ITV Pridecast – Details, episodes & analysis

*A warning this episode contains strong language. 

For many our first introduction to Rob Rinder was when his hit show Judge Rinder began on ITV back in 2014. The daytime programme, which propelled Rob to fame, saw him oversee civil cases in front of TV audiences from all over the UK. A decade on and a range of TV shows under his belt as well as books written, Rob is now a household name on television screens up and down the country. He joins Liam McConkey and Jo Lewis on the latest ITV Pridecast to discuss his career and the importance of supporting LGBTQ+ people for companies like ITV. 

His most recent show, Rob and Rylan’s Grand Tour, saw him team up with his friend Rylan Clark where the pair visited some of Italy’s iconic cities to follow in the footsteps of the likes of 18th century socialites by immersing themselves in some of the finest art and culture in the world. Viewers get to see the incredible bond and friendship that the pair share and how they both encourage and challenge one another to take on new exploits during their travels. 

And since the show was first broadcast, a second series has been commissioned with Rob and Rylan recently returning from India and filming their latest travel adventures there. During this episode of the ITV Pridecast, Rob also discusses how TV can have a limitless value in helping changing minds and attitudes. He says that TV has a huge power in transmitting people’s lived experiences to huge audiences that can actually bring about real change. He says we only have to see the impact of ITV’s hit drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office  to see this.  

Since becoming a well known figure, Rob has been vocal about being an openly gay Jewish man. During this episode he discusses how he had unconditional love from his mother but how he grew up during a time when it was concerning to be a gay man when society just depicted LGBTQ+ life in a very negative way.

In the episode Rob also chats about the advances the LGBTQ+ community has made, with regards to the law. He says that he is hopeful for the future and if we are to protect our LGBTQ+ rights we need to have a capacity to listen and rationally debate our concerns.  

The gender that we’re assigned to at birth means that we’re expected to have certain characteristics and live by unwritten rules. These can dictate how we see the world, and in turn how the world sees us. In some ways gender can create a sense of togetherness and belonging among those that share the same gender and it can foster particular bonds. 

But gender can also divide. Being socially conditioned from early on, on how we should behave due to expected characteristics that go with being a man or a woman, can be very limiting indeed. And for someone who doesn’t feel they fit within one gender or the other, life can feel isolating when the rest of society is conforming to the ‘norm’ that has been created. 

For some people, they may see themselves as possessing both masculine and feminine traits and that simply choosing to either solely present as a man or a woman doesn’t feel akin to their true experience. They may also feel that sometimes they identify as one of the genders more than the other. In this instance, people may choose to be fluid with their gender identity in order to not feel confined or restricted because of societal expectations. Therefore they may change their gender over time. 

For Sophie Scott, she has recently come to terms with recognising her own gender fluidity and she shares her story on the ITV Pridecast. Sophie works in content digitisation at ITV where she works on getting all the tape archive digitised and she is based in Leeds. As well as her day job, Sophie also volunteers at an event called Leeds First Friday which is the UK’s biggest trans social event which happens every month. You can also listen back to when Sophie was last on ITV Pridecast when she caught up with Emmerdale’s Ash Palmisciano to visit Leeds First Friday: https://bit.ly/3Al9tNI  



If you’ve been affected by anything discussed in this episode of the Pridecast then head over to ITV’s general advice and helplines website for more information and support.

As Coronation Street’s Gemma Winter-Brown, it would be an understatement to say the last nine years have been a whirlwind for Dolly-Rose Campbell. She is the latest guest on the ITV Pridecast and discusses her role in Corrie and also being bisexual and the importance of bi-visibility.

Arriving in the soap in 2014 for an initial six episodes, Dolly-Rose introduced us to the boisterous bundle of energy that is of course Gemma. As a friend of Kylie Platt, Gemma started life on the nation’s favourite street by bringing turmoil to the door of the Platt family, alongside cunning drug-dealer Callum Logan.

Despite an abrupt arrival into Weatherfield, over time the rowdy and rather unruly Gemma became a regular fixture, making friends with the most unlikely characters, including Corrie legends Rita Tanner and Norris Cole. Under their wing, Gemma finds herself distancing herself from the troublesome Eccleston estate, becoming a firm favourite on the cobbles of Coronation Street.

As time goes on, Gemma starts to work alongside Chesney Brown at the kebab shop, Prima Doner. After jumping from one bad relationship to another, both then eventually end up together and to their shock - and that of the nation - Gemma falls pregnant with quadruplets. Not only does that create soap history, writers decide that one of the babies will be deaf, allowing both Gemma, and in turn Dolly-Rose, to learn sign language and demonstrate the importance of having this kind of representation on the show.

