Gabi and Shanna are two travel bloggers from New York City. I’ve been following them for some time now on Instagram and living vicariously through them as they traverse the globe on their far-flung travels. I interviewed them remotely of course a few weeks back and we chatted about; Shana’s Catholic upbringing, experiencing homophobia at home in New York City, their plans to open a cafe and to have a beach-house in the Caribbean one day, our shared admiration of Hilary Duff and lots...

Dan & Nick from the 802 podcast met a few years back at a house party and instantly became firm friends. Dan is from Norfolk but now lives in London & Nick grew up in the warmer climes of Trinidad but now lives in Manchester. Their 802 podcast was born out of their friendship and the fun they have together but now has grown to include guests. It’s so important that there is much more representation for people of colour in the gay media so I’m especially happy to have them both on my...

Brock Yurich is an American actor who has starred in Succession, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt & Tyler Perry’s the Have and the Have Nots. He was born and raised in Ohio and completed a degree in musical theatre in Orlando Florida before making his way to the bright lights of the Big Apple to become a professional actor.  He is currently in the midst of pre-production for his first feature film TEST which he has written the screenplay for. He is also producing the movie and will take the...

Brock Yurich is an American actor who has starred in Succession, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt & Tyler Perry’s the Have and the Have Nots. He was born and raised in Ohio and completed a degree in musical theatre in Orlando Florida before making his way to the bright lights of the Big Apple to become a professional actor. He is currently in the midst of pre-production for his first feature film TEST which he has written the screenplay for. He is also producing the movie and will take the lead...

Robin was a dancer on Strictly Come Dancing, one of the biggest shows in the UK for the best part of a decade. Dancing since the age of three he became England’s number one ballroom dancer as a teenager. He then spent ten years touring the globe as part of ‘Burn the Floor’, one of the leading touring dance shows ever. This interview was recorded remotely of course (last September, I’m only getting around to editing them now- sorry!!!) and we chatted about; why he felt like ‘the real-life...

It’s series 4 time!!!!! And I’m thrilled that my first guest is top criminal barrister and author Mohsin Zaidi. He released his memoirs ‘A Dutiful Boy’ last October and it was one of my favourite books of 2020 - I absolutely loved it!!!! Mohsin was born the eldest son of devout Shia Muslim parents in a deprived area of East London. Growing up in a religiously conservative household, Mohsin harboured a secret for much of his development years; he was gay. In a community where homosexuality...

Chris McNaughten (also known by his moniker Bear Strong) is a two-time Junior Ireland Strongman champion. He also owns his own gym near Belfast. Whilst the sporting world unfortunately continues to be a deeply homophobic place for most athletes, Chris is somebody who is helping to change that, by becoming the first openly gay strongman in the UK and Ireland. Inspired by his own struggles with depression & his sexuality, he has become a mental health & LGBTQ campaigner. He was...

Isaac is an author, playwright and stage comic. His debut book ‘Intimacy Idiot’ was released in 2015 to widespread acclaim. The book details all the hilarious encounters Isaac has had with men, whilst dating in the Big Apple. New York magazine have described him as a ‘monstrous new talent’ and the book featured on a number of ‘best of’ lists that year. I read it during the earlier stages of lockdown & it provided me with some much needed light relief in these very strange & bleak...

Spencer is a twenty-two year old podcaster & blogger from Wales. I came across him when I started listening to his podcast Queer Talk, which he hosts with his two friends James & Mufseen. It focuses on the positive news happening within the LGBTQ+ community which definitely makes for a refreshing listen. His blog For the Love of Queers is a brilliant resource for LGBTQ+ history & activism & I’ve certainly learnt a whole lot myself since I started following it. The interview...

Stuart is one of the three presenters on the podcast Unflopped (his friends Sean Vickers & Joe Heaney being the other two). It also just so happens to be one of my favourite podcasts. It has gone from strength to strength since it launched three years ago & is fast approaching it’s 70th episode. For a chart pop fanatic like myself, it is a real treat so it it was great to interview Stuart. This interview was of course recorded during lockdown. I’m working from a self-assembled...

Lev is an American writer who already has a number of novels & YA fiction books under his belt. His work has been translated into many different languages and are regularly featured on 'best of' lists. His latest is ‘Camp’ which I recently read & I loved it. The story explores the different gender presentations through the different queer characters and I think it will resonate deeply with a lot of our community. The interview was of course recorded remotely, Lev was in New York, I...

Alex is an Australian writer & campaigner and it was one of his tweets earlier this year on growing up gay which initially piqued my interest in him (it’s featured on the podcast). A whole lot of people clearly connected with said tweet as it went viral, garnering over 200,000 likes & 50,000 retweets. Alex is a prominent queer activist in London and works for an LGBTQ+ charity. He’s also a really talented writer & has written for the Guardian and the BBC. I think his writing is...

