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

A musician-turned-vicar is the latest arrival to head Down Under for I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Reverend Richard Coles kept a big secret when he worked as a priest - here he explains why

Reverend Richard Coles is one of two late arrivals in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and his eclectic showbiz past may surprise you.

The musician-turned-vicar, 62, was in 80s group The Communards, has written a series of crime novels and penned a best-selling autobiography.

The star's TV work includes Songs Of Praise and QI and this isn't his first reality show either, with appearances on Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity MasterChef. The jungle may prove to be his toughest however, with basic lodgings and plenty of critters awaiting his arrival in camp.

Richard co-presented BBC Radio 4's Saturday Morning Live show for a decade and retired as a Church of England priest two years ago. When working as a vicar, he met fellow priest David Oldham and in 2010 they entered a civil partnership together.

David sadly died of alcoholism in 2019 and in his autobiography The Madness Of Grief, Richard spoke candidly about the difficulty of being in a same sex partnership in the church. "It was very difficult in the church, because it was kind of acceptable to be in a same-sex partnership but you were expected to have a celibate relationship – which I was unable to do," he said.

Asked if he felt the need to lie about the sexual nature of his relationship, Richard added: "I think it would have been worse to have denied myself and David the kind of unique, wonderful thing that came with having a relationship."

Richard told The Times of keeping his sex life secret from his employers: "I felt sometimes like I was in the resistance and they were the Gestapo. I mean, I'm overstating it, but what I did feel is that they had no moral cause, so I didn't feel that I had a moral obligation at all. And I'm not the first person to find themselves obliged to lie for institutional reasons in the Church of England."

After losing David, the star found love again with actor Dickie Cant, who has starred in Midsomer Murders and The Crown. They met on a dating website and after Richard kicked off their chat with a waving emoji they discovered they had lots of friends in common. Their first date was at the Royal Horticultural Society.

Richard told Lorraine: "I wanted to meet someone who had been around the block and wanted to share a life with someone. I thought I was out of the game when David died."

The vicar is not the only late arrival going into the jungle tonight - Love Island star Maura Higgins is also heading into camp. The celebrities already gracing our TV screens include WAG Coleen Rooney, boxer Barry McGuigan and singer Danny Jones from McFly.