I've slept with men and women, had brushes with the law and I've

AS the new superintendent in charge of TV's Sun Hill station he really fits the bill...a happily married father with no hang-ups and a steely determination to get the job done.

Yet in real life Cyril Nri, the man now playing Superintendent Adam Okaro in The Bill, has led the kind of life that would leave most policemen spluttering in disbelief.

With a matter-of-fact grin, Cyril admits that he has slept with both men and women - although he is currently single after parting with the mother of his two children. He has also had the odd brush with the law and enjoyed smoking the odd joint.

"Okaro and I are not really alike at all," says Cyril, 41, who has previous form with the law, playing the policeman investigating the Phil Mitchell shooting in EastEnders.

"The superintendent is a good cop. He doesn't have affairs and he loves going out doing the undercover stuff. The only thing we have in common is that we both have two children."

Cyril adds: "You have to enjoy life and mine has been one hell of a rollercoaster ride so far. I love work and I'd say I am very driven. But I try not to put labels on things and I do not want to get pocketed into a little corner."

His dislike of labels is the main reason why he hates describing himself as bisexual.

He separated from the mother of his two boys, Diana, five years ago. Although they were never married, the couple had been together for 14 years after meeting in the theatre during a spell in Stratford. And they still live within five minutes' walk of each other in South London, so they can have joint custody of their sons, aged 10 and 12.

"The relationship had come to an end," says Cyril. "We had grown apart and we weren't in love anymore. I just wanted to be me and I felt I couldn't be that any longer within that relationship.

"But Diana and I are still friends and we do everything for our sons. We buy the boys presents together, everything. They mean the world to me. I am not an absent father and I don't feel guilty. I have them for half a week and I am incredibly \ honest with them. There isn't a thing about me my kids don't know."

Cyril's honesty with his children extends to his relationships since leaving their mother in 1997. He won't go into too much detail but says he has had several partners - of both sexes.

"I have slept with men and women and I have no qualms about any of that stuff at all. Am I bisexual? No, I'd say I like people but at the moment I am not in a relationship."

Has he had any brushes with the law? Smiling, he admits: "Look, I am a 41-year-old black man living in London. What do you think? Yes is the answer to that. Nothing serious, Smoking the odd joint has not turned me into a wild savage."

Has he stolen goods? Cyril, slimly built and dressed in blue jeans and a dark casual top, shakes his head. "Joints and other things," he says. "Suffice it to say, I've had a full life and I am very happy about all of it."

But he ended up in court for drink-driving seven years ago. "I was over the limit and quite rightly penalised for it," he says. "I used to drive decent smart cars and because of my colour, the police were naturally suspicious and I was constantly being pulled over. Now I drive a very old Mini, and everything is fine."

Cyril was born in Nigeria. His father, also called Cyril, ran the country's telephone service while his mother, Celeste, looked after him and his three sisters. He was five when civil war broke out there.

"It was very frightening, people were dying around me," says Cyril. "I saw things I don't think any young child should."

Cyril, his mum, and sisters were eventually packed off to England, finally settling in Shepherds Bush, West London. But his life fell apart again when he was 10 after his father said he wouldn't be joining the rest of the family.

"The war did cause my parents to split up," he says. "Mum and Dad grew apart because we came to England. As a kid I had more nightmares about my parents not being together than what I saw during the war. But my mum is an utterly remarkable woman. She held down a job and also looked after us brilliantly. Even now she looks after black elderly people living in South London and got the OBE for her work. I am so proud of her.

"As far as my dad, I only see him about once every four years, although we do speak on the phone."

Cyril still remembers his first day in school in London. "Another black kid came up and asked what had happened to the bone through my nose," he says. "That was his idea of Africa. Needless to say we had a fight. After that I wasn't bullied.

"I never fitted in with any group and became the classroom clown. I got into acting by singing in a show as I thought this would be the way I could go to a party with the big guys. Mum thought they would be drinking - so I wasn't allowed to go. But the show was brilliant and I was hooked."

Cyril trained at Bristol's Old Vic, then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. Since then he's starred in Channel 5's Family Affairs and also as a barrister in The Bill.

But his role as Sun Hill's new chief is his biggest TV role so far. He has signed a two-year contract to take over from Supt Tom Chandler, played by Steven Hartley, who killed himself after screen lover Debbie McAllister told him she was pregnant.

"I am so excited to be in The Bill," he says. "I did loads of research, talking to lots of police officers, including those who worked during the trouble in Brixton and on the Stephen Lawrence investigation.

"There are a lot more black people in high-profile roles and one of the reasons I took this job was because I'm playing the highest- ranked black police officer ever on British TV.

"Did they pick me because I am black? Who knows, but I am sure my role reflects what is happening in the police force."

He says the best thing about his role in The Bill is the financial security. "One of my ambitions is for my boys to have a bedroom each. Hopefully, I should be able to achieve this after Christmas."

He adds: "When I turned 40 I thought my life was going to be hell, but I have had an absolute ball.

"I've a job I love, a wonderful family and I am happy to wait until the right person comes along....but that doesn't mean I won't have sex in the meantime."

Copyright 2002 MGN LTD
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