'Oaks actor praises "humble" Swayze

Hollyoaks star Gerard McCarthy has become the latest famous face to pay tribute to Patrick Swayze.

The 28-year-old, who plays Kris Fisher on the Channel 4 soap, revealed that he once met the late actor in the West End and was impressed by his down-to-earth attitude.

McCarthy has credited Swayze's character of Johnny Castle in the hit movie Dirty Dancing for inspiring him to train as a dancer and appear in musical theatre.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, he explained: "My friend Kelly Price was playing one of the female leads in Guys and Dolls in the West End when she found out that Patrick Swayze was playing opposite her.

"After one of the shows she brought me backstage to meet him and told him I was a massive fan. He said he was very flattered and we talked about his career and mine. I thought he was a lovely, humble man."

He added: "When I met him he had a real aura about him. I remember watching him as Johnny Castle and thinking how cool he was. The blokes all wanted to be like him and the girls all fancied him."

Swayze passed away on Monday following a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

> Obituary: Patrick Swayze
> Swayze's career in pictures