Winter's Richard Armitage on 'coming out', why he won't reveal his partner's identity, and actress ex-girlfriend
On screen, his new character is grieving...
Richard Armitage returns to our screens as a tortured forensic pathologist in ITV drama Winter, where his character grieves for his lost fiancée – but, off-screen, his love life is much less tumultuous with his partner.
The actor is one of TV’s most bankable actors, having made his name in huge hits such as Spooks, Robin Hood, and multiple Harlan Coben thrillers on Netflix.
This autumn, he plays Dr Ethan Winter, who helps crack a series of twisted and compelling murder cases. But beneath his charm, he remains haunted by the violent death of someone close to him 10 years ago.
Here’s everything you need to know about Winter star Richard Armitage;’s new role, how he ‘came out’, and the identity of his long-term partner.
Richard Armitage plays Dr Ethan Winter in ITV’s new crime drama
Popular actor Richard Armitage returns to our screens in ITV crime drama Winter. He portrays the titular character Dr Ethan Winter, a “brilliant” forensic pathologist who is haunted by the past.
Set against the atmospheric backdrop of Bristol, viewers are introduced to Ethan Winter as he works alongside DI Lauren Bell and DS Ellis Daldry to solve some truly complex murders. With his unflinching eye for detail and deep knowledge of the human body, Winter sees what others miss – revealing the secrets the dead leave behind.
While he’s able to solve the crimes around Bristol, it’s another case that haunts him. Ten years ago, his fiancée was mudered, and a man put behind bars. But when a suicide arrives in his lab bearing a chilling clue that echoes the earlier death, Winter is shaken to the core…
He becomes convinced that the wrong man is in prison and the killer must still be at large.
Richard Armitage TV and films
Richard Armitage has been on our screens for more than three decades, ever since he first appeared as a ‘man in pub’ in the 1992 series Boon. After several smaller roles in film and TV – including playing a Naboo fighter in Star Wars: Episode I – he won the high profile role of Lee Preston in Cold Feet in 2003.
Fans of the show will know that the rather dishy Lee was the swimming instructor who had a relationship with Karen’s nanny Ramona. The same year, Richard went on to play Capt. Ian Macalwain in the Ross Kemp drama Ultimate Force.
Roles in Between the Sheets, period drama North & South, The Golden Hour, and The Impressionists followed, before he won another prestigious role – that of Harry Kennedy in The Vicar of Dibley.
Between 2006 and 2009, Richard appeared in the ratings hit Robin Hood, which also starred Jonas Armstrong, Joe Armstrong, Keith Allen, and Joanne Froggatt. He played the villainous Guy of Gisbourne.
In 2008, Richard won arguably his biggest role to date when he starred as Lucas North in Spooks, a role he played until 2010. Other notable TV roles include John Porter in Strike Back, Francis Dolarhyde in Hannibal, and Daniel Miller in Berlin Station. He also starred in the erotic drama Obsession, which was a tad steamy to say the least!
Actor Richard Armitage was also in series 1 and 2 of Red Eye, playing suspected murderer Dr Matthew Nolan in the ITV thriller. He found himself accused of murder, although we later discovered he was innocent.
His film roles have included John Proctor in The Crucible, Thorin in The Hobbit franchise, and Heinz Kruger in Captain America: The First Avenger.
How many Harlen Coben shows has he been in?
More recently, Richard has made a name for himself in Netflix adaptations of Harlan Coben’s novels. He’s played leading roles in Stay Close, The Stranger, Fool Me Once, and Missing You.
Richard Armitage played Ray in the cast of Netflix’s Stay Close. Ray was once a promising war-time photographer, who subsequently became stuck in a dead-end job pandering to celebrity-obsessed rich kids.
He’d never been the same since the day his fiancée, Cassie, walked out of his life. He suffered with PTSD, which caused him blackouts, and made his memory unreliable.
