Rev Richard Coles has a new partner after his husband’s tragic death – and he’s an actor

Reverend Richard Coles has quickly become a favourite in the I’m A Celeb camp with his funny and endearing personality.

Last night, he opened up about the death of his husband in an emotional heart-to-heart with Oti.

“I miss him… He’s just left a massive hole in my life and I’m living my life around that loss,” he said.

Richard and his late husband Reverend David Coles were together for 12 years and in a civil partnership.

I’m very sorry to say that @RevDavidColes has died. He had been ill for a while. Thanks to the brilliant teams who looked after him at @KettGeneral. Funeral details to follow. “The Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended”. pic.twitter.com/usvLDIBDv7

— Richard Coles (@RevRichardColes) December 17, 2019

He sadly passed away from alcoholic liver disease just before Christmas 2019 at 43 following a lifelong alcohol addiction.

“It was really, really tough to see somebody you love destroy himself,” Richard said in his book The Madness Of Grief: A Memoir Of Love And Loss.

“It is like someone is drowning and you throw them a lifebelt but they are just not taking the lifebelt.”

“And 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.”

Now, Richard has been happily dating actor Richard “Dickie” Cant since 2023. The 59-year-old appeared in Mary Queen of Scots, Stan & Ollie and Doctor Who.

He has also had small roles in The Crown, It’s A Sin, Silent Witness, and Outlander.

Richard met Dickie on the dating app EliteSingles and their first date was at the Royal Horticultural Society, he revealed in an interview with The Sunday Times.

“I wanted to go on a website where I would meet someone who was not looking for a sugar daddy, who was my age, who lived in my sort of world, who I could share my life with.”

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In the jungle, the now-retired reverend told Maura they have been together for two years and he “didn’t see it coming”.

Credit: Richard Cant in Mary Queen Of Scots/ IMDb

GK Barry also asked him if he finds it difficult being gay and involved with the church.

“No, not at all. I’ve never given it a moment’s twinge of anxiety over whether God thought it was alright or not. Whether other people thought it was alright or not, well I’m happy to have that argument,” he said.

“Also, I was not the first. Sometimes I look at documents from the early church, or the church of the middle ages and I just think – so gay.”

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Featured image by: ITV and IMDb