Rev Richard Coles was a pop star before becoming a vicar and a TV star but used to blow his hard-earned cash on cocaine – now he’s more interested in his finances
Strictly Come Dancing and I’m A Celeb star Richard Coles says he puts his money into ISAs these days rather than buying cocaine.
The 63-year-old, who was a vicar for 11 years before retiring in 2022, said he put most of his money ‘up his nose’ when he was a pop star with the Communards.
He said that since earning a decent wedge of cash from his new profession as an author, he now invested his earnings sensibly.
His debut novel, called Murder Before Evensong, was released in 2022, followed by A Death In The Parish the following year, and Murder at the Monastery in 2024.
The former vicar is serving as executive producer on a TV series of Murder Before Evensong – out on C5 later this year – with Matthew Lewis starring as the main character, Canon Daniel Clement.
Asked about his attitude to money, he said: “I went from being on the dole to being a pop star – it was like a lottery win – but overnight success didn’t really serve me well.
“It was all so sudden and unexpected, and I was in my 20s, that I p****d most of it up against the wall. A lot of it went up my nose or other people’s noses.”
Asked if he was ‘better off now’, he said: ‘I’m probably better off now than ever before. Being a bestselling author is the nearest thing to being a pop star again, and has been very financially rewarding. But this time I’m investing in ISAs rather than putting it up my nose.”, he told the Me & My Money supplement last week.
Previously, the former pop star – who came third in I’m a Celeb last year – confessed to buying a speedboat while high on drugs in Ibiza in the 1980s.
He said: “When pop star silliness was untrammelled I wasn’t in a fit state to buy chewing gum, but I ended up buying a speedboat in Ibiza.
“I tried to buy a plane too, but the man at the airport wouldn’t let us in because we weren’t wearing any shirts.”
He added: “I’ve no idea what became of the boat. It’s probably being used for drug smuggling now.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