When men, who all had a connection to him, started disappearing, he began to wonder whether he had anything to do with it…
Richard also went on to star in Harlan Coben’s The Stranger. He played Adam Price, who was approached by a mysterious stranger who seemed to know a lot about him. When his wife then went missing, more devastating secrets were uncovered. But who was the stranger?
More recently, he appeared in the Netflix drama Fool Me Once. He played the late husband of Michelle Keegan’s character Maya Stern. He subsequently popped up in Missing You, too!
How old is Richard Armitage? Where is he from?
Richard Crispin Armitage was born on August 22, 1971, in Huncote, Leicestershire. He is currently 55 years of age. But, damn, he still looks fine.
The actor attended Huncote Community Primary School in Huncote. He went on to attend his local comprehensive school, Brockington College, in Enderby.
At 14, he transferred to Pattison College in Coventry, an independent boarding school specialising in the performing arts, so that he could focus on drama and dance. And the rest is history!
Is Richard Armitage gay?
Away from the spotlight, Richard lives a notoriously private life. But, in 2023, he revealed he was not straight. In fact, he said that he’d ‘come out’ to friends and family as a teenager.
Back in April 2023, Richard opened up about his sexuality – and revealed how he came out when he was a teen. Talking to Radio Times, he explained he had chosen not to talk about his sexuality publicly, in case it overshadowed his acting career.
He said: “It happened when I was 19 – to anybody who mattered – and I was always waiting for that question to punch me in the face, and it never did. I thought, are people being polite, or is it that they don’t want to know?”
He added: “I don’t know that I ever wanted to put myself in front of the work I was doing, anything about my family or personal life. I just thought, let the work speak for itself.”
Richard continued: “I love the conversation with the younger generation; I love the idea that whatever gender, sexuality, the fluidity of who you love, how you identify, is not fixed.
“That was always a thing: if I declare who I am and my sexuality, then I’m saying it’s fixed. I don’t know that, or if I might feel something for somebody further down the line. I doubt it, but I don’t know.”
Feeling comfortable enough to talk about his sexuality for the first time, Richard also added Pride and trans Pride flag emojis to his Twitter bio.
Who is the partner of Richard Armitage?
In another interview, speaking to the Evening Standard, Richard Armitage confirmed his partner is male. Although he did not identify him, preferring to keep his name out of the public domain.
In 2023, he spoke about filming full-frontal nude scenes in Netflix drama Obsession and how they affected his relationship.
He said: “We did talk about it. I reassured him that it was all going to be fine, and we were being well looked after.”
He also revealed that he and his on-screen lover Anna Barton, played by Charlie Murphy, had “met each other’s partners and gone for dinner”.
The actor joked that, after hitting 50, he thought he would never have to take his shirt off again. Then he was sent the script for obsession… Richard said: “Oh, you want all of it off now. Okay.”
Richard Armitage’s ex-girlfriend
Despite coming out as gay, Richard was reportedly linked to actress Samantha Colley, who he met in 2014.
The pair starred together in a London production of Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible at the Old Vic Theatre. They played John Proctor and Abigail Williams in the stage adpatation.
Reports say they dated between 2014 and 2016, and some publications even speculated that they were engaged. However, by 2017, they were said to have split up.
Richard’s naked scenes in erotic thriller Obsession
Having filmed full frontal scenes in Obsession, Richard addressed the furore about the nudity. He said: “I’ve thrown punches, shot guns and swung swords and people don’t approach you and say, ‘Oh there’s a lot of violence in this, I don’t know if you’re going to like it’. So why do we feel that way about intimacy?
“I had a conversation with myself, and Charlie, early on, and said, ‘We’ve just got to be European about this. It’s the body. This is life. Just be cool with it.'”
Richard Armitage and Charlie Murphy worked with an intimacy coordinator on the series. Obsession was a Netflix adaptation of the erotic novel Damage, which was made into a hit 1992 film with Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche.
Critics called it the “sexist thing on TV this year”, although Richard refused to watch it! He explained: “I don’t really like to watch most things I’ve done and this one was pretty intense… Intense in a brilliant way. I’m left with a happy memory of what we did.”
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