Former Coronation Street star Adam Rickitt has opened up about his 15-year feud with his dad, revealing he ‘stole’ his earnings several times.

Now 47, Adam rose to fame as a teen in 1997 as Corrie’s Nick Tilsley, a character originally played by Warren Jackson in 1981 before he left to sit his exams.

Adam portrayed the role of Gail Platt’s eldest for two years before rejoining from 2002 to 2004. Ben Price took over the character in 2009.

Adam Rickitt has revealed his dad took his soap earnings and never paid him back

During his stint on the famous cobbles (for which he auditioned purely as a joke, having never seen an episode), Adam’s biggest storyline was the show’s first-ever gay kiss in 2003 with Todd Grimshaw (played by Bruno Langley at the time).

But while the nation would be forgiven for believing he was raking it in as an actor on both Corrie and other subsequent programmes, he’s now confessed that his father took everything.

Appearing on Vanessa Feltz’s show, he began: ‘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.’

‘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 added.

Adam recalled that his dad was a ‘very successful merchant banker’ who 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 eventually reconnected with his dad, Peter, at which point he found he was ‘penniless’ after falling into debt and having his home repossessed.

His dad died in 2019, having been unwell for some time.

Announcing the news, Adam took to social media on January 15 that year, writing alongside a photo of him: ‘Sleep well, big man’.

A few weeks later, his funeral was held, before which Adam posted a childhood snap with the caption: ‘Off to bid farewell to this one today. This photo is of my favourite memory of dad…we’re on holiday and I’m giving him nipple cripples if he laughs.

‘Both of us were crying with laughter. Now just crying…you were a complicated soul…but also the best of them. Love always…raise a glass on me while you watch.’

A couple of years earlier, Adam spoke to the Daily Mail’s This is Money section about how Peter, who established Rickitt Mitchell & Partners, ‘believed you earned money to enjoy life.’

‘He was good with other people’s money, but with his own, he was too extravagant,’ he said.

‘When he had it, he would spend it – on fancy holidays and friends. My mum, Jill, was the opposite.’

After leaving Corrie for the first time, Adam embarked on a music career, signing a six-album deal with Polydor Records.

In 1999, he released his debut album, Good Times, featuring the single I Breathe Again, which reached number five in the UK charts.

After the first record peaked at number 41, however, Adam was dropped from his label.

He went on to pick up a string of acting and theatre roles, including Mark Cohen in a UK tour of Rent, and in 2007, he joined the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street as Kieran Mitchell, a role he played until 2010 before his character was killed off.

Outside of showbiz, Adam also had a short political career. In 2005, he entered the race as a prospective parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party.

However, having failed to make a list of 20 candidates for the Folkestone and Hythe seat, he stepped down, saying he only went for it to get more young people involved.

Fast forward to 2026, and Adam, whose other past credits include Doctors and Hollyoaks, has teased a musical comeback alongside his wife.

The former model, who married Good Morning Britain presenter Katy Fawcett in 2014, revealed that he was back in the studio, sharing a clip on Instagram.

‘It’s a very special day today,’ he said. ‘It’s time to let the cat out of the bag.’

Filming themselves on the way to a recording session, Katy said: ‘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?’

‘We’re going to record a new song,’ Adam replied.

Joking that her husband is ‘so modest he won’t do this himself,’ Katy added: ‘We’re going to actually record new music.

‘He’s been re-signed, and he’s already been in the studio doing remakes of his older stuff.’

After she cheekily asked if she could be his ‘biggest groupie?’, Adam responded: ‘Yes. I’ve got to have one.’

He didn’t divulge any details of when the tunes will be released, but said it’ll be a ‘mad journey.’

Adam and Katy have been away from the spotlight in recent years and are now running a craft beer and artisan gin bar in Knutsford.