I’m a Celeb’s Richard Coles: his forgotten 80s pop star past and what happened to his band

Richard Coles has now entered the I’m a Celebrity jungle alongside fellow latecomer Maura Higgins. While Maura rose to fame in recent years, Richard has been on the scene since the 1980s.

After learning to play the saxophone, keyboard and clarinet, Richard ended up founding The Communards alongside former Bronski Boy singer Jimmy Somerville. The band had several hits before their split, but why did the duo go their separate ways and are they still in touch today?

Here’s everything you need to know…

The Communards

Richard and Jimmy founded their band in 1985 and were also joined by bassist Dave Renwick. Jimmy provided the vocals for the band, with Richard mainly focusing on the instruments.

Although they achieved a top 30 song on their debut, their biggest hit came a year later when they covered Thelma Houston’s Don’t Leave Me This Way. Their version became the highest selling single in the UK for 1986 and spent four weeks on the top of the charts.

© Tim Roney

Later that year, the band also released their single So Cold The Night, which peaked at No. 8 on the charts.

The Communards ultimately released two albums before they split in 1988.

Split

Speaking of their split to Classic Pop Magazine in 2022, Richard said of their breakup: “I don’t think we understood each other. Our lives were so different, we didn’t really have the tools for finding our way through disagreements.

“It was obvious we had nothing left to give each other. We never actually split up, though. We just decided to stop for a while. It’s a pause that’s lasted 33 years.”

© Michael Putland

Jimmy and Richard’s career developed in different ways following the split. Jimmy continued in the music industry and has released six studio albums since the dissolution of The Communards, scooping two awards along the way.

Richard, meanwhile, converted to Anglicism in 1991 and became an ordained priest in 2005. He retired from the Church in 2022 citing homophobic attitudes within the institution. The star has also become a famous broadcaster, appearing on a myriad of shows, as well as an author with his Canon Clement Mysteries.

Current relationship

Alongside the splitting of the band, the pair had an acrimonious end to their friendship after Richard lied to Jimmy about being HIV positive.

Speaking to the Independent in 2015, Jimmy explained: “I’d known lots of people who had died, people who were ill. I was in my own dark place of trying to deal with everything that was happening so I put a barrier up and we didn’t speak for a long time.“

© Instagram

However, the pair have since repaired their friendship, with the pair exchanging messages before Richard published his autobiography in 2014.

In an interview with Retro Pop Magazine in 2022, Richard said of the pair’s current relationship: “It’s always good to see him and I will always be very grateful for him and love him very much.”