Reverend Richard Coles has revealed his partner David died of alcoholism.
Reverend Richard Coles
The 59-year-old Church of England parish priest has opened up about his late 42-year-old boyfriend in a new book, and insisted he "tried everything [he] could think of to help him stop drinking" ahead of David's death in 2019.
Writing in his book 'The Madness of Grief: A Memoir of Love and Loss', Richard said: "It was really, really tough to see somebody you love destroy himself. It is like someone is drowning and you throw them a lifebelt but they are just not taking the lifebelt.
"And I did try everything I could think of to help him stop drinking, and in fairness to him he did try too, but it was too much for him."
Richard recalled how he would often come home to find David passed out on the floor surrounded by empty bottles and ultimately lost David his job.
However, the 'Strictly Come Dancing' star wants to shine a light on David's life and not let the circumstances of his death take over Richard's memories.
He explained: “I often think if someone dies of drink as people used to say, that people filed them under a sort of tragic, squalid death. David was so much more than that.
“I wanted to get a sense of why David was so important to those who loved him before we got to a discussion of what killed him.”
The Communards star met David when they were in the clergy and David approached him to talk about one of his sermons.
Richard added: “He said he wanted to talk to me about spiritual matters. I took a cigarette off him and we talked and after a while he said, ‘I’ve got a personal agenda here’.
“It came as a huge surprise to me and also I am so gormless about that sort of thing that I wouldn’t have noticed anyway. He was quite determined.”