ADAM Rickitt has hardly had time to put his feet up recently to follow the gutsy storylines of rape, teenage pregnancy and cancer in Coronation Street.

While the top soap has been attracting millions, Adam who found fame on the streets of Corrie, has been packing out the theatres in the award-winning gutsy musical Rent.

Adam says tough gritty storylines are important to portray.

"Soaps have to reflect what goes on in society, that's what makes them so appealing. Terrible as it is, young girls do get attacked, it is a fact of life.

"Soap operas as well as Rent reflect society. Sometimes it is not altogether comfortable to watch them. You can't criticise it, it is the creation of that society."

Rent tackles the equally emotive issues of homosexuality and Aids.

"The thing that makes Rent such an attraction is that they are issues we have to deal with these days.

"With life you can look through the glass and see it is either half empty or half full. In Rent the glass is half full.

"It is saying there are all these problems going on and we have to deal with them. There is always hope, there is always love and these are the things that combine us together with our surroundings. You can never lose hope because without it, there is no life."

In the musical set in New York, Adam plays Mark, a struggling young filmmaker who makes friends with a group of young people all struggling to make their mark on society and some trying to discover their own sexuality and coming to terms with friends' early deaths.

It is told through the musical score of gospel, rock, blues, soul and tango.

"It is not a typical sound track. It is an amazing score. It is like a rock concert."

Adam is all too familiar with young girls screaming after him. He was brought into Coronation Street as the sex symbol.

"It was odd to be honest. I felt so grateful for the job and challenge that I was paranoid about what everyone thought about me.When anything was written about me in the press I felt like they had carved meat out of me. I was distraught about it. I became obsessed with what people thought about me. I started to loose sight of what I was there to do. It was only after realising that the whole celebrity side is so superficial. When I read about myself, it was like reading about another Adam Rickitt."

The pressure became too great for him so he left the Street and took up a pop career.

"I wanted to detach myself away from the soap. And I did. People were seeing Adam Rickitt rather than Nicky. It gave me a clean sheet. But from an artistic point of view it was very shallow. I knew it would be. I figured I wouldn't be in it for long."

He wasn't. He landed the role in Rent and found himself touring with a group of young very talent actors and actresses.

"Because there are only 15 of us, there is a real family bond. It is us against the rest of the world mentality. Touring the country does make it like a family. Everyone becomes emotionally close to each other."

The emotion has stretched to love, as Adam is going out with one of the girls on the tour, but he won't reveal who the girl is.

"She will lynch me, if I tell," he laughs.

Adam is the son of a merchant banker, he grew up in Manchester in the village of Cuddington and went to a top boarding school.

"When I was at school I was very much the Hollywood movie preppy. I was into sports, I didn't do any theatre.

"The best lesson I learned there was that you were with a group of people who you might not have anything in common with but you have to get on with them because you live in each other's pockets. You learn to accept different people.

"This is what Rent is about. It is about a message of hope and accepting different people."

Adam was set to go to Oxford University to study law when he was approached by Take That's former manager who persuaded him to go into acting.

"It was kind of scary telling my parents that I didn't want to do that whole thing of law school, but I have been blessed with the most caring and loving family and they have supported me 100 per cent and that is where I am lucky in life, I have this amazing family to support me."

Rent is on at Wycombe Swan from May 21 to 26, call the box office (01494) 512000