LGBTQ+ legend Richard Coles’ five best moments on I’m A Celebrity… so far
Reverend Richard Coles is a favourite to win I’m A Celebrity. (ITV)
I’m A Celebrity camper and LGBTQ+ legend Richard Coles has become a big hit with viewers of the show, even being called the loveliest contestant ever.
Richard, who retired from his duties as a Church of England vicar in 2022, has already emerged as a fan fave and is one of the favourites to be crowned this year’s king of the jungle, according to the bookies.
The former Communards instrumentalist has brought laugher to the jungle and struck up meaningful relationships with many of his campmates.
Here are five of his best, most moving, and funniest moments on the show so far.
Opening about his partner’s death
During an episode last week, Richard shared the grief he still feels about his partner’s death.
“I miss him,” he said. “He left a massive hole in my life and I’m living my life around that loss.”
David Oldham, a fellow Anglican priest who took Richard’s surname, died in 2019, after a battle with liver disease. He was 43.
Last year, Richard Coles revealed that he was dating My Policeman and It’s a Sin star Richard Cant.
Ghostly goings-on
Following on from talking about his grief, Richard said he believed he was being haunted by David, claiming he can still smell cigarette smoke in the home the couple shared.
“David haunts me, even now… I sometimes smell [his] cigarette smoke, usually at the bottom of the stairs, which used to enrage me when he was living. It is a jarring feeling to be both annoyed that he has broken the rules and relieved that he is still present in these spectral fumes.
His response to a letter from home
Fellow camper GK Barry, to whom Richard has become a friend and confidante, read out his letter from home, written by his partner Richard (“Dickie”) Cant. A clip on spin-off show Unpacked showed GK saying: “Finally, Dickie has passed on…”
The clip, which could’ve upset Richard, instead caused to him burst out laughing with everyone else.
GK continued: “Let me reread that: Dickie has passed on ‘I’m remembering to keep your socks away from the fire’.”
Nipple confession
Richard and GK have had some of the best conversations, covering sex before marriage and the former vicar’s experience of being a gay clergyman.
But one of the funniest moments has to be their chat about nipples.
When GK asked him if he thought his frontal lobe was fully developed, he replied it was sticking out of his head like a pair of breasts.
He then revealed that his nipples are “concave”. “Never thought I’d hear Rev Richard say ‘resting nipple position,’” one surprised viewer wrote on X/Twitter.
Scissoring
@imacelebrity GK and Reverend being besties is my fave news of the week and it’s only Monday #ImACeleb ♬ original sound – imacelebrity
The duo have even discussed the lesbian sex act of scissoring.
GK revealed to her partner in comedy that she used to be religious, including going to a “Jesus-y camp type thing” run by “weird men sort of going: ‘You need to not have sex till you’re married’.
She added: “Even at thirteen, I thought, ‘Well that’s not going to happen. I see my future, and it involves scissoring’.”
After Richard asked what that meant, Barry replied: “It’s a lesbian [thing]. I think you’d be all right not knowing, I guess it wouldn’t affect you.”
Richard replied: “We’ll leave that one shrouded in mystery.”
I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! airs on ITV1 every day, starting at 9pm.
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