I'm Coming Out

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 of other things. This is the first podcast I recorded over Zoom and I wish I had done more trial runs on the app first. I would’ve preferred if the audio was better. It’s not perfect but it’s pretty decent. You can contact me by emailing me at [email protected] and follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @imcomingoutpod If you enjoyed this episode (which I really hope you did) please leave a rating, review and subscribe as it really helps me and other people to discover the podcast. Thanks :)

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 podcast. The interview was recorded remotely of course, I’m still working from my very small makeshift studio in my wardrobe at home. I chatted with Dan about; why race was more of an issue for him than his sexuality growing up in Norfolk, why homophobic abuse went over his head, how he became a fundamentalist Christian in his early teens (yep that is what I just said), why his church’s lack of acceptance ultimately forced him to leave and lots of other things. And I chatted with Nick about; what it was like growing up in Trinidad where homosexuality was illegal until recently, going to secret underground gay parties there when he was a teenager, what happened when his Dad discovered he had rented a gay movie from Blockbuster, the traumatic experience of his first boyfriend outing him to his parents as a teenager, his crush on Dua Lipa’s Dad and lots of other things. You can contact me by emailing me at [email protected] and follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @imcomingoutpod. If you enjoyed this episode (which I really hope you did) please leave a rating and review as it really helps me. Thanks :) Twitter @the802podcast

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 role in it. We did the podcast remotely of course and we chatted about; why his parents thought he might be gay from a young age, hanging out & working at Pulse nightclub whilst he was at college in Florida, what it’s like to be an openly gay actor in New York and lots of other things. And I do a whole lot of gay ‘gasping’ as per usual throughout!!!! 😂 If you have any feedback for me email me at [email protected]. Also if you enjoyed this episode (which I really hope you did) please leave a rating, review and subscribe cause it’s a big help - thanks! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram @imcomingoutpod Instagram & Twitter @brockyurich

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 Billy Elliot’ growing up, how all his school-friends were really supportive of his dancing, having Keanu Reeves posters on his wall as a teenager, the moment he came out to his friends on a dance trip abroad, why he didn’t come out to his mother until he was 35  and lots of other things. If you have any feedback for email me at [email protected]. Also if you enjoyed this episode (which I really hope you did) please leave a rating, review and subscribe cause it’s a big help - thanks! (There was some crackling on Robin's mic-apologies) Facebook, Twitter, Instagram @imcomingoutpod officialrobinwindsor.com Instagram & Twitter @robinwindsor

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 was almost unimaginable, Mohsin  strugged with his sexuality alone for years. Despite all these challenges, Mohsin flourished academically and later professionally. He became the first person from his comprehensive school to attend Oxford University and is today one of Britain’s top criminal barristers. His memoirs A Dutiful Boy, was released at the end of last year and has been met with unanimous praise in the media. It was named by GQ, the Guardian and the New Statesman as one of the best books of 2020. This interview was recorded back in October, over Zoom of course and I chatted with Mohsin about……. why his entire year were stopped and searched on their last day of school how his home was petrol bombed in a racist attack after 9/11. the spiritual pilgrimages he took abroad in the hope of changing his sexuality why his father at first reacted by bringing a witch doctor to the family home to ‘change’ his son’s sexuality and Mohsin’s family’s journey to acceptance of his sexuality and how they are now even helping him plan his wedding to his fiancee. If you have any feedback for me I would love to hear from you at [email protected]. I loved chatting to Mohsin and I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did enjoyed it, please free to leave a review. :) Social Media I’m Coming Out Podcast @imcomingoutpod Mohsin Zaidi @mohsinzaidi_ldn

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 featured on the BBC series ‘This is Pride’ and on the MTV show 'True Love or True Lies'. Our interview was of course recorded remotely; the first ten minutes of audio has some clipping and popping.; apologies it was one of my first interviews I recorded remotely. We chatted about, why his nickname didn’t start out as a gay reference, why he went through a long questioning period with his sexuality, what ultimately helped him to clarify that he was gay, why he considered leaving his home town when he first came out, why being in an inter-racial gay relationship inspired him to partake in a MTV show,  how struggling with his sexuality contributed to his poor mental health over the years, why he has no time for femme-shaming and lots of other things also. You can contact me by emailing me at [email protected] or tweet me at @imcomingoutpod. Hope you enjoy the episode; let me know what you think :) Follow me on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter @imcomingoutpod www.bearstrong.co.uk

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 times. He has also written for HBO’s ‘High Maintenance’ and ‘Glow’, which is currently on Netflix so make sure to check it out. Our transatlantic call took place a few weeks ago and we chatted about; what inspired him to write a book on dating, why his religious parents were so accepting & open-minded, his production of ‘Batman v Catwoman on Skates’ as a child, how his parents accidentally discovered he was gay, his perrenial crush on Ryan Phillippe, the gay scene in New York, writing erotic poetry as a teenager about Brad Renfro, why he doesn’t believe there’s an endless supply of 'fish in the sea' and lots of other things. Please follow me on social media if you want to leave feedback on this or any of the other interviews and for updates on future episodes. I can be found @imcomingoutpod on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. Hope you enjoy the episode :)

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 was in my makeshift studio at home in Ireland. This was my first transatlantic interview, so the line wasn’t always great, the sound is muffled slightly in parts when our voices mix together but it the audio is still decent (I think!!!) We chatted about; his honest thoughts on femme shaming & why he wanted to explore it in the book, growing up gay in Manhattan, his uneventful but funny coming out to his mother, his teenage crush on Ryan Philippe, the subtle forms of homophobia he’s experienced from liberal people, being ‘culturally Jewish’ and converting to Paganism and lots of other things. You can get in touch with me by emailing me at [email protected] and tweet me at @imcomingoutpod. Hope you like this episode. Let me know what you think :)

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 incredible so if you have time, do check it out. The interview was recorded during lockdown so it was recorded remotely of course. Alex was in London and I was in my makeshift studio at home outside Dublin. There is a bit of delay on the recording but it should still be pretty decent audio. We chatted about; how he struggled to accept his sexuality, being bullied by boys at school who he fancied, his early crushes on male school teachers, coming out to his parents & why it took some time for his father to be accepting, finding his place within the community, his honest thoughts on racism within the gay community, why Drag Race does a great job of representing gay people of colour, we also bonded over our many crushes on Australian soapstars and lots of other things. You can get in touch with me by emailing me at [email protected] and tweet me at @imcomingoutpod. I would love to hear your feedback on the podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating, review and subscribe as it really helps me and other people to discover the podcast. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @imcomingoutpod. Hope you enjoy this episode :)

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 really welcome addition to lots of people's libraries and will help the message of Pride reach an even wider audience. Lewis also has another book set for release next year. It’s entitled ‘Queer Cocktails’ and it includes such recipes as a Bloody Mariah, a La Isla Bonita Iced Tea & a Cider Minelli amongst many others!!! It almost feels as if the book was especially written for me & I will definitely be getting a copy upon it's release. The podcast was recorded remotely of course with me in Ireland and Lewis in London. We chatted about what inspired Lewis to write a book on pride. our 90's crushes our love of Big & Smash-Hits magazines(!!) how being friends with certain people at school protected him from bullies how his parents discovered he was gay what it's like having a gay dad and his incredible bravery for coming out aged just 14, whilst still at school and in the mid-nineties. You can get in touch with me by emailing me at [email protected] and tweet me at @imcomingoutpod. I would love to hear your feedback on the podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating, review and subscribe as it really helps me and other people to discover the podcast.  Don't forget to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @imcomingoutpod.  Hope you enjoy this episode :)