This celebrity psychic first realized he had an amazing gift when he foresaw a burglary as a child. But, he admits failing to predict his own future as a successful medium with nearly a million internet followers.
With celebrity clients including "The Only Way is Essex" stars Gemma Collins and Bobby Norris and "EastEnders" actress Jacqueline Jossa. Chris Riley has built his business from scratch in just four years.
Riley charges $124 for a half hour-long reading and heads a team of 20 psychics.
He recalls his gift first coming to light as an eight-year-old boy.
“I remember it clearly and can still picture it," he said.
“I was lying in bed thinking we were going to get broken into. It was like someone was telling me. I woke up my mum and told her and she said, 'Don't be silly'," he continued.
“Everyone went to bed. But I went downstairs and saw that two of the locks on the door were locked, but the latch wasn't on, so I put it on, then went back to bed."
“At about 2am there was a big bang, then the sound of someone beating the door in. The top and bottom lock came off, but the latch was the only thing that stayed on and stopped them coming in."
He was the first in his family to discover "the gift."
“I did not grow up in a spiritual family or a family of mediums, so the fact my prediction was spot on surprised us all," Riley said.
So, he was keen to explore his psychic powers. Riley discovered tarot cards and started using the internet to learn all he could about them.
But his next memorable psychic experience came after his grandfather passed away when he was 17.
“It was my first significant loss and I didn't really cope very well with it," he said.
“I kept thinking, 'Is he stuck somewhere?' I was struggling with the thought that he was stuck between heaven and hell."
“A couple of months after he passed away, I went to bed and around 3am I opened my eyes and he was lying on the bed next to me."
“It was as if he was really there. I could not see his face, but I knew it was him, as he had faded tattoos on his arm," he said.
“He was there for about three seconds, long enough for me to move the quilt cover and he did not go away. It didn't scare me at all, though, I felt peaceful and went straight back to sleep. I think it was his way of saying he was at fine and was at peace."
His curiosity about the spirit world grew from that experience. Riley then went to see his first medium, and prompted the teenager to start giving readings himself.
“I came away from that reading with a sense of peace and thought I could do that for other people," he said.
“I've always felt like I've had a guardian angel watching over me. I'd already been giving tarot card readings for people online, but would get information and not really know how to piece it together. Until that point, I didn't really believe in myself enough."
And he worked his way from the bottom up.
“So, I kept practicing and would charge £2 for a reading. Then one lady tipped me £50 and said the reading was amazing, so that really gave me a boost," Riley recalled.
He built up a substantial online presence and by the age of 20 had 100,000 followers on Facebook.
He started hosting readings in pubs as his reputation grew, and he would attract crowds of 100 people.
Still just 20, Riley took a leap of faith and set up his own business. And it soon paid off, with him now boasting more than 500,000 followers on Facebook and almost 400,000 on Instagram.
Now, he heads a team of 20 psychics, giving thousands of readings a month over the phone or by text message.
He has a YouTube channel and runs live streams on his Facebook and Instagram pages, as well as hosting events across the UK.
“I pick up on energy. It's like a feeling, or when you hear the voice of someone you know in your head," he said.
“Not everyone is as curious about the spirit world as me, though."
“Some people just can't believe the things I know and are very afraid of it. If they are not believers, they can't understand it at all," he continued.
“Being a medium is like having a conversation with the dead. The only way to describe it is as if in your head you're picturing someone you know well talking to you. That allows you to then pass messages from the spirit to the person in front of you."
“I do not use tarot cards or crystals, although I have done in the past and continue to teach classes on them, but my readings are done purely on energy and voice feeling."
The events can get really personal.
“At events guests will bring a photo and I will look at the photo and get a feeling about someone, whether that's their relationship to the person, perhaps how they died," Riley said.
“At a recent event I held this photo and felt it was this man's mom and that she had taken her own life. I pictured where her body was. You could hear a pin drop when he said it was right."
“At times like this, the spirit can connect with their loved one through me, which can bring comfort to people who have been struggling to deal with something."
There is little or no difference between the questions asked by celebrities and regular members of the public, according to Riley.
“Celebrities have the same fears and same questions as anyone else. I find that 50 per cent of people ask about love and career and the other half ask about people who have passed away. Sometimes people will say, 'I just want to know about my mom,'" he said.
Sometimes, Riley can see things which are hard to relay. Early on in his career as a psychic he saw that a woman would develop an illness.
“She was a 65-year-old woman, and she was not really responding to anything I was saying, which I thought was strange," he said.
“Then, about a month later, I got an email from her daughter thanking me for the reading and asking if she could see me herself."
“We talked about love and relationships, then she said, 'I want to know what's wrong with my mom'. I could see that she was unwell."
“Four or five days later she phoned me to confirm that the doctors had picked up the illness I had sensed. Sadly, she passed away a few years later, but it gave them that extra time together," he said.
“This was a long time ago. A reading is a very positive and uplifting experience, I do try and avoid negative subjects, like health predictions or illness, but you will always get the answers that you're seeking."
Riley rarely carries out face to face readings anymore. But, he makes exceptions for celebrity clients.
“My celebrity client-base began through Instagram. They would message me and I would arrange to meet them for a reading," he said.
“The readings are no different than for other clients, though. And I would never reveal information about the readings, although they will often share reviews on Instagram themselves."
In one such Instagram video, Jacqueline Jossa admitted to being “a bit obsessed" with all things psychic after seeing Riley and described the reading he gave as “amazing."
“Without mentioning names, I did once predict that the partner of a celebrity would be detained at an airport on a drugs related incident and he was," he said.
Although he's unwilling to say how much the Chris Riley Psychic Medium business is worth, he admits to making a “decent living" and is currently looking to buy his first home.
“I have made a decent livelihood from this, but that is not what it's about," he said.
“As well as charging for my time I do like to give back by offering free readings, and daily tarot card readings online to my most loyal followers."
“I'm just so proud that my team and I are able to connect people to their loved ones and share messages to the other side."
For more information visit https://www.chrisrileymedium.com/
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