Ok, here’s how I’m A Celeb’s Reverend Richard Coles actually went from pop star to priest

Reverend Richard Coles has been kind of the surprise hit of this year’s I’m A Celeb, mostly because it’s fascinating that someone that was such a huge 80s pop star managed to then pivot into priest. What’s interesting about Reverend Richard Coles is his handling of religion as a gay priest means he practices without prejudice, and the way he talks about his faith is never preachy. His modern approach to religion and his queerness has found him firm friendship with GK Barry – who herself never anticipated being pally with a vicar. But how did Reverend Richard Coles pivot from 80s pop star to priest before I’m A Celeb? Here’s the wild career trajectory explained.

In Bronski Beat

Reverend Richard Coles is best known for his work in the Communards, but before he joined that 80s band he was in another mega successful synth pop unit: Bronski Beat. Rev Rich played clarinet and saxophone for Bronski Beat in their early days from 1983 to 1985, before he and Jimmy Somerville left the band to form the Communards. Bronski Beat are best known for their seminal queer banger Smalltown Boy – and Reverend Richard Coles was good mates with Jimmy Somerville who invited him on tour with them as the saxophonist.

The two then broke off and started their own venture.

In the Communards

Erm, the vibes!? Via Shutterstock

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Rev Richard scored three top 10 hits with the Communards, notably Don’t Leave Me This Way – their biggest and best banger. It’s a cover, but like Pet Shop Boys’ Always on my Mind the 80s power pop of synths and disco breathed new life into it. Queer music made by queer people that still fills dance floors with euphoria to this day.

But how did he go from pop star to priest?

Reverend Richard Coles went from pop star to priest in the late 80s for a symphony of reasons, which he describes as “the best of times, the worst of times” – due to big pop success but also the death of his friends as a result of the HIV crisis. As the Communards disbanded and Jimmy Somerville went solo, Richard took up religion in his late twenties. In the early 90s he started studying for a BA in theology at King’s College London. It was there he became a Roman Catholic, which he remains for years before returning to Anglicanism in 2001.

Richard was then selected for training in Church of England priesthood – beginning this in 2003 and becoming fully ordained in 2005.

Via Shutterstock

He went on to retire from being a vicar in 2022. Speaking on his time as a self-described “half-time vicar”, Reverend Richard Coles said “‘How do you do all the things you do?’ I am frequently asked, and the answer is by neglecting important things and disappointing people. I was once called in the middle of the night to attend a parishioner’s deathbed and I could not because I was in Glasgow doing Celebrity Antiques Road Trip. I found someone to cover, but it should have been me.

“I will still be a priest, I will always be a priest, and I will minister where I am able. Next month I am going to my first conference of prison chaplains and I hope I can make myself useful as a volunteer with inmates in the criminal justice system.”

He also started turning his back on the Church of England after a noted increase in negative sentiment towards gay couples, citing a “conservative, punchy and fundamentalist” direction that he didn’t agree with.

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Featured image credit via By: Ilpo Musto/Shutterstock / Fabio De Paola/Shutterstock.