ITV I'm A Celebrity fans devastated by Richard Coles' comments about his late partner

Reverend Richard Coles had an emotional chat with I'm A Celebrity campmate Oti Mabuse as he devastatingly opened up on the loss of his partner David in 2019

Reverend Richard Coles heartbreakingly opened up on the loss of his partner while in the I'm A Celebrity camp.

The vicar, 62, was left struggling in 2019 after the tragic death of his partner Reverend David Coles just days before Christmas. David, also a clergyman, was only 43 when he died of liver disease in 2019, caused by an alcohol addiction that had gripped him since his teenage years.

During Tuesday night's episode of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, Richard had an emotional chat with campmate Oti Mabuse. The former Strictly Come Dancing professional opened up on prematurely giving birth to her baby daughter. She explained her baby was placed in an incubator after birth and that she would use her voice to connect with her rather than touch.

Oti shared: "For two months, every single day we’d sing church music. They find comfort in your voice.” Richard became emotional as he shared his own story about a baby who was born early. He said: “I remember going once to baptise a little boy, a premature boy, he was born very premature, he was only just alive", said Richard, who got choked up as he fought back tears.

After being comforted by Oti who got up to give him a hug, Richard continued: “I just remember he was this tiny little pulse of life, and David [his then partner] got a pipette of water and we blessed it. We baptised him and he survived and now he’s a healthy young footballer, which is great! But I just felt so… it was such a precious thing.”

Oti added: “They are, my daughter was really, really tiny when she was born. It’s hell. It’s hell to be in the hospital, to hear those sounds, to not see your baby’s eyes for a week, it’s hell to constantly look for advice from the doctors.” She tried to hold back her tears as she admitted the hardest thing was that “every night, you need to leave them, you need to leave your baby in someone else’s hands.”

The Dancing On Ice judge shared her wish for Richard to meet her daughter as he told her he's already prayed for her. Richard decided to open up on the loss of his partner David as he told Oti: “I miss him… He’s just left a massive hole in my life and I’m living my life around that loss.”

Viewers also became emotional over the conversation between Richard and Oti as one said: "Why am I tearing up listening to Oti open up about her daughter being born prematurely & see Reverend Richard connect with her on such a level." Another added: "How incredibly brave of Oti and Rev Richard to speak about this." Someone else commented: "Watching oti talk about her daughter and Rev Richard talking about his late partner David got me welling up."

David died in 2019 and just two years ago, Richard decided to open up on his death. “I often think if someone dies of drink as people used to say, that people filed them under a sort of tragic, squalid death," Richard once said as he explained why he had wanted to keep the painful detail of his alcoholism private. "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.”

If you are struggling with alcohol abuse or addiction, advice and support can be found at alcoholchange.org.uk

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