About
Until his retirement from clerical duties in 2022, the Reverend Richard Coles was a Church of England priest in the quintessentially English village of Finedon, Northamptonshire, where two of his ancestors were Vicars in the seventeenth century. He was Vicar there from 2011 to 2022.
However, in complete contrast, more than a quarter of a century ago Richard was the instrumentalist half of pop band The Communards, together with Jimmy Somerville. During the 1980s The Communards had three UK Top 10 hits, including Never Can Say Goodbye and the biggest-selling single of 1986, Don’t Leave Me This Way.
Born in March 1962, the young Richard Coles grew up in Northamptonshire and attended Wellingborough School where he was a chorister until adolescence wrecked his voice and revealed his sexuality.
As a teenager he moved to London try to find a liveable life, and there met the singer Jimmy Somerville. In 1983, Richard joined Jimmy’s group Bronski Beat as a sax player and the following year they left to form The Communards.
Success came fast and they had the UK’s biggest-selling single of 1986, but what burned bright burned short and they split in 1988, Jimmy embarking on a solo career, Richard heading to Ibiza where he misspent most of 1990.
At the end of that he went into a church one day in London and was suddenly inspired with a new found faith. Between 1990-1994 he studied for a theology degree at King’s College, London, before returning to Northamptonshire where he avoided getting ordained by presenting radio programmes mostly for Radio Three until he could avoid it no longer. He went to the monastic College of the Resurrection in Yorkshire and spent two years writing an impenetrable and unread thesis on the Greek text of the Epistle to the Ephesians.
In 2005 he was ordained and served as curate at St Botolph’s Church in Boston, Lincolnshire and then at St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge, before becoming the 59th Vicar of Finedon.
He also resumed his radio career, for twelve years co-presenting of BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live. He popped up too on television, as a regular guest panelist on shows such as Would I Lie To You?, Have I Got News For You and QI. Often described as Britain’s most famous vicar, Richard was the inspiration for the main character in the BBC hit comedy Rev, a programme for which he also served as a consultant.
In the summer of 2016, he indulged a passion for fine cuisine by participating in the BBC’s prime-time programme Celebrity Masterchef. In 2017, Richard returned to our screens co-hosting BBC’s The Big Painting Challenge, alongside Mariella Frostrup. Later that same year, he was the fifth celebrity announced for the line-up of Strictly Come Dancing. He was partnered with Australian dancer, Dianne Buswell. Richard exited the show on week two of the vote-off, a great mercy for all concerned.
Richard Coles’ work in the media and unique position as the only Vicar to have had a number one hit record, makes him a popular speaker on the after-dinner circuit.
With a particular interest in housing and communities, for six years Richard served as a Board Member of Greatwell Homes, providing social and affordable housing in the borough where he previously lived. In September 2017, he stepped down from the Board to become their Patron.
Since 2017 he has been Chancellor of the University of Northampton and is a former Honorary Chaplain to the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers.
He is also a best-selling author, with twelve books to his credit including the number one best-selling crime series The Canon Clement Mysteries.
He co-hosts the popular podcast The Rabbit Hole Detectives.
