Parish vicar, popstar, broadcaster and author, the Reverend Richard Coles is a man of many talents, and constantly reinvents himself. He danced his way to yet more glitter in 2017, when he took part in the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing . Oh, he also took part in the 2024 series of I’m a Celebrity. Maybe his love of the footlights has never diminished. His new live show, entitled ‘Borderline National Trinket’ playing at Norwich’s Theatre Royal on 26 May promises to be an exciting, anecdotal evening.
An unlikely popstar
Richard retired from full time clerical duties in 2022. He was the parish vicar of Finedon, Northampton, from 2011–2022. By all accounts his parishioners adored him. But his early life story gives a clue to his love of the lights, the pzazz and being a very proud gay man.
Having landed in London as an 18-year-old and getting to know Jimmy Somerville, and working with The Communards, later with Bronski Beat, Richard’s life reads as a delicious act of fate. As Richard himself comments, “I simply fell in with a crowd of people who were doing interesting things.”
When talking about Somerville, Richard says: “He expressed, through song, the aspirations of a whole group of people.”
London in the ’80s was a maelstrom of those who wished to find a new path and to be accepted for whom they were. London at that time was an explosion of all the talents.
Just listen to Richard’s strident and joyous chords on Don’t leave me this way – this was a young man who had something to say and wanted to live in the world on his own terms. “I escaped to London, the same time as Jimmy Somerville. In a new town, I made a new life. I was the most undeserving popstar in the history of recorded sound.”
Life changes
After leaving the world of pop music, Richard’s life changed quite dramatically. He still played and listened to music, but he also hankered for something else, and in the early ’90s studied theology at King’s College, London. Richard was ordained as a Church of England priest in 2005.
Richard has always kept his enjoyment of entertainment to the fore. Just swap his playing at a live gig with his regular contributions to BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House, or his somewhat earnest adventures into the precarious world of live TV – the man has spirit.
A borderline national trinket?
The jury is still out on whether the Revd Richard Coles is a borderline national trinket – as reads the heading on the poster for his current tour. Maybe he is, indeed, a treasure. ‘Trinket’, is such an extraordinary self-deflationary term, and when juxtaposed with his life story, it doesn’t read true. He is part of that ’80s gay generation who wanted to change the world. They are still a force to be reckoned with.
He is engaging, an excellent raconteur and a superb musician. He is thoughtful and empathetic and he suffered huge personal loss when his husband, David, died in 2019.
Richard’s performance in Norwich will be invigorating and thought-provoking. Enjoy a sublime evening with the ever fascinating priest. Some tickets are still available.
