Former 'Coronation Street' star Adam Rickitt is ready to re-open his bar after the latest coronavirus lockdown.
Adam Rickitt
The 42-year-old actor - who played Nick Tilsley in the ITV soap - owns a trendy bar in Cheshire and he can't wait to start welcoming customers again on Monday (12.04.21).
Adam - who owns the bar with his wife Katy Fawcett - told the Daily Express newspaper: "Places like this are social, community hubs - not just places to relax and get a drink. We have ticked over with takeaway deliveries and I've been out there supporting my customers."
Adam has a spine disease and he's previously been encouraged to shield amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But the former soap star has been determined to keep busy during the health crisis and he thinks it's helped him to stay in a positive frame of mind.
He said: "I delivered to one 78-year-old man at the end of the first lockdown and he burst into tears saying, 'I haven't seen another soul in months'.
"So pubs and bars do more than just serve drinks and this is what communities have missed."
Adam previously admitted to battling depression for 17 years and revealed he even experienced suicidal thoughts as a teenager.
The actor - who left 'Coronation Street' in 2004 - explained: "From the age of about 17, I was essentially suicidal. The only thing that stopped me was knowing that my parents would blame themselves and it would ruin their lives.
"I couldn’t do that to them.
"But I decided I was going to do everything self-destructive I could in the hope I died in my sleep.
"I used to go to bed praying every night, 'please, for the love of God, do not let me wake up in the morning.'
"I just thought, 'what’s the point? I’ll always be miserable.'"