Earlier this year, Dolly-Rose once again made Corrie history by tying the knot with Chesney, wearing a two-metre wide orange dress that even had a seven-metre long train. And not only that, Gemma lit up the aisle with fairy lights attached to her dress. Dolly-Rose herself played an integral part in the dress’ design, wanting something befitting of Gemma’s flamboyant character. And she knew just how that could be achieved. She convinced the writers to allow Manchester Drag Queen, Liquorice Black, to design and make the outrageous but very beautiful gown, something which is now on display at the Coronation Street Exhibition museum, for all to see.

For Dolly-Rose, it was important to have a Drag Queen create such an iconic garment in order to showcase the artistry and talent of many in the LGBTQ+ community. Creating that space for visibility is incredibly important to Dolly-Rose and it’s something she’s been keen to do when raising awareness about bisexuality.

She says she knew early on in life that she was bisexual and it was actually to her surprise that everyone else wasn’t. For her, celebrations and recognition around bi-visibility is crucial if perceptions around bisexuality are to be changed and accepted in society. Joining Liam to co-host this episode is Aimée Metcalf, who works as a Junior Creative on Brand Licensing at ITV.

On a daily basis, Richard Arnold is welcomed into people’s homes across the UK when he brings the entertainment and showbiz news to ITV’s Good Morning Britain. He’s been providing the lighter side to British breakfast television for more than twenty years with his great warmth, and of course his humour. On this ITV Pridecast, he chats to Liam McConkey about his career during the last two decades and shares some of the incredible stories about the people he’s met along the way.

Richard first became a household name on our screens in 1997 on GMTV, when at around 07:50 each morning he would present ‘Pick of the Day’- a rundown of some of the best things on TV that evening. That regular feature saw him referred to as the ‘ten-to-eight boy’, and for many people he became part of the fixtures and fittings of their daily routines. Richard continues to play that role now on Good Morning Britain as the show’s Entertainment Editor and has done so for almost a decade.

During his time reporting on entertainment news he’s not only critiqued an array of television programmes, he’s also interviewed some of the most famous people on the planet. From stars of the “small screen” to those in Hollywood, Richard has chatted with, as well as learnt from, some of the best in showbusiness. During this episode he shares stories of having his lip-wiped by the one and only Barbra Striesand, to receiving great praise from the late Sir Michael Parkinson on his interview technique and style.

In the years Richard has been reviewing TV and films, he says he’s also seen how the nature of dramas have changed and this is certainly so when there’s an LGBTQ+ storyline involved. As a gay man himself, he says there’s been a significant shift in the response from audiences towards LGBTQ+ characters. He recalls the tabloid outrage when Colin famously kissed Barry with a peck on the forehead in the 1987 episode of Eastenders, which made history as the first ever gay kiss in a UK soap opera. Fast-forward to today, and Richard says TV and film is leading the way in producing LGBTQ+ content for so many audiences to watch and love, which is making a big difference in people’s lives.

You can watch Richard on weekday mornings on Good Morning Britain on ITV1.

Being LGBTQ+ and a person of faith might appear somewhat at odds with one another. The prejudice and discrimination that’s often projected onto members of the LGBTQ+ community by religions all over the world can lead many to turn away from faith. In the UK especially, and with regards to Christianity in particular, more and more people appear to be choosing a different path. In the 2021 census, less than half of the population in England and Wales described themselves as Christian and those with ‘no religion’ was the second most common response.

However for someone like Jayne Ozanne, faith is something at the centre of her life. She describes herself as a gay Evangelical and works to try and ensure all LGBTQ+ people feel a sense of belonging and inclusion when it comes to their faith. For Jayne, the church must do so much more to make everyone feel included, or it risks creating its own demise. She chats to Liam McConkey and Dougie Robertson in this ITV Pridecast episode about embracing her identity as a gay Christian and wanting to inspire others that a person’s sexuality and religion can coexist without having to shun one for the other.

One way in which people have often tried to suppress their sexuality in favour of their faith is through the practice of so-called “conversion therapy.” This is an area that Jayne has taken a keen interest in and she is currently the founder and chair of the UK’s Ban on Conversion Therapy. The LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, defines conversion therapy as ‘any intervention that seeks to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.’ It adds, ‘conversion therapies work towards one goal and that goal is to ‘cure’ someone from being lesbian, gay, bi, trans, ace, intersex and/or queer.’

The whole issue of conversion therapy gained significant media attention in 2018 when ITV News reporter, Paul Brand, showed that the practice was still taking place in parts of the UK. That led to calls for it to end, with even the Prime Minister at the time, Theresa May, vowing to ban it saying conversion therapy “had no place in modern Britain.”

Five years on and three different Prime Ministers, conversion therapy is still not illegal in the UK. There have been delays and u-turns on the policy but in June 2023, the UK Government said a bill was ready to be presented to Parliament. That however, appears to have a significant loophole that would allow conversion therapy to continue if a person volunteered for it. In response, the UK Government says it’s “committed to protecting people at risk from conversion practices” and scrutiny of the bill will allow for analysis and the addressing of any “risk of unintended impacts.”

