Priest

Grew Up… in an unhappy household. He lived with his parents, who were lawyers and, as he puts it, “very successful alcoholics”, and his brother, who is a long-distance truck driver, and, as he’ll share pretty bluntly, a pedophile (and he’s aware of the irony of in that). More broadly, he’s got a large extended family that’s “crawling with nuns,” which helped pave the way for his eventual shift to the priesthood.

Living… in London. He’s just moved there, and he doesn’t know too many people. His apartment is small, and a little lonely, but he keeps a lot of books around and is trying to make his place a home.

Profession… Catholic priest, although he’s rather untraditional. He came to the church pretty late in life, but he says that it’s been a good life to him and that he’s “really found peace in it.” His relationship with religion is centered around love and self-reflection—as he says, “praying is about connecting with yourself at the end of the day.” He’s currently at a new parish, where the old priest, Father Patrick, recently passed away. He’s also officiating Fleabag’s father’s marriage to her godmother, which is how the two of them met.

Relationship Status… married to God and celibate. However, he points out that he has had a lot of sexual and romantic relationships before he joined the church and argues that “celibacy is a lot less complicated than romantic relationships.” Even after becoming a priest, though, he’s been no stranger to flirtatious relationships and temptation. But they’ve gone nowhere. Lately, though, he’s found it can be difficult to stand firm in his convictions in the face of a strong connection. If he meets someone he likes, like Fleabag, he says, they’ll “talk and laugh and drink and I’ll give them Bibles and hope that eventually they’ll leave me alone.” He is determined to not have sex—he says it won’t bring any good. 

Challenges… battling his commitment to his faith and priesthood with his sexual feelings, specifically his attraction to Fleabag.

Personality… charming, perceptive, and blunt. He’s a “cool priest”: he swears, he drinks tequila, he smokes, and he has accepting views about religion and sex. He’s also funny—he jokes that he’s only in the priesthood for the outfits. And he's compassionate and a good listener. And to top it all off, he's gorgeous.