Hunky Hollyoaks star 'signs up to celebrity dating app Raya as he returns to the UK to find love'

Daily Mail​

18 hours ago

Ricky Whittle has reportedly returned to London and is reportedly looking for love as he signed up to celebrity dating app Raya.
The ex-Hollyoaks star, who finished runner up on Strictly Come Dancing in 2009, moved to Los Angeles to work in Hollywood in 2011.
According to The Sun, one picture showed the actor cuddling a quokka and another of him running shirtless through a street.
A source said: 'It's like he's saying I'm cuddly, hot and very available.
'His profile popped up a couple of weeks ago. It says he's an actor who lives in LA but was visiting London.
'Given how good he looks, I bet he had loads of people swiping on his profile.'
Ricky is best known over here for playing Calvin Valentine on Hollyoaks.
After his character was killed off in 2010, Ricky relocated moved and has starred in shows including The 100 and American Gods.
Despite all of his success across the pond, during his interview with MailOnline in 2023 Ricky did not completely rule out a possible return to the British soap one day.
He said: 'Would I ever do a soap again? Probably not, but for fun why not, I don't care as I'm in a fortunate position, where I don't need to work.
'I haven't been in Hollyoaks for 20 years but at the end of the day you can never shy away from where you came from.'
He also opened up about the influence his time on Hollyoaks had on his acting skills, saying: 'If it wasn't for Hollyoaks I wouldn't be where I am now.
'Hollyoaks is an education, you're learning 12 to 15 scripts every day and halfway through a day, new pages are coming down and it's like "learn them now" and you just get it done and don't think about'.
'My character went from being the good guy, to the bad guy to the club owner, to the policeman, to your sister's on drugs, to you'd killed someone and then he's back to life - it's like you go through a whole gambit of emotions'.
'If that's not great education for an actor- I don't know what is.'
He added: 'I would never look down on soap actors because they're the ones that are putting in five days a week and I've got nothing but love for those guys and what that show did for me.'
He turned his back on Hollywood in 2023, telling MailOnline he was 'done' with America and its 'crazy politics' and was planning to move away from Los Angeles.
But just a couple of years later it seems Ricky may be considering a return to the big time as the hunky actor made a surprise appearance at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival earlier this year.
He arrived on the red carpet in southern France looking typically dapper in a black tux ahead of his role presenting the festival's Golden Nymph Awards Ceremony alongside Shy'm, 39.
The duo posed for photos together, with Ricky playfully making sure the spotlight was on the French actress as she put on a leggy display in an eye-catching black and white dress.
Later in the evening the pair suffered an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction while performing a dance routine on-stage as Shy'm spilled out her outfit momentarily.
Whittle was last seen on television while playing Mickey Barnes in one episode of The Rookie, a show following a police officer in Los Angeles.
Prior to that the 45-year-old had enjoyed a quiet couple of years work-wise after the end of American Gods in 2021.