East 17 star Terry Coldwell has said he feels “amazing” after being baptised by a former gangster known for his association with the Kray twins.
The Nineties pop star, 50, was immersed in a baptism pool at the River Church in London’s East End as a public declaration of his faith.
Photos showed him being baptised by Chris Lambrianou, who was jailed for 15 years for his involvement in the murder of Jack “the Hat” McVitie – along with notorious east-London gangsters Ronald and Reggie Kray and several other of their associates – in 1967.
Lambrianou, 85, became a born-again Christian while serving a prison sentence for armed robbery, and now works with people recovering from addiction, as well as helping to rehabilitate troubled youths.
Coldwell told MailOnline: “I’ve just been baptised and I feel absolutely amazing. The service has been phenomenal today.
“I just feel great. I feel it was a long time coming and I’m really glad I did it.”
Lambrianou, who performed the baptisms with the church’s pastor, Dave Gill, told the publication: “Baptising so many people gives me a spiritual high. It’s like you cannot buy the feeling I have.”
Coldwell shot to fame in the Nineties alongside his East 17 bandmates: Tony Mortimer, Brian Harvey and John Hendy.
Together, they sold over 18 million albums worldwide and released one of the UK’s most popular Christmas No 1s, “Stay Another Day”.
The band have undergone several lineup changes over the years, with Coldwell remaining as the one constant member.
The current lineup features him, Joe Livermore and Robbie Craig.
In an interview with The Independent in 2023, Coldwell said he believed he had managed to stay grounded despite the fame he had experienced with East 17.
“We were just normal,” he said, comparing East 17’s “bad boy” image to the squeaky-clean look promoted by rival band Take That’s management.
“All these bands have the same story,” the singer, who signed the band’s lucrative record deal when he was just 16 years old, added.
“It’s the same story over and over again. I know we got ripped off. Being in a band is a rollercoaster ride.”
He continued: “With my mum and dad, I was always a worker as a kid – I had a paper round and all that. I saw this as the best job in the world, and thought it could end one day, so I always had that in my mind.
“Maybe because I wasn’t one of the lead singers so I wasn’t in the spotlight so much, but my friends and family always tell me I’m the same person from when I was at school. So I can’t talk about Tony [Mortimer] and Brian [Harvey] because their experience was slightly different to mine in the Nineties, a lot more was thrown at them.”
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