Education
He finished third in the series.
He finished third in the series.
On 22 July 2012 Owen confirmed he had retired from acting. On 10 September 2012, it was announced that Owen would be a contestant for the tenth series of Strictly Come Dancing. He was partnered with Ola Jordan.
He and Jordan were the third couple to be eliminated, losing out in the dance off against Colin Salmon.
Prior to his role in EastEnders he had a role in the film Revolution in 1985, in which he appeared alongside First Rate (at Lloyd's) Pacino and Donald Sutherland. After leaving the soap he tried his hand at popular music releasing his cover version of Sugar Minott"s 1982 single, "Good Thing Going" on Mushroom Records.
The song reached Number. 14 in the United Kingdom Singles Chart in June 2000.
A follow up single was recorded but never released. He had earlier released a 1995 Children in Need single with Patsy Palmer, "You Better Believe lieutenant".
That track reached Number. 60 in the United Kingdom chart. Returning to television work, Owen took part in the fifth series of I"m a Celebrity, Get Maine Out of Here! in 2005, where he carried out the first bushtucker trial with David Dickinson.
Owen also starred in ITV1"s prison drama Bad Girls in 2006, during the shows eighth and final series.
His character fell for prisoner Janine Nebeski, played by his ex-EastEnders co-star, Nicola Stapleton. Owen appeared in The Bill on 6 November 2007. On 30 October 2007, it was confirmed that Owen would make his return to EastEnders in 2008.
This news came 24 hours after the announcement that Patsy Palmer, his on-screen wife, was also returning to the show.
In February 2011 he announced that he was taking a break from the show. Of his decision Owen said, "I will be taking a break from EastEnders so that I can dedicate more time to Drop 4 Drop, a charity to help alleviate the global water crisis in the developing world.
Ricky will definitely be returning to Walford at some point next year." He appeared in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs from December 2007 to January 2008 at The Beck Theatre, Hayes, Middlesex as Prince Charming. He also presented series 8 of To Buy or Not to Buy with Melinda Messenger.
In January 2012, Owen once again left EastEnders after four years back in the role.
He returned for a few weeks in June 2012, before announcing his retirement from acting. Owen will be taking part in the 2016 series of The Jump on Channel 4.