‘Bloodstained’ Reverend Richard Coles forced to take selfies with fans while ‘white with shock’ moments after late partner admitted to hospital

Reverend Richard Coles had to take selfies with fans while he was ‘white with shock’ and ‘bloodstained’ when his late partner David was admitted to hospital.

The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant, who lost David to alcoholism in 2019, had just received the ‘worst news of his life’ when some eager supporters asked him for photos.

Despite it being a ‘pretty gruesome moment’, Richard told BBC Breakfast viewers that he went ‘into autopilot’ and posed for pictures.

‘I was white with shock and David had literally just been admitted to A&E and I had bloodstains,’ he recalled. ‘I was shaking because I’d just heard he was going into theatre and might not survive.

‘Then all of a sudden somebody went, “Oh it’s the Strictly vicar. Do us a twirl”. Then I had to do selfies with people and I’d literally just received the worst news of my life.’

He continued: ‘I went into autopilot and I was doing thumbs up and everything. I wonder if in those pictures now people notice I’m white and also bloodstained.

‘But that was a pretty gruesome moment.’

Following David’s death, Richard bought ‘posh hand cream’ for the nurses who had looked after his partner in intensive care, and he received some advice from a widow who had heard about David’s passing.

‘The day David died I went to buy posh hand cream for the nurses in ICU,’ Richard added.

‘That’s what nurses really want, not chocolates. David’s death had been on the news and a woman came up to me and said she was sorry. Tears came to my eyes and she hugged me and said, “It’s alright, I’m a widow. I know what it’s like.”

‘I said, “What do I need to know?” She said, “No one will ever be as nice to you again as they are now, so make the most of it.”‘

BBC Breakfast airs weekdays at 6am on BBC One.

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