I’m A Celeb star reveals why he turned down Celebrity Big Brother before signing up to jungle
REVEREND Richard Coles declined an offer to appear on Celebrity Big Brother before signing up for I’m A Celebrity.
The 63-year-old came third, behind Danny Jones and Coleen Rooney, on last year’s I’m A Celebrity, but has now revealed he could very easily have taken a starring role in another ITV reality show.
The pop star-turned-priest, who formed one half of Eighties pop duo The Communards, with singer Jimmy Somerville, and previously appeared on 2017’s Strictly Come Dancing, even admits to being a big Big Brother fan.
But Rev Coles fears he wouldn’t have been able “relax” as a contestant on CBB, and he wouldn’t have wanted to have to nominate fellow housemates for eviction.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, he says: “They asked me to do Big Brother last year for the first one, and I’m such a big fan of the show. I just don’t think that I’d be able to relax and enjoy it.
“Because I’d be too busy thinking about things, whereas, at least in the jungle, I’ve got no idea how to survive in a jungle.
“I mean, they asked. You know the way they float the idea past. Would you be up for? And I met with them, and we had a discussion about it, but it just didn’t happen.”
Rev Coles, who retired from clerical duties in 2022 and previously co-hosted BBC Radio 4 show Saturday Live, now hosts The Apple and The Tree podcast, and is glad he ended up opting against a stint in the CBB house.
He adds of a potential appearance on CBB: “I was quite glad that it didn’t, because I just don’t know if I’d be able to live in a house with loads of celebs on a show like Big Brother.
“You’ve got to say like who you like the most and who you don’t like the most. We didn’t have to do any of that on the jungle.
“I just had to do loads of trials and get locked in boxes and covered in fish cuts, which I actually would rather, than being in the Big Brother house.”
Rev Coles was one of two I’m A Celebrity late arrivals, with him and Love Island star Maura Higgins joining the group after the other campmates.
Despite saying he was terrified of heights and would be relying on his faith to complete trials, Rev Coles ended up proving a popular contestant, with both viewers and fellow campmates.
He ended up coming third after viewers voted McFly singer Danny Jones as their King of The Jungle, with former England footballer Wayne Rooney‘s wife Coleen coming second.
When Radio 1 star Dean McCollough became the second celeb to be evicted from the jungle, after The Sun’s Jane Moore, Richard referenced Dean’s lack of work ethic by saying: “Who’s going to not fetch our water now?!”