A former Coronation Street star is to take up a role in home-grown soap Shortland Street.
Adam Rickitt, who began playing Nick Tilsley on the long-running British soap in 1997, arrives in New Zealand this week.
The Herald on Sunday has been told that publicity-hungry Rickitt -who had
Coronation Street's first gay kiss with character Todd Grimshaw in 2003- approached producers of the Kiwi medical drama, seeking work.
South Pacific Pictures publicist Rachael Keereweer said yesterday that the 28-year-old actor, singer and model "has been signed on to do a little bit of work and it will depend on how well he does as to whether it will continue".
She said it was "very exciting" to have an overseas celebrity join the soap, which began screening on TV2 in 1994.
Shortland Street producers have scripted Rickitt's role but have been tight-lipped about the character he will play.
Rickitt, known for having a well-defined "six-pack", released an album Good Times in 2000. His first single Breathe Again went to number five in the UK Top 10.
In 2005, the actor was approved as a prospective parliamentary candidate for the UK Conservative Party.
While Rickitt has chosen New Zealand for his next project, Australia might just as well have been an option - "he has a birthmark on his bum in the shape of Australia", says one celebrity trivia website.
