Richard has his prayers answered as he steps out with new love
FANS of the Reverend Richard Coles were shocked when the pop star, priest, writer and broadcaster said he was quitting his popular BBC radio show after 12 years. But now I can reveal a possible reason why he didn’t want to follow Radio 4’s Saturday Live programme when it relocated from London to Cardiff last month – he has found love again after the death of his husband four years ago.
The 61-year-old former vicar, who lives on the coast in East Sussex, disclosed: ‘I’ve met someone. For the first time since David, my husband, died I am stepping out with somebody – and I want to have more time to step out with him.’
The Reverend David Coles, who married Richard in a civil partnership in 2010, died aged 42 after battling alcoholism.
In an extract from his book The Madness Of Grief: A Memoir Of Love And Loss, Richard wrote: ‘I did try everything I could think of to help him stop drinking, and in fairness to him he did try too, but it was too much for him.’
As well as finding a new love, since leaving Saturday Live, which he cohosted with Nikki Bedi, Richard has begun a podcast with Princess Diana’s brother Earl Spencer called the Rabbit Hole Detectives, in which they uncover the background of historical objects.
His broadcasting career and religious vocation – Richard was vicar of Finedon in Northamptonshire from 2011 until last year – follow fame as a pop star with Bronski Beat and The Communards in the 1980s.
Despite his departure from Saturday Live, he says he wants to return to Radio 4 one day, adding: ‘I didn’t want to go, but the BBC is a big institution and it has considerations that are not just about a particular programme or a particular presenter.’
Speaking to Radio 4’s Feedback programme, he said: ‘I’m looking forward to coming back to Radio 4 in some capacity or another.
‘I love working with Nikki Bedi and I very much would love to be reunited with Nikki in some form.
‘I mean, there are plans, but they are only plans.’
After a tough few years he has a new love and a new show. It seems his prayers are being answered.