Quotes from Ricky Whittle

I'm just a big kid; I get excited. That's probably the one thing in life that I get really excited about is cars.

I think anyone is lying if they say they don't want to win.

Once people start to realise that colour is just that, it's just a colour, then things got a bit smoother.

I'm a great believer in the idea that if it's meant to be, it will be.

I have an acting coach, a dialect coach, and just a great team around me.

No one should ever suffer in silence. Bullies thrive in silence.

I remember 'Rain Man' with Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman with all the Lamborghinis being lifted off the tanker. I was obsessed with this car. Absolutely obsessed with this car. It was my dream, and to finally drive one and own one was incredible.

No one remembers the runner-up!

I joined 'Hollyoaks' because in the long-term, I thought it's good money, it's good profile, and everything happens in soaps!

The Ricky that the public see, whether it be on screen as a character, in public, or on social media, is very outgoing, and I'm a bit of a class clown. Then those who are closest to me know that I can be very sensitive. I can be quite insecure about myself.

As in all TV shows, and especially a show called 'Mistresses,' all is not going to be as it seems.

My little sister Debbie was born at Aldergrove, and my nan is from southern Ireland, so I do try and get over quite a bit.

You have to have chemistry - it's acting. I need to make people believe the rumba is about two people in love, and the tango is about passion.

I actually spoke to one of the heads of a studio, and he said I confuse middle America. Basically, when they see a black person, they see athlete, they see rapper, or they see criminal or something like that. And then when they hear a British accent, they hear posh, so they hear lawyer or doctor.

If things are said maliciously, and they're meant to hurt, then that's the sort of thing we need to try and stamp out.

The best food I've had was actually in catering at 'Single Ladies.' It's insane. I can't live in Atlanta. In fact, even if I'm offered, I'm not sure I could come back for another six months, because I'll just be fat.

I'm a big fan of old, classic American musclecars like a Shelby GT or the '69 Dodge Charger, cars that inspired me through my childhood. They used to get me real excited when I was a kid. To own one and actually be able to drive them in America is a little of a dream.

I've never liked my smile, you see. I should have had braces as a kid, but I was too proud and too vain. And I didn't want to be bullied at school.

With 'Strictly,' I am mentally and physically knackered: everything aches. I knew it would be hard, but I never thought it would be this tough.

Even in 'Hollyoaks,' we were known as 'the black family' as opposed to just 'the new family.' But that's where we are in the world, I guess. It's getting better; everything's heading in the right direction, whether it be race, sex, gender.

I don't want to embarrass myself on TV!

My character in 'Hollyoaks' went through absolutely everything! There's not one emotion where I'm going to go, 'I don't know how to play this.'

I was something of a late bloomer.