Repeater Itemdatabound Event Value Type And Reference Type?

Im trying to bind a list with datetime objects to my repeater.

if (e.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.AlternatingItem || e.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.Item)
{
DateTime actualDate = e.Item.DataItem as DateTime;
}

When I want access the itemdatabound event on the repeater Then I get an errormessage which says that DateTime is a valuetype and not a reference type.My solution is that a wrap the datetime in a custom object (reference type) and pass that to the repeater datasource instead of the datetime. But Im wondering if there are other solutions where the repeater takes valuetypes (DateTime objects).