For Jayne, the u-turns and delays on a potential ban led her to resign from the government’s LGBT Advisory Panel in 2021 due to its slow progress. Having gone through conversion therapy herself, Jayne says this long overdue ban is needed if people are to be finally protected from the harm that the practice can cause.

It’s a topic that Dougie also has first-hand experience of. He grew up in a fundamentalist religious background which has strict ideals, and being gay certainly wasn’t one of them. In an article for The Independent in 2018, Dougie spoke very openly and movingly of spending years trying to ‘pray the gay away’ and if he’d been offered conversion therapy he would have taken it. For him now, Christianity is no longer a part of his life but he says he fully supports the work of people like Jayne who are trying to create a much more inclusive church that does not practice or act as the facilitator for conversion therapy.

Support networks

Galop: the LGBT+ anti abuse charity - it works to support victims and survivors of domestic abuse, sexual violence, hate crime, honour-based abuse, forced marriage and conversion therapy. Call on 0800 999 5428. There’s a free online chat service on their website or email: help@galop.org.uk

Mermaids - supports transgender, nonbinary and gender-diverse children and younger people until their 20th birthday as well as their families. Contact on 0808 801 0400 or email info@mermaidsuk.org.uk

LGBT Foundation - offers a range of support to LGBTQ+ people, which includes wellbeing help and support. Contact on 0345 330 3030 or email helpline@lgbt.foundation

Switchboard LGBT - offers advice and support to LGBTQ+ people including a helpline and its email and web-chat service. Call 0300 330 0630 or email hello@switchboard.lgbt

Every year ITV now has its very own Pride Day and it’s a chance to celebrate and support LGBTQ+ people across the company and in the wider community. This year, ITV Pride Day was held at the start of Pride month in June and as part of the celebrations, a live ITV Pridecast was recorded with some of those from across the company to discuss why they’re proud to be who they are.

Joining Liam McConkey for this special edition of the podcast is Paul Brand, the UK Editor of ITV News and presenter of the Tonight programme. Jess Clayton, a Digital Trainee Journalist at ITV Cymru Wales. Harry Tan, the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Digital Products at ITV Studios. And Stephen Bailey, a stand-up comedian and regular contributor on the Laura Whitmore Breakfast Show.

During Pride month and all through the summer, Pride events will be taking place across the globe. They are a chance for members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies to come together and celebrate but also to show solidarity and a reminder that rights cannot be taken for granted.

Discrimination and even hatred towards LGBTQ+ people still exists in many countries across the world and even in Britain, people’s rights are being tested. The Rainbow Map and Index ranks all 49 countries in Europe in order of their LGBTQ+ “legal and policy” rights and has done so since 2009. Up until 2015, the UK regularly found itself in top spot as the most LGBTQ+ friendly place in Europe. However, now in 2023 it has fallen to 17th position.

If anything, what this shows is the importance of Pride and the power it has in championing LGBTQ+ people. Pride first began as a protest and those roots are something that cannot be forgotten, especially when the community is facing such testing times today.

For most of us when we hear the word talent show, our minds jump to Britain’s Got Talent, the X-Factor or even Pop Idol, but now a new show has hit our TV screens…Project Icon on BBC Three is the brainchild of chart-topping singer Jason Derulo. Looking to find the UK’s next music star, Derulo is also a judge on the show alongside singer-songwriter Becky Hill and music manager Frank Harris.

The winner of the show’s first series is 29-year-old Dylan And The Moon and he joins Liam McConkey and Jo Lewis on the latest ITV Pridecast. Dylan has been singing for over 20 years and after winning Project Icon he’s hoping his dreams of sharing his music with thousands of people will now become a reality.

Dylan’s music style is a mix of jukebox rock ‘n’ roll with modern indie-guitar pop and during the show, we get to see why his creative talent wowed the judges. We also find out that Dylan’s songwriting has been pivotal in helping him embrace his identity as a trans man.

Dylan began his transition in 2020 and says it’s his music that’s helped him vocalise his true self. He says Project Icon did a brilliant job in allowing him to share his story and he’s received incredible support from viewers. By being a proud and visible trans man, Dyan hopes this will create a ripple effect and inspire others to embrace who they really are.

This ITV Pridecast episode with Dylan coincides with the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT) on 17th May. The day is now celebrated each year and aims to raise awareness of the violence inflicted towards LGBTQ+ people across the globe.

First established in 2004, the day is supported by more than 130 countries and is even recognised in 37 countries where same-sex acts are still illegal. At present, 64 countries in the world have laws criminalising homosexuality and out of the 53 nations in the Commonwealth, 29 have laws which deem homosexuality as illegal.

