Funeral vicar quits after Who girlfriend love claim
The vicar who buried The Who’s John Entwistle has quit his job following claims of a romantic involvement with the star’s girlfriend.
Married father-of-two the Reverend Colin Wilson, 40, had previously denied any improper relationship with Lisa Pritchard-Johnson, despite pictures of the pair apparently kissing being published in a British Sunday newspaper.
Mr Wilson, the vicar of St Paul’s Church in Broadwell, Gloucestershire, led the funeral service for 57-year-old bassist Entwistle at St Edward’s Church at Stow-on-the-Wold in July last year.
The vicar’s wife, Gill, confirmed that he announced his resignation in a statement published in this month’s parish newsletter.
In the statement, Mr Wilson said he had spent three weeks in a psychiatric hospital earlier this year.
The statement said: “This newsletter gives me the opportunity to say how sorry I am for ’going off the rails’ earlier this year and letting so many people down.
“Last year, a number of folk could see that there was less and less steam in my boiler, but I didn’t seek help soon enough.”
He added that that Bishop of Tewkesbury, the Rt Rev John Went, and the Archdeacon of Cheltenham, the Ven Hedley Ringrose, had “made it clear that, having ’brought the Gospel into disrepute’, they wanted me to resign”.
In a statement, the bishop and archdeacon said they were very pleased that Mr Wilson was better and that “Colin and Gill were back together as a family unit”.
“We have felt from an early stage that it would be inappropriate for Colin to return to his present post, particularly since the pressures have clearly been a contributory factor in his illness.”
“We are currently exploring with Colin the possibility of another appointment in this diocese that will be less demanding and provide a greater degree of support until he is fully fit again.”
