I'm A Celeb star Reverend Richard Coles drops candid sex confession before jungle

A musician-turned-vicar is the latest accomplishment to caput Down Under for I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Reverend Richard Coles kept a large concealed erstwhile helium worked arsenic a clergyman - present helium explains why

Reverend Richard Coles is 1 of 2 precocious arrivals successful I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and his eclectic showbiz past whitethorn astonishment you.

The musician-turned-vicar, 62, was successful 80s radical The Communards, has written a bid of transgression novels and penned a best-selling autobiography.

The star's TV enactment includes Songs Of Praise and QI and this isn't his archetypal world amusement either, with appearances connected Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity MasterChef. The jungle whitethorn beryllium to beryllium his toughest however, with basal lodgings and plentifulness of critters awaiting his accomplishment successful camp.

Richard co-presented BBC Radio 4's Saturday Morning Live amusement for a decennary and retired arsenic a Church of England clergyman 2 years ago. When moving arsenic a vicar, helium met chap clergyman David Oldham and successful 2010 they entered a civilian concern together.

David sadly died of alcoholism successful 2019 and successful his autobiography The Madness Of Grief, Richard spoke candidly astir the trouble of being successful a aforesaid enactment concern successful the church. "It was precise hard successful the church, due to the fact that it was benignant of acceptable to beryllium successful a same-sex concern but you were expected to person a celibate narration – which I was incapable to do," helium said.

Asked if helium felt the request to prevarication astir the intersexual quality of his relationship, Richard added: "I deliberation it would person been worse to person denied myself and David the benignant of unique, fantastic happening that came with having a relationship."

Richard told The Times of keeping his enactment beingness concealed from his employers: "I felt sometimes similar I was successful the absorption and they were the Gestapo. I mean, I'm overstating it, but what I did consciousness is that they had nary motivation cause, truthful I didn't consciousness that I had a motivation work astatine all. And I'm not the archetypal idiosyncratic to find themselves obliged to prevarication for organization reasons successful the Church of England."

After losing David, the prima recovered emotion again with histrion Dickie Cant, who has starred successful Midsomer Murders and The Crown. They met connected a dating website and aft Richard kicked disconnected their chat with a waving emoji they discovered they had tons of friends successful common. Their archetypal day was astatine the Royal Horticultural Society.

Richard told Lorraine: "I wanted to conscionable idiosyncratic who had been astir the artifact and wanted to stock a beingness with someone. I thought I was retired of the crippled erstwhile David died."

The vicar is not the lone precocious accomplishment going into the jungle contiguous - Love Island prima Maura Higgins is besides heading into camp. The celebrities already gracing our TV screens see WAG Coleen Rooney, boxer Barry McGuigan and vocalist Danny Jones from McFly.