Series 3 is here!!!!! New music, updated artwork & most importantly eight new coming out stories. And my first guest of the series is the author Lewis Laney. Lewis had his first short story published in Gay Times, when he was just eighteen. He’s also written for various publications including the iconic magazine ‘The Face’. Lewis has just released his first book ‘The Little Book of Pride' which is a digestible, pocket-sized look at the history of Pride. I think this book is going to be a...

Conner Habib is a really interesting character and has had a wildly diverse career. He hosts a successful podcast called Against Everyone with Conner Habib and is a prolific writer having written for Vice, Slate the Irish Times. He’s a university lecturer and is currently studying for his PHD here in Ireland. And you may also be familiar with his name from adult performing. I met up with Conner a few weeks back and we chatted about, the cultural differences between the gay community in...

Brian is one of Ireland’s best loved singers with a career spanning over 30 years. He grew up in Northern Ireland in the 60’s and 70’s at the very height of the troubles. He moved to London when he was 18 & quickly got work as a backing vocalist for his fellow country-man Van Morrison. He was also signed to a major recording contract with RCA and was managed by the mighty Simon Fuller, the Spice Girls and American Idol svengali. He has performed the world over with music superstars such...

Rory Cowan is of course one of the stars of the hit BBC sitcom Mrs Brown’s Boys. He was born in Dublin and started out working for EMI Ireland, where he eventually became their marketing manager. He subsequently went on to be a publicist for the then little-known comedian Brendan O’ Carroll. Years later, when an actor stepped down at the eleventh hour in one of Brendan’s stage shows, Rory reluctantly took on the role and the rest is history. That stage show was of course Mrs Brown’s Boys...

Matt is the founder of the Naz and Matt foundation, a charity he set up to honour the memory of his late fiancee Dr Nazim Mahmood, who died from suicide just days after coming out to his deeply religious family & telling them of his long-term relationship with Matt. He jumped to his death from the balcony of his apartment in 2014, aged just 34. The Naz & Matt foundation campaigns against homophobia in schools and universities & provides help to LGBTQ+ members, who have been...

Rory is someone who needs no introduction. He has worked as a drag queen for over 30 years now and has toured the world many times over with his stage shows. He is also a publican, activist, writer (and shoemaker, as we hear during the interview)! He subsequently became synonomous with the equal marriage campaign in Ireland, with the country becoming the first in the world to pass it by popular vote in 2015. He is held in such high esteem in his homeland that he earnt himself the title “the...

Series 2 is here!!! Thanks to everyone for all your support and lovely messages for the first series. I have lots of new episodes coming in the next few weeks with guests such as Panti Bliss and Rory Cowan. But what better way to kick off the new run than with everyone's favourite no-nonsense, tough-talking TV judge Robert Rinder. Robert achieved a First Class Honours Degree in Politics and Modern History from the University of Manchester and was called to the bar at the tender age of...

People resign from their jobs all the time. But when Andy West left his job as a BBC journalist in 2015 it made headline news. Because his was no ordinary resignation; it was in response to Tyson Fury’s nomination for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards (Tyson is widely known to be homophobic and misogynistic). Andy subsequently became a contestant on Big Brother the following year and finished fourth overall. He now pops up regularly on our TV screens on show such as This Morning,...

Darren is a TV presenter and has hosted shows for the BBC, Channel 5 and regularly appears on ITV’s This Morning. He is a columnist for the Irish Independent and his writing has also been featured in the Telegraph and Attitude magazine. Darren has designed a range of glasses with Specsavers and he has established his own skincare and grooming brand, Kennedy and Co. He is also a top lifestyle influencer and one of the UK and Ireland’s most stylish men. You can currently catch Darren presenting...

Darren is a TV presenter and has hosted shows for the BBC, Channel 5 and regularly appears on ITV’s This Morning. He is a columnist for the Irish Independent and his writing has also been featured in the Telegraph and Attitude magazine. Darren has designed a range of glasses with Specsavers and has established his own skincare and grooming brand, Kennedy and Co. He is also a top lifestyle influencer and one of the UK and Ireland’s most stylish men to boot! You can currently catch Darren...

**Quite a lot of clipping on this interview so had to edit out most of the original interview-apologies. Will be sorted for series two.** Jonny first came to the public’s attention in 2014 when he launched a campaign to find the stranger, who six years previously had talked him down from the edge of Waterloo Bridge, as he was about to take his own life. The campaign to find the good samartian soon went viral and a few weeks later Jonny was reunited with the man who saved his life, Neil...

Jonny first came to the public’s attention in 2014 when he launched a campaign to find the stranger, who six years previously had talked him down from the edge of Waterloo Bridge, as he was about to take his own life. The campaign to find the good samartian soon went viral and a few weeks later Jonny was reunited with the man who saved his life, Neil Laybourn. A documentary which followed Jonny’s search and reunion with Neil was aired on Channel Four the following year.   Jonny is now a...