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. Rickitt left
Coronation Street for a while 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. Rickitt was then dropped. 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.
2005–2010: Political ventures and Shortland Street In October 2005, Rickitt was approved as a
prospective parliamentary candidate for the
Conservative Party. 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. 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 attended national and local Conservative party functions in the hope of being selected as a candidate. 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." Rickitt was unsuccessful in progressing his political career. According to his website, in July 2007, he decided to continue his acting career in New Zealand rather than seek selection as a candidate. 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. In December 2006, Rickitt appeared in his first
pantomime,
Cinderella, in the role of
Prince Charming at the
Norwich Theatre Royal. 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. 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. He had said that he preferred his role on
Shortland Street to working on
Coronation Street. 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, and hosted a conference gay party. However, in 2014, Rickitt agreed with a comment that the world would be a better place without the Conservative Party.
2014–present: Doctors and Hollyoaks In 2014, he became part of the supergroup
5th Story, who took part in the
second series of
The Big Reunion, alongside
Kenzie from
Blazin' Squad,
Dane Bowers from
Another Level,
Kavana and
Gareth Gates. Rickitt returned to the United Kingdom to continue his acting career, and in 2016, he made a guest appearance in an episode of the
BBC medical soap opera
Doctors. 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. In June 2023, it was announced that Rickitt would be returning to
Doctors. His episode aired in December 2023, where he portrayed
Michael Harvey. ==Personal life==