I'm A Celebrity star Richard Coles shares heartbreaking tribute to late partner five years on from death
by Jamie Roberts · ChronicleLiveReverend Richard Coles paid a poignant tribute to his late husband on social media, marking what would have been his 48th birthday. The 62 year old, who recently finished third on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! shared a heartfelt post on Twitter/X, featuring a photo of Reverend David Coles wearing a face mask and surrounded by their four dogs.
Richard captioned the image: "David's birthday today. He would have been forty eight. RIP." The post sparked an outpouring of support and condolences from fans, with one user sharing their own experience of losing a loved one, saying: "What a fabulous photo. I love that normality in it. I am in the last days with the love of my life and I can't comprehend how we got here so suddenly and how I will face life without him in it. Such a beautiful kind funny soul."
Another fan, who was also marking a difficult milestone, wrote: "It's mine today, first one without my dad in 45 years, we lost him in September, it's so hard Richard but we have to strong, we are placing his memorial plaque today too, im a big mess. Sending hugs to you on this difficult day xx", reports the Mirror.
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Richard responded with a simple yet powerful message: "Solidarity! " Other fans offered their condolences, with one saying: "Omg that's so young. Sorry for your loss. May he rest in peace," and another sending a "Huge hug x". Richard and David were a united pair for 12 years until David's untimely passing in 2019.
At the age of just 43, David, who was also a member of the clergy, succumbed to liver disease caused by an alcohol dependency that had taken hold since his teenage years. Delving into his feelings of loss, Richard conveyed: "I often think if someone dies of drink as people used to say, that people filed them under a sort of tragic, squalid death. David was so much more than that. I wanted to get a sense of why David was so important to those who loved him before we got to a discussion of what killed him."
The couple embarked on their journey together in 2007, formalising their bond through a civil partnership three years later when David adopted Richard's last name.
Richard assured the church at that time that their union was non-sexual, however, he has since admitted that this claim was untrue – a lie he maintained to protect his position as a vicar. Speaking to The Times, Richard likened his struggle for integrity amidst this dishonesty to wartime espionage: "I felt sometimes like I was in the resistance and they were the Gestapo."
During his stay in the Australian jungle on 'I'm A Celeb', Richard shared snippets of his life with his campmates, including the eventual winner, McFly's Danny Jones, revealing how he and David first connected. He recounted, " I came to preach a sermon in his church and he sort of picked me up afterwards! " Additionally, Richard mentioned, "He heard me preach and afterwards he said that he was thinking about getting ordained and could he come and talk to me about it. So he came round one Sunday for lunch and it was all very proper and professional".
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