a championship event in Poland she moved to England and began a new partnership with James Jordan...
for the Strictly Come Dancing glitterball trophy. However, he lost the battle and ended up second, despite winning the judges' scores 190-186.
Personal life
From October 2007 Whittle was romantically involved with fellow Hollyoaks actress Carley StensonCarley Stenson
Carley Anne Stenson is an English actress and singer, best known for playing Steph Cunningham in the Channel 4 series Hollyoaks. She also appeared as a performer in Abbamania, and is a member of the all-female band Diamond...
, who played Steph Cunningham
Steph Cunningham
Stephanie "Steph" Roach is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Carley Stenson. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 8 March 2000 and is the second longest featured regular female character in the history of Hollyoaks...
, residing in Billinge Higher End, Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
.
Having recovered from his broken leg, Whittle spends his spare time playing running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
for the Manchester Titans American Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team.
At 5.30 a.m. on 27 November 2009 Whittle was arrested by Merseyside Police
Merseyside Police
Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The force area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million...
on suspicion of assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
, after turning himself in at St Helens
St Helens, Merseyside
St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000, part of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census...
Police Station. The car Whittle had been driving in the early hours of that morning had collided with paparazzi on Duke Street in Liverpool's City Centre. Whittle was released on bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
, after police questioning, later that day. The charges of assault were later dropped and replaced with a charge of dangerous driving
Dangerous driving
Dangerous driving is a statutory offence in England and Wales and Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is also a term of art used in the definition of the offence of causing death by dangerous driving...
. Whittle has since instructed lawyers to take action against the papparazzi who made the initial allegations of assault.