Ricky Whittle trains for London Marathon

Hollyoaks star Ricky Whittle has revealed that he is to run the London Marathon next month to raise funds for Virgin Unite.

The actor has been busy training at Liverpool's Sefton Park in between filming scenes as Calvin Valentine on the Channel 4 soap.

Whittle, who was runner-up on Strictly Come Dancing in December, told the Liverpool Echo: "I've just had a hernia op so I've had very little preparation but I've got a month left to train.

"I had to keep the hernia a secret because I didn't want to get pulled from Strictly. And I didn't want the viewers to find out because I didn't want the sympathy votes, but I was struggling."

Virgin Unite is a non-profit foundation of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group which aims to tackle social and environmental problems "in an entrepreneurial way".

Whittle added: "I was looking for my next project after Strictly, then I got a call from Sir Richard Branson's PR to say he'd like me to run for Virgin Unite.

"I've never done a marathon, anything more than a 100 metre sprint and I'd be struggling, but they told me about the charity and that it helps kids and they had me."

This year's London Marathon takes place on April 25.