'Stop complaining!' Richard Coles opens up about rivalry with BBC's Richard Osman

express.co.uk:

Pointless host released his debut novel The Thursday Murder Club in 2020, with the book becoming a Sunday Times Bestseller within days.The novel follows a group of pensioners as they set about solving the murder of a property developer in a retirement village in Kent.Due to its success, Reverend Coles decided to have a go at novel writing, with Murder Before Evensong: A Canon Clement Mystery, coming out on June 9.Similarly, the novel is set in a village and involves several murders.Coles was asked in an interview if he was feeling a rivalry to have the same success as the Pointless star.He said: "I’m a mere foothill to his Himalaya."In fact, I phoned him up the other day for advice on how to get through these enormous piles of books they give you for signatures."He was very encouraging and supportive.

And what was his advice?"Put on a podcast and stop complaining", he concluded to Radio Times.Coles first became known as part of the 1980s band The Communards, with the group achieving three top ten hits.This included the bestselling 1986 song Don't Leave Me This Way.After this, the reverend's life took a drastic change when he started a career as a writer and journalist, then shortly after, moved to The Church of England.He began his religious career shortly after the musical duo disbanded and was ordained in 2005.Coles worked at churches in Lincolnshire and London before being appointed the vicar of St Mary the Virgin, Finedon in 2011.Sadly, in 2019, his partner David, who he entered a civil partnership with in 2010, died.He died at Kettering General Hospital in December 2019 and last year Richard revealed it was due to a long battle with alcohol.With this giant change in his personal life, the vicar recently decided to.