Reverend Richard Coles, the Strictly Come Dancing star, has found love again. The cleric and author is now in a relationship with Richard 'Dickie' Cant, an actor known for his role in The Crown.
Speaking on the White Wine Question Time podcast in September, Coles credited his partner of four years with giving him the space and understanding to navigate his grief.
A respectful partnership
"One of the things I love about Dickie, my new partner, is that he's very respectful of the loss around which I live my life," the 62-year-old said. "And he also knows [the loss] is not his, but it's mine. That's very good that he understands that and respects that. But then he's a very understanding and respectful person."
Coles was married to David Oldham, a fellow priest, for a decade before Oldham died of liver disease in 2019. Prior to his death, Oldham had struggled with alcohol addiction.
Reflections on grief and loss
"Anyone who's lived with an addict will know - especially an alcoholic, I think - will know that feeling," Coles reflected. "I couldn't stop it. And I couldn't understand why he was doing it to himself, why he was doing it to us."
Opening up about his experience with grief, Coles noted, "I still say his name out loud now sometimes. Gradually, you start to live more of a life around the loss. I won't want to lose the loss. The least I owe David is to grieve him and to miss him, and I do. But you start to live more life around that loss."
"And then all of a sudden, you've got something to take with you into the world that is not defined by that loss. And then you can start putting a life together, which is what I did."
A new chapter together
As of 2026, Coles has been in a relationship with Cant for the past four years. The couple first met on a dating app and had their first date at a Royal Horticultural Society garden. In a 2025 interview, Coles confirmed they were living together.
"Life's great now," Coles said on the podcast. "I thought my thirties would be my best decade, and they were great, but I'm really enjoying my sixties. I've got really good friends; I've got a new partner who's fantastic."
