Reception
Ricky Whittle was nominated for 'Sexiest Male' in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 British Soap Awards Whittle was also nominated for 'Sexiest Male' at the Inside Soap Awards in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Also in 2008, he and Gemma Merna (Carmel) were nominated for 'Best Couple'. In 2010, Calvin and Carmel's wedding was nominated for 'Best Wedding', losing to Syed Masood and Amira Shah of EastEnders. The character was selected as one of the "top 100 British soap characters" by industry experts for a poll to be run by What's on TV, with readers able to vote for their favourite character to discover "Who is Soap's greatest Legend?"
Whittle was also popular within the show's cast. After the announcement of his departure, Whittle's co-star Bronagh Waugh (who plays Cheryl Brady) said: "His was one of the first characters I came into contact with — I'll miss him greatly. Ricky's quite similar to me. He's a bundle of energy and positivity. We bounce around the building and have fun and joke, and we like the same music. I really will miss him but understand why he wants to go. He's had a fabulous couple of years. He's done everything he can do and it's time to move on. He's proved he's got so many skills and things to offer."
Ruth Deller of entertainment website Lowculture has criticised Calvin on different instances, once stating: "Currently topping the ‘which Hollyoaks character is the worst’ poll on the forums at the moment, Calvin may look nice with his shirt off, but his misogynistic, patronising, whiney attitude is doing him no favours at all. It’s even making people sympathise a bit with Carmel, and we all know she’s a no good dirty boob-thief." Deller later criticised him again, writing: "Calvin Valentine, Hollyoaks, Last month’s winner (or loser, I suppose) continues to annoy, behave implausibly and maintain his self-righteous prickness, and was only usurped for a very good reason…"
In her book Soap Stars, Debbie Foy features Whittle in one of her profile features and describes Calvin as the following: "Calvin has been fiercely protective of the family. Calvin is a likable character, witty and intelligent, who wants to do the right thing." Virgin Media compiled a list of their sexiest soap couples, Calvin and Carmel were featured and they stated: "Couples don’t come much cuter than these two – they even have matching police uniforms! The Valentines may be a little lacking in the brain cell department, but they more than make up for it by being the biggest-hearted couple in soap."
Read more about this topic: Calvin Valentine
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of passion and who shows up one day in the reception room on the forty-ninth floor threatening to make a scene. The lawyers pay the woman off; sometimes uniformed guards accompany her to the elevators.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Aesthetic emotion puts man in a state favorable to the reception of erotic emotion.... Art is the accomplice of love. Take love away and there is no longer art.”
—Rémy De Gourmont (1858–1915)