‘It messed my life up’: Richard Coles says he’s ‘angry’ with people who think he should be over his husband dying nearly four years ago – as he reveals he found his new boyfriend on an online dating app
Richard Coles has revealed that he has found love again, some three and a half years after the death of his husband.
The ex vicar, who retired from the clergy a year ago saying he could not excuse how the Church of England ‘doesn’t treat people fairly’ in respect to its position on homosexuality, met his new partner on the dating app Elite Singles.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Richard, 61, said he is still ‘completely f***ed up about’ the death of his husband the Reverend David Coles, who passed away aged 43 in 2019 after battling alcoholism, noting that people often expect others to ‘get over’ bereavement as though it were ‘a cold’.
In search of a new relationship, former BBC radio presenter and writer Richard took to dating site Elite Singles which is for people who are ‘serious about dating’, where he met 58-year-old actor Dickie Cant, the son of the late actor and Play Away presenter Brian.
Explaining his choice of dating site, Richard said: ‘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.’
The former vicar also opened up about his late husband, David, who died three and a half years ago from a long illness thought to be caused by alcoholism. Pictured: David (left) and Richard
Dickie (Richard) Cant who is from Kent, has starred in Mary Queen of Scots, Stan & Ollie and Doctor Who.
He made the first move, sending Richard a ‘waving hello’, and it wasn’t long until they realised they had many of the same friends.
Richard described how, during their first date to a Royal Horticultural Society, he knew he would want to see Dickie again by the time they had finished lunch.
He says that Dickie is not bothered by his fame or status – even after a stranger took a picture of them on the first date and posted it online.
And Richard is not fazed by Dickie’s atheism.
When asked if he could see them moving in together, Richard responded: ‘We seem to be very easily alongside each other in our lives.’
Discussing his late husband, David, who died three and a half years ago from a long illness thought to be caused by alcoholism, Richard spoke about his anger.
Dickie Cant (pictured), a 58-year-old actor who is also the son of the late actor and Play Away presenter Brian, made the first move with Coles via the dating app
He said that losing him ‘messed’ his ‘f***ing life up’ and that he still feels anger towards the situation.
Explaining further, he told the The Sunday Times: ‘I’m angry when people speak in a way that means they think you should be over it. It’s not a cold.’
Fans were shocked earlier this year when Richard announced that he was quitting his popular BBC radio show.
The former vicar left feeling ‘frustrated and sad’ over the way his BBC Radio 4 exit had been handled after 12 years on air.
He departed Saturday Live – which he co-hosts with broadcaster Nikki Bedi – after the show was relocated from London to Cardiff.
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