Episode three of Rylan: How to Be in Love, Rylan’s new BBC Sounds podcast, welcomes the Reverend Richard Coles.
It’s a candid, moving and sometimes unexpected conversation about love, loss and life as a vicar.
Richard opens up about his colourful past, describing his younger years as “interesting and full”. In his own words, he discovered “casual sex in a place where it wasn’t often found, which is on the road network of the Midlands”.
He shares an unforgettable story about a burger van encounter: “I ended up getting off with the burger man. Anyway, he had to draw the shutter down on his burger van, and then it rocked around a bit.” He laughs about burning his hand on the hot griddle, adding, “I got a burn, yeah.”
Reflecting on his journey from pop fame with The Communards to the priesthood, Richard explains how he swapped sex, drugs and rock and roll for a life of faith.
He talks openly about meeting his late partner David and how finding love again seemed impossible after David’s death.
“I thought I was out of the game and then I met David… If you love someone and they want to have sex with you, of course you’d have sex with them!” he tells Rylan.
Richard describes the heartbreak of losing David, recounting his final moments by his bedside in hospital, and how he believed he would never want to love again. Yet, he explains how meeting his current partner changed that “Soon as I met Richard, I thought I’ll do this with you.”
He also shares his comforting belief that love in the afterlife will be pure: “There won’t be any jealousy… all our tears will be wiped away. No more crying,” he says.
The episode is full of honest, warm and at times hilarious exchanges. Rylan jokes about his close friendship with Rob Rinder, saying” “We row all the time and don’t have sex. So, a proper married couple, we might as well put a ring on it!”
Rylan: How to Be in Love is available to listen to now on BBC Sounds, with episode three out now and the full conversation also on BBC iPlayer.
