Adam Rickitt has revealed that he lost all of his TV fortune after his alcoholic father ‘stole’ his money.
The former Coronation Street actor, 47, opened up about his 15-year feud with his late father as he spoke on Vanessa Feltz’s TV show on Friday.
Despite starting his career as a child model, Adam auditioned for the role of Nick Tilsley on Coronation Street back in 1997, admitting at the time he applied for the job as a joke.
Regardless Adam got the part, and he starred on Corrie for two years before leaving the soap to pursue a music career.
But he has now said his own father – who had a troubled life – actually ‘stole’ a lot of his earnings.
On the show, Adam said: ‘If you Google ‘Adam Rickitt net worth’ it comes up with a figure, it’s not that figure because my dad stole all my money. And he did it three times.
Adam Rickitt has revealed that he lost all of his TV fortune after his alcoholic father ‘stole’ his money
The former Coronation Street actor, 47, opened up about his 15-year feud with his late father as he spoke on Vanessa Feltz’s TV show on Friday (seen as Nick on Corrie)
‘So, even though I was 18 years old and did Corrie and did the pop music and money was coming in, it kept just going to him and he kept losing it.’
He continued: ‘My dad was a very successful merchant banker – he was pulling in millions of pounds a year himself.
‘But, he was also a flaming alcoholic. I kept lending him money, he kept wasting it, but then he would make money.
‘And rather than paying me back, he’d go and spend it on his friends. He’d never spend it on his family or pay me back. So, we ended up falling out for 15 years.’
Adam then explained how he did finally reconnect with his dad, who was left ‘penniless’ with his home re-possessed due to the crippling debt.
It comes after last month Adam revealed he is making a music comeback and is back in the studio after signing a new record deal.
Adam had a short-lived music career when he released his debut single I Breathe Again in 1999.
The song reached number five on the charts and the music video memorably featured Adam strip naked while being examined by doctors in a glass box.
He released one solo album, Good Times, which reached number 41 in the UK.
In a video shared to Instagram this week, Adam and his wife Katy Fawcett revealed he is back in the studio making new music.
Filming them on the way to the studio, former Good Morning Britain presenter Katy said: ‘It’s a very special day today. It’s time to let the cat out of the bag.
Adam had a short-lived music career when he released his debut single I Breathe Again in 1999 with the music video featuring him naked in a glass box
Despite beginning his career as a child model, Adam forayed into soaps when he auditioned for the role of Nick on Coronation Street (pictured in 2004)
‘A lot of you may have noticed Adam’s been popping up doing a few gigs since Pride last year. Well today, what are we going to do Adam?
Looking bashful, Adam replied: ‘We’re going to record a new song.’
Katy told the camera: ‘We’re going to actually record new music. He’s so modest he won’t do this himself. He’s been resigned and he’s already been in the studio doing remakes of his older stuff.’
Adam said: ‘We did a version of Breathe Again which was nice. Today, we’ve got a really good song idea.’
‘Who’s the song about?’ Katy asked, to which he said: ‘You baby.’
‘Can I be your biggest groupie?’ Katy asked.
‘Yes. I’ve got to have one,’ Adam said.
The video then cut to Adam recording in the studio with a music producer as Katy danced along to the music.
Later in the clip, Adam said: ‘It was what every kid dreams of but because of what was going on in here (pointing to his head) I didn’t enjoy it. It always felt like a wasted opportunity, to not have had the time of my life.
‘Now I’m older and this isn’t gonna get any better. It means I can do something and actually enjoy it this time and I can do it with you and that will make it worth doing.’
Alongside the post, Adam wrote: ‘So a thing happened!! Out of nowhere seems heavy breathing is back in fashion… teamed up with a bit of singing and a few laughs along the way.
‘Can’t reveal the whole thing yet but NEW MUSIC incoming!! And this time we are doing it together, join us on this mad journey!’
Adam was best known for his acting work, but in recent years he and Katy have stepped away from the spotlight, running a craft beer and artisan gin bar called Dexter and Jones in their town of Knutsford.
Despite starting his career as a child model, Adam auditioned for the role of Nick Tilsey on Coronation Street back in 1997, admitting at the time he applied for the job as a joke.
Regardless Adam got the part, and he starred on Corrie for two years before leaving the soap to pursue an music career.
During his soap break, Adam released his album Good Times as part of a six-album record deal.
After his album only reached number 41, Adam was promptly dropped from his label.
What followed was a brief foray into politics, with the star approved as a prospective parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party in 2005, despite admitting he only entered the race as part of a campaign to get more young people involved.
He failed to make a list of 20 candidates for the Folkestone and Hythe seat being vacated by Michael Howard, and decided to call his political career a day.
Adam was best known for his acting work, but in recent years he and his wife Katy have stepped away from the spotlight, running a craft beer and artisan gin bar
Adam returned briefly to Corrie in 2002 and for a longer spell from 2003 to 2004 when his character was involved in the soap’s first gay kiss with Todd Grimshaw (Bruno Langley).
Adam returned to acting with a three-year stint on New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, which ended in 2010.
In 2014, he went back to music, joining 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.
Adam made a return to soaps in 2017 when he joined the cast of Hollyoaks as Kyle Kelly, leaving the soap three years later when his character tragically died by suicide, and in 2023 he briefly appeared in the BBC favourite Doctors.
Since his rise to fame, Adam has also spoken openly about his mental health struggles, which he said began when he was just 13 years old.
He previously said on Loose Women: ‘Yeah, I did in some respects. It’s quite out there in the public forum that I had issues as a teenager with an eating disorder.
‘But what I don’t think ever I’ve spoken about, or people have realised, is that actually my issues premeditated that and also went on a lot beyond that.
‘I basically suffered from anxiety and depression from the ages of 13 to 30. So for 17 years of my life I was essentially suicidal.
‘It comes in peaks and waves like it does for so many people, but still to this day the best portion of my adult life was spent suicidal.’
In 2023, Adam also revealed that he had been been scammed out of ‘tens of thousands of pounds’ from a cunning bank fraud.
Adam shared that he was a victim of an elaborate push payment scam, leaving him feeling ‘stupid’ and embarrassed’.
In the video, an emotional Adam told how he though he was rather ‘savvy’ when it came to security but admitted he was completely duped by who he believed was the fraud team at Barclay’s bank, remarking: ‘They knew EVERYTHING about me’.
The star admitted he could hardly look his wife Katy in the eye after being conned and said that though some people may ‘laugh’ at him, he wanted to warn others from making his mistake.
