Beginning his career in the music industry, Coles played saxophone, clarinet and keyboard in theatre before appearing in the Lesbian and Gay Youth Video film Frame Youth: The Revenge of the Teenage Perverts. He joined the Bronski Beat for a year before forming his own band, The Communards. They reached the UK Top Ten hits three times and released a rendition of Don’t Leave Me This Way that became the biggest-selling single of 1986 and UK number one for four weeks.
It was during his early adulthood where Richard discovered that he was gay, and with the seventies proven to be a difficult time for the LGBT community, he learnt to see himself as a disgrace, attempted to overdose and found himself admitted into a psychiatric hospital. He is now openly gay and lives with his civil partner, David Coles, who is also a vicar.
With a new found faith in Anglicanism, Richard attended King’s College London in order to graduate in Theology. It was during this time that he became a Roman Catholic for ten years before turning back to Christianity in 2001. He was ordained into Anglican priesthood in 2005 and began as a vicar at St Botolph’s Church in Boston.
Richard has now jumped into a heavily media oriented career, he co-presents BBC Radio 4’s Saturday live and is regularly featured on prime-time TV shows Would I Lie To You?, Have I Got News For You and QI. He has also featured on MasterChef and Strictly Come Dancing making him the most famous vicor in the country.
Having achieved the Jerusalem Award in 2014 and being awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Northampton, it’s clear that Coles is a highly regarded public figure. With drive, determination and an abundance of mental resilience, Coles made it through difficult times within society that hindered his happiness. He uses these experiences to empower audiences as a motivational speaker as well as his funny anecdotes that came from being the only vicar with a number one hit single to engage even the largest audiences.
