Inside I’m a Celebrity star Reverend Richard Coles’ ‘dark’ past: From being ‘obliged to lie’ about secrets to the mental health ‘crisis’ that saw him attempt suicide

I’m a celebrity Get me out of here! star Reverend Richard Coles has already made a big impression after his debut in the jungle during Thursday’s show.

The musician turned pastor, 63, made his arrival at the ITV next to show Maura Higginswith the pair immediately winning over viewers after being given a hilarious secret mission.

Despite an illustrious career as a radio host, TV star and author, Richard has overcome a series of hardships, including a mental health crisis in which he attempted suicide.

The Strictly The Come Dancing star has also shared how he felt ‘obligated to lie’ about his relationship with his late husband David, due to their position in the church.

Richard also originally rose to fame as a member of the 1980s group The Communards, but after finding faith in the 1990s he was ordained a priest in 2005.

MailOnline takes a look at the various challenges Richard has overcome as he continues to win over viewers in the jungle of I’m A Celebrity…

Shocking HIV lie

Richard originally joined forces with former Bronski Boy singer Jimmy Somerville to form the group The Communards in 1985.

Their biggest hit came in 1986 when they covered Thelma Houston’s Don’t Leave Me This Way, and it topped the charts for four weeks.

The Communards eventually released two albums before disbanding in 1988.

Richard previously spoke about the band’s split in 2022, telling Classic Pop Magazine: ‘I don’t think we understood each other. Our lives were so different that we didn’t really have the tools to navigate our way through disagreements.

‘It was clear that we had nothing more to offer each other. But we never actually broke up. We just decided to stop for a while. It’s a hiatus that has lasted 33 years.”

Jimmy also previously shared that they were estranged for years after Richard lied to him about being HIV positive.

He told The Independent in 2015: ‘I knew a lot of people who had died, people who were sick. I was in my own dark place trying to deal with everything that was happening, so I put up a barrier and we didn’t speak again for a long time.”

However, the pair have since rebuilt their friendship and they exchanged messages before Richard published his autobiography in 2015.

Sex confession

The Strictly Come Dancing star also shared how he felt ‘obligated to lie’ about his relationship with his late husband David, due to their positions in the church

After his ordination in 2005, Richard met fellow priest David Oldham and in 2010 they entered into a civil partnership.

David tragically died after battling alcoholism in 2019, and in his biography, Richard admitted he struggled with the limitations of being in a homosexual partnership while working for the church.

He wrote: ‘It was very difficult in church because it was quite acceptable to be in a same-sex partnership, but you were expected to be in a celibate relationship – which I couldn’t do.’

“I think it would have been worse if I had denied myself and David the unique and wonderful thing that comes with being in a relationship.”

Richard later told The Times that he was forced to keep his sex life a secret from his employers, saying: ‘I sometimes felt like I was in the resistance and that they were the Gestapo. I mean, I’m exaggerating, but what I did feel was that they had no moral cause, so I didn’t feel like I had a moral obligation at all.

‘And I am not the first person who has felt obliged to lie for institutional reasons within the Church of England.’

After David’s death, Richard found love again with actor Dickie Cant, who starred in Midsomer Murders and The Crown.

The pair met on a dating website, and after finding out they had many mutual friends, the pastor started his chat with a waving emoji.

He went on to tell Lorraine: “I wanted to meet someone who had been around and wanted to share a life with someone. I thought I was out of the game when David died.”

Mental health crisis

Richard, who made his I’m A Celeb jungle debut on Thursday, previously revealed he suffered a mental health crisis after coming out, during which he attempted suicide

Richard previously revealed he suffered a mental health crisis after coming out, during which he attempted suicide.

He previously said he was admitted to St Andrew’s Healthcare in Northampton when he suffered an episode of clinical depression at the age of 17.

Richard said he was coming to terms with his sexuality at the time and “as a gay man in Kettering in 1978.”

The care he received “literally saved my life,” he said.

The former Strictly Come Dancing celebrity contestant said: ‘There really wasn’t much sense of a life full of possibilities.

‘It was a much less tolerant world then than it is now and that was a real struggle. Coming here (St. Andrew’s) has made a big difference to me.”

Surprising health diagnosis

While competing on Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, Richard received a surprise diagnosis after undergoing medical treatment to take part in the show.

When Richard competed on Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, he received a surprise diagnosis after undergoing medical treatment to take part in the show.

He revealed at the time: ‘I have arthritis in both knees and tinnitus in my ear. The arthritis showed up when I did my strict medical treatment, but I had already suspected that all was not well.

‘My knees cracked and I was in pain sometimes. My right knee in particular doesn’t like climbing stairs. Now I try to cycle a bit to keep them flexible.’

He has also revealed that he first suffered from tinnitus in his 40s, blaming it on the loud pop music he performed in his youth.

He described the condition as “very frustrating” and described it as “like something from the National Grid pouring through your ear.”

‘It is very common for people who have worked in pop music to suffer from tinnitus in their forties and fifties. It’s like a constant whistling in my ear, more on my right side,” he added.

Struggles with sadness

Richard has previously shared the devastation he suffered following the death of his partner David, following a battle with alcoholism

Richard has previously shared the devastation he suffered following the death of his partner David, following a battle with alcoholism.

Richard said in his memoirs that David suffered from liver disease and recalled the heartbreaking moment he found him in the guest room with a bucket full of vomit and blood.

David called an ambulance and was rushed to hospital, but died several days later.

Reflecting on the loss, Richard said: ‘I wish I had spent more time with David. I wish I had made doing nothing with David more of a priority. I don’t see that as a holiday from things, but as the center of things.’

‘I’m still completely devastated. It ruined my damn life. And I have this anger. I get angry when people talk in a way that means they think you should be over it. It’s not a cold.’