Ricky Whittle

“I was something of a late bloomer.”

“As in all TV shows, and especially a show called 'Mistresses,' all is not going to be as it seems.”

“You have to have chemistry - it's acting. I need to make people believe the rumba is about two people in love, and the tango is about passion.”

“My friends said I was crazy, but L.A. is the hub of the industry. It's the epicenter of the business. If I wanted to get above the plateau that I had reached in the U.K., I had to make that move.”

“Sometimes, when you've got a couple of females on the cast, you'll have a diva, or you'll have arguments. I've been on shows where girls haven't quite got on.”

“Growing up, at that time, I didn't want to be black because I was bullied, and I'd tell my mum that I wanted to be white like everyone else at school.”

“No one should ever suffer in silence. Bullies thrive in silence.”

“When you're living in L.A., you really do have to raise your game - you have to be the best 'you' possible.”

“Even in 'Hollyoaks,' we were known as 'the black family' as opposed to just 'the new family.' But that's where we are in the world, I guess. It's getting better; everything's heading in the right direction, whether it be race, sex, gender.”

“I don't think anything can prepare you for the 'Strictly' experience. It really is insane. I mean, I played football, rugby, American football. I go to the gym. I like to think I'd be quite fit, and I don't have much fat on me to lose, and yet I still lost a stone and half and three inches off my waist.”

“If things are said maliciously, and they're meant to hurt, then that's the sort of thing we need to try and stamp out.”

“No one remembers the runner-up!”

“I've never used chat-up lines; I don't have the gift of the gab.”

“We try and give as much diversity to our show as possible. That's something that's very strong in our show: there are so many strong female leads in 'The 100.'”

“My abs were my bread and butter in the U.K. - the calendars, the photoshoots, and all that came with it.”

“My little sister Debbie was born at Aldergrove, and my nan is from southern Ireland, so I do try and get over quite a bit.”

“As actors, when you can't be in the room with the casting director or the producers, you put yourself on tape and send it off.”

“I have an acting coach, a dialect coach, and just a great team around me.”

“I believe it's my position as a partner to make the other feel secure. I'm very loving and very into my partners when I am with them. I just want them to feel safe.”

“My favourite compliment now is that people are talking about my acting, my craft - not my torso.”