I'm Coming Out – Details, episodes & analysis

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 jonny@imcomingoutpod.com 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 jonny@imcomingoutpod.com 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

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 the States and Ireland
• going to school with Neo-nazis
• his unrequited love for a straight guy during high school
• coming out to his mother
• his other coming out as a pornstar to his family at Thanksgiving.

and lots of other things.

https://www.patreon.com/ConnerHabib

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram  @imcomingoutpod

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 as Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan among many others.  He has performed on Broadway with Riverdance, represented Ireland in the Eurovision, was a judge for two seasons on the Irish Voice and has written two novels.

When I met up with Brian we chatted about; growing up amidst the horrors of the troubles in Northern Ireland, the homophobic abuse he suffered from his own family, what it was like living in London during the aids crisis, why he stayed celibate for a large part of the eighties, why he feels really uncomfortable with the use of the words ‘daddy’ and ‘son’ in gay culture, the homophobia he experienced within the music industry and lots of other things.

Follow me on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram @imcomingoutpod

www.briankennedy.co.uk

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 which later became the hugely successful sitcom. The TV series started in 2012 and instantly became a ratings winner. The show has won a raft of awards including a National Television Award and a BAFTA and has also become a big hit internationally. Rory even made it onto the big screen with the spin-off movie, which topped the box office in both Britain and Ireland.

Rory left the show a few years back and has since become a narrator for Irish Googlebox and is currently starring in the soap opera Fair City.

When I met up with Rory to do the interview we chatted about;

• what it was like to be a young gay man in Dublin in the 70s & 80s
• his hilarious coming out to his friends story.
• why it was so hard to make gay relationships work
• the discrimination gay couples faced because of their lack of legal rights.
• how his mother reacted when he came out

and lots of other things also.

Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @imcomingoutpod

Follow Rory on Twitter @1rorycowan

www.rorycowanblog.com

Matt is the founder of the Naz and Matt foundation, a charity he set up to honour the memory of his late fiance 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 rejected by their religious families and communities. The charity’s mission is to never let any religion or culture come between the unconditional love of a parent and child.

During the interview Matt told me about how he and Naz met, his own coming out story, the elaborate lengths he & Naz went to to keep their relationship private, discovering old Compton St for the first time, the events which led up to Naz’s death, Matt’s advice for parents whose religious and cultural values conflict with their children’s homosexuality and lots of other things.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram @imcomingoutpod

www.nazandmattfoundation.org

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 Queen of Ireland” and he is an international LGBTQ+ icon.

We met up in Dublin a few weeks back and we chatted about; growing up in Ireland in the 70s when gay people were invisible in society, how he discovered his sexuality, what it is like having a gay older brother, what he really thinks has been his life’s work, why he would consider himself an aetheist, how he really feels about drag hitting the mainstream, our shared dislike of football and lots of other things.

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram @imcomingoutpod

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 21.

His TV career which followed has been a happy accident. Robert was writing crime drama scripts as a side hustle, when a fortuitous meeting with an ITV executive, led to him being cast as the judge on the UK version of the hit American series Judge Judy.

Judge Rinder has of course gone on to become a huge hit and often averages 1 million viewers per episode, which for a daytime show is pretty brilliant.

Robert has since appeared on Strictly, Who Do You Think You Are and had his own Friday night chat show on Channel 4.

I met up with Robert a while back and we chatted about; his teenage crushes (all Scandinavian by the way!!!), what it’s like to be gay and Jewish, dealing with homophobia within the legal profession, why he has changed his mind about same-sex dancing partners on Strictly, his advice for those who are currently in the midst of the coming out process and lots of other things also!!!

Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @imcomingoutpod

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, Jeremy Vine’s show on Channel 5 and of course locking horns with Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain. 

He is also a highly acclaimed journalist and has written for the Independent, the Gay Times, Grazia and is currently working on his debut novel. 

When I met up with Andy in London we were faced with a number of challenges (his lengthy washing machine delivery and my technical issues to be precise) but eventually we got down to doing the interview and we chatted about;

• why Andy felt he had no option but to resign from the BBC, 
• the sacrifices he has had to make for his principles,
• the homophobia he experienced whilst working in the media, 
• his sheltered upbringing, 
• Andy’s desperate bids to fit in at school, 
• the confusion he felt over his sexuality, 
• the experience that made him realise he was gay and that he had to come out, 
• and why he says he still isn’t proud to be a gay man.

Links

Twitter @andywesttv

Instagram @realandywest

Steven Carter-Bailey was a finalist on GBBO in 2017 (his series is still on All4, if you haven’t seen it). He won three star bakers and several of those ever-elusive Hollywood Handshakes during his time on the show. He also won the New Year’s Day Bake Off this year and even got a Hollywood hug!!!

Steven has worked as a special reporter for ITV news, appeared on the Last Leg on Channel 4 and is currently very busy appearing at food festivals all around Britain.

I am a huge Great British Bake Off fan and I’m obsessed with his Instagram (photos of incredible cake and a cute British bulldog is= Instagram gold) so it was great to be able to meet and chat with him.  

Steven was incredibly open and honest and this was at times a very emotional interview. We chatted about;

• the elaborate lies he had to tell to keep his participation on GBBO a secret. 
• feeling different to his peers whilst growing up.
• what it was like growing up gay and Mormon.
• experiencing homophobia from teachers. 
• coming out to his sister and friends.
• why his grandmother was the first person he told. 
• how his mother reacted when he came out to her. 
• how he has struggled with his weight over the years.
• experiencing homophobia as an adult.
• and his enduring crush on a certain Mr William Young.  

Links

stevencarterbailey.co.uk

Steven on Instagram  - spongecakesquaretin

Steven on twitter - spongecakesqtin

To watch Steven on the Great British Bake Off- channel4.com

Follow I’m Coming Out The Podcast on Twitter and Instagram - @imcomingoutpod