WHEN it comes to Hollyoaks (Channel 4, 6.30pm) characters there are few to match the appeal of Calvin Valentine. The village's resident copper, and goody two-shoes, has also become the soap's heart-throb, thanks to his hunky looks.

But his many fans could be in for a shock. The nice guy might be about to turn bad on the eve of his wedding to Carmel.

Ricky Whittle, who plays Calvin, has seen a steady run of storylines in which his character has chosen good over evil, but things could be set to change due to Calvin having killed Nige, and finding himself indebted to his former arch-rival Warren.

"Calvin being the lovely, moral, trustworthy person wanted to confess to the police as it was self-defence, because Nige was coming at him with a knife," Ricky explains.

"He wanted to tell Carmel but Warren, who has helped Calvin by burying the body, has convinced him not to. He turns Calvin's attention to staying quiet for the good of his family and he has to decide to put his family above his own morals."

Most soap weddings never go according to plan, and Calvin and Carmel's is no different.

"There's a drug bust at the loft nightclub, so Warren sends Calvin in undercover to get the drugs which are on the premises," Ricky says.

"Calvin is sitting there talking to his mate in the loft with the drugs in his pocket, sniffer dogs are in there and then there's all the worry of `Will he get out? Will he make it to the wedding?' Essentially Calvin's bringing a lot of drama to the wedding day."

Beginning

While this is obviously a turning point for Ricky's character, it's just the beginning of a pretty exciting time.

"It's the beginning of the spiral into Calvin's dark side," he says.

"Throughout his time in Hollyoaks he's been on the good side. He even ran into a burning building to rescue the guy who killed his mum. Warren's going to show him he's got nowhere, he's lost his baby, even his fiancee by being on the straight and narrow.

"Warren's been doing dodgy dealings left, right and centre and he's got Louise, no responsibilities and no consequences - he's even killed someone and got away with it. So, Warren is going to show Calvin this is the way he should be living. He doesn't have to be a bad person but he can just turn a blind eye to certain things.

"It's going to start snowballing and Calvin starts enjoying it when he sees he can get away with it."

Ricky is relishing the change of character and the chance to try new things. "I can't wait, it's always more interesting and challenging to play the bad boy," he grins.

Calvin and Warren

"They've told me some fantastic storylines where basically Calvin and Warren, who are the two alpha males in the village and are seen as good versus evil, are going to start confiding in each other because they've got this bond.

"While it begins as blackmail, and Calvin doesn't like it, they turn into allies and eventually into friends and the two of them are going to get into a load of trouble. It's just great for me and Jamie Lomas, who plays Warren, because they've got some fantastic storylines."

It's not the first time Ricky and Jamie have acted together. Both starred in Sky's Dreamteam. It was definitely a dream role for Ricky as he got the chance to put his football skills to good use.

As a child, Ricky was football-obsessed and a gifted player to boot. He played internationally and was on the Arsenal youth team, always presuming he'd turn professional.

But, when he was hit by a run of injuries, his dad advised him to go to university and give football another go after graduating.

So Ricky headed to Southampton, where he turned to modelling to help pay for his textbooks. The next thing he knew his agent had put him forward for Dreamteam - and the rest is history.

Football still remains an important part of Ricky's life and every other weekend he and his castmates play in Nick Pickard's Hollyoaks team. "We travel all over the country playing matches," Ricky says.

Click here  to read Ian Wylie's TV blog.