In some countries the death penalty is even the punishment for those caught performing same-sex acts. These countries include Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Mauritania and Brunei, among others.

As well as being supported by many states across the globe, IDAHOBIT is also recognised by international organisations, including the European Parliament and the United Nations. The 17th May was chosen to celebrate IDAHOBIT, as this was the day the World Health Organisation declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1990.

More information about IDAHOBIT can be found on its website

Watch Dylan Holloway’s performance on Project Icon on BBC iPlayer

Listen to more of Dylan’s music on Spotify

And you can follow Dylan And The Moon on Instagram

The transcript of this episode is available here: ITV Pridecast with Dylan and the Moon - transcript

For many LGBTQ+ people, finding a space where you can meet fellow members of the community can be incredibly liberating and powerful. Going to a place where you can socialise with those with shared life-experiences can be so fulfilling, especially when many LGBTQ+ people have to balance their authentic identity within a straight-leaning society. For Polly Shute and Peach Bond, this is the foundation of their work in providing safe spaces to lesbians, queer women and non-binary folk across the UK. As part of ITV’s coverage of Lesbian Visibility Week 2023 (24th-30th April), Polly and Peach join ITV Pride Co-Chair, Jo Lewis, to discuss the need for more varied spaces for LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people and the importance of Lesbian Visibility Week itself.

The annual event run by Diva and Stonewall recognises, celebrates and supports LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people, including those from other under-represented groups, such as black and ethnic minorities, those from a religious background, or those who have a disability or are neurodiverse. The term lesbian refers to a woman who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards women. Some non-binary people may also identify with this term. LVW celebrates all those that may identify in this way; such as lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, non-binary, queer, intersex and asexual individuals.

On this episode of the ITV Pridecast Polly and Peach tell Jo about their personal journeys into the LGBTQ+ community and why they spend an incredible amount of their free time helping to create spaces for all marginalised groups within the LGBTQ+ community. They also chat about the importance of feeling visible both in and out of the workplace and what lesbian and queer women want to see more of when it comes to representation and safe, inclusive spaces.

Polly’s Out & About Community has an outreach of around 15,000 people across various digital channels, creating and curating day, evening and extended weekend events and experiences across the UK. Out & About covers a range of events, such as the monthly 200-person Southbank Surfing social, which takes place in London and Manchester. Another event being the Out & Wild Festival which is held in Wales and is the UK’s only Wellness and Experience festival.

Similarly, Peach’s social group, Lesbian & Queer Women (LQW) spans the UK, covering London, Kent, The Midlands, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sunderland. LQW has attendees of all ages, some of which join online from overseas. With various digital platforms, Meet Up groups and a mailing list, LQW reaches over 13,000 lesbian, queer and non-binary individuals. LQW runs a whole host of meet ups and social events varying in size, including group weekend breaks to different cities, gallery trips, meals out, nights out, walks and summertime picnics.

Links to the groups that Polly and Peach mention in this Pridecast episode:

-Out and wild:
https://outandwild.co.uk/

-Southbank Surfing:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/southbanksurfing/?locale=en_GB

-Out and about community:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/www.beoutandabout.co.uk/

-LQW:
www.wearelqw.com

-London Lesbians and Queer Womxn MeetUp group:
https://www.meetup.com/wearelqw-london/

-Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds Lesbians & Queer Womxn
https://www.meetup.com/mlllqwomxn/

-The Midlands Lesbians and Queer Womxn
https://www.meetup.com/tmlqwomxn/

On the ITV Pridecast for March, Issah Nalzaro joins Liam McConkey for this episode. Issah has been at ITV for the past two years and during that time he has worked within the Internal Communications department for the business. His main role is to make sure all employees at ITV are kept up-to-date with the content the company is producing as well as opportunities and initiatives colleagues can get involved with. Alongside his day job, Issah is also a member of the ITV Pride network and recently became assistant-chair of the group.

Being a gay man, who was born in Saudi Arabia, with Filipino parents, Issah is very conscious of the intersections that exist within his own life and he is determined to make sure there is a broad and open conversation around intersectionality in the workplace. He also wants to make sure that people with a range of backgrounds and identities feel the ITV Pride network provides them with a safe space to be their authentic selves.

Outside of work, Issah tells Liam about his love of musical theatre and how the genre has played a big part in allowing him to embrace his true self. For many people, musical theatre can act as a form of solace and escapism. Issah feels this is especially so for many LGBTQ+ people and he says musical theatre is really starting to give a platform to many from the community. He discusses how his favourite musical, Six, which is a musical comedy about Henry VIII’s six wives, has someone who is non-binary playing the part of Anne Boleyn and how it’s incredibly progressive.

Issah also discusses how he hopes TV can push even further to tell the stories of people with diverse backgrounds and how there is still much work to do to achieve that. For him, this is where ITV’s diversity and inclