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I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! viewers have reacted after one celebrity narrowly missed out on being crowned King of the Jungle.
On Sunday (8 December) the remaining campmates, McFly’s Danny Jones, Coleen “Wagatha Christie” Rooney, and the pop-star-turned-priest Reverend Richard Coles, faced their final Bushtucker Trial.
Presenters Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly then announced that Richard Coles had been placed third in the competition after the public voted to save their favourite celebrity.
Rooney came in second, making Jones the winner of this year’s I’m a Celebrity. However, many fans argued that Coles deserved a place in the final two, with some outraged the former clergyman hadn’t won.
“Can’t believe the rev came 3rd, he should have come 2nd or won,” one person wrote of the “disappointing” result.
“Rev Richard will be remembered forever. he will go down in history as one of the best camp mates we’ve ever seen. thank you, father!” another Coles fan added.
“Scandalous Richard isn’t the winner,” a third viewer said.
Throughout the competition, Coles has been praised for his quick wit and unlikely friendship with 25-year-old influencer and podcaster GK Barry.
The pair developed a wholesome bond, discussing everything from their funeral plans to what it has been like for Coles to be a gay reverend.
“I’ve never given it a moment’s twinge of anxiety over whether God thought it was alright or not,” he said. “Whether other people thought it was alright or not, well I’m happy to have that argument.”
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He added of his sexuality: “Also, I was not the first. Sometimes I look at documents from the early church, or the church of the middle ages and I just think – so gay.”
Coles, a former Church of England vicar, lost his husband Reverend David Coles just days before Christmas in 2019.
He died age 43 from liver disease caused by an alcohol addiction. He has been in a relationship with the actor Richard Cant since 2023.
Richard retired as vicar of Finedon, North Northamptonshire, in 2022 due to his belief that the organisation was excluding gay couples, and his disapproval of what he described as its “conservative, punchy and fundamentalist” direction.
The former parish priest first rose to fame as part of the 1980s band the Communards, who achieved three UK top 10 hits, including “Don’t Leave Me This Way”.
Since then, he has appeared on various radio and TV shows including BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live programme, QI, Would I Lie to You? and Have I Got News for You.
He said ahead of his I’m a Celeb involvement: “I don’t think there are many precedents for this, although vicars have been going into jungles for years and years and years as missionaries.”
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Coming Out airs on 13 December at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
