Reverend Richard Coles has landed in the jungle after he joined the official line-up for I’m A Celebrity 2024.
The vicar isn’t new to television having featured in numerous shows, including Strictly Come Dancing. Rev Richard Coles wears multiple hats: he’s a musician, and radio and TV presenter. And he’s also a late entrant on I’m A Celebrity 2024.
But what was his life like before he became a pop star? What controversy was he embroiled in during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s? And what happened to his late partner Reverend David Oldham?
I’m A Celebrity 2024 star Reverend Richard Coles didn’t get his start in showbiz
Richard is a Church of England vicar. He was born in Northamptonshire on March 26, 1962. He studied theology at King’s College and obtained his M.A. from the University of Leeds.
According to The Sun, the 62-year-old star was a Roman Catholic for 10 years, after which he returned to Anglicanism in 2001. In 2005, he was ordained into the Anglican priesthood.
He was later appointed vicar at St Mary the Virgin in Finedon, Northamptonshire in 2011 and retired before Easter 2022. Richard currently resides in Friston, East Sussex.
Rev Richard Coles was in music band The Communards
In 1984, Richard joined forces with Scottish singer and songwriter Jimmy Somerville to form The Communards.
The band had three UK Top 10 hits, including Never Can Say Goodbye. Their biggest-selling single was 1986’s Don’t Leave Me This Way.
His musical career was short-lived. But the vicar didn’t shy away from talking about the rather controversial life he led at the peak of his stardom.
The Sun reports that he allegedly admitted to engaging in questionable behaviour while in the band. “How much have I spent on drugs in my life? Well, more than a clergyman should,” said Richard.
However, his musical stint came to an end when he was “suddenly inspired with a newfound faith”. Rev Richard Coles quit The Communards after attending a mass at St Albans church in central London in 1990.
It’s not his first TV rodeo
Even before taking to the dance floor on Strictly in 2017, Richard made several TV appearances. He was featured in Celebrity MasterChef, The Big Painting Challenge, Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, QI, Have I Got News For You, and more.
Most recently, he was seen in the 2024 edition of The Great Celebrity Bake Off. As well as television, Richard also appeared on radio. From March 2011 until March 2023, he was the co-host of BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live programme.
What happened to Richard Coles’ husband David?
Although Richard knew he was gay as a public school choirboy, he came out to his parents when he was 16.
But being gay in the 1970s wasn’t easy on him. He recollected that he was severely depressed and tried to end his life using the prescribed antidepressants.
Years later, following his musical journey, he met his late husband David Oldham in 2007. Richard’s partner was a Church of England vicar as well.
The couple entered a civil partnership in 2010. They lived in a celibate relationship in Richard’s parish of Finedon, Northants with their seven dogs.
David passed away in December 2019 at Kettering General Hospital. It was initially said that he succumbed to a “long illness”, but Richard later states alcohol was the reason for his partner’s death.
The vicar opened up about David’s struggle with alcohol in an interview with BBC Radio Northampton. He said: “Anyone who has loved an addict and lived with an addict will know how tough it is.”
“An enthusiastic fondness for alcohol when you’re 20 or 25 is one thing, when you’re 35 or 40 it’s another thing and his drinking just got out of control,” he continued.
David was 59 years old when he passed away. Following his partner’s death, a devastated Richard joined an AA group for people whose lives had been affected by their loved one’s alcoholism.
While Richard believed he would never find love again, he revealed during his appearance on Lorraine last July that he was dating someone. He said at the time that he was seeing Doctor Who actor Dickie Cant.
Why Richard Coles lied about HIV test
Richard has admitted to lying about having tested positive for HIV during a European tour with The Communards in the 1980s. In reality, he had fallen with shingles.
He was in the middle of a tiff with his bandmate Jimmy, when he falsely claimed that he was HIV positive. Richard had taken the blood test but the results weren’t out when he lied to Jimmy, who felt sorry for his bandmate.
The test results came back negative, but he “liked” the fact that claiming to be affected by the deadly illness got him “sympathy”. Daily Mail reports that Richard admitted to keeping it a secret for five years in his autobiography.
He said in an interview: “The harder part to admit was that there was a dark glamour to being HIV positive, there was this drama and I was drawn to that.”
Richard was “ashamed” of lying about his health and felt like an “idiot”. He mustered the courage to reveal the truth after visiting a High Anglican church in 1990 – he was “inspired by a newfound faith”.
Well I totally get the thing Michael Jackson had for Propofol. Felt a tad woozy next thing I knew I was in recovery with an upgraded spine (not illustrated) having a lovely dream about dirigibles. pic.twitter.com/Eq1iL1WDLg
— Richard Coles (@RevRichardColes) October 6, 2023
Emergency spinal surgery
In October 2023, Richard was rushed to the hospital for an emergency spinal surgery.
He took to X to post a picture of an IV in his hand. He said he felt a “tad woozy” and was taken into surgery before he knew it.
Richard wrote: “Well I totally get the thing Michael Jackson had for Propofol. Felt a tad woozy next thing I knew I was in recovery with an upgraded spine (not illustrated) having a lovely dream about dirigibles.”
As the vicar appears to have fully recovered from his spinal injury, it remains to be seen if Rev Richard Coles be able to participate in the Bushtucker Trials in the I’m A Celebrity jungle.
He’s also a best-selling author
According to Richard’s official website, he is a best-selling author with 12 books under his belt. One of them is also the number one best-selling crime series The Canon Clement Mysteries.
Some of the books authored by Richard include Murder Under The Mistletoe, Murder At The Monastery, A Death In The Parish, Murder Before Evensong, and The Madness of Grief – A Memoir of Love and Loss.
I’m A Celebrity is on every night at 9pm on ITV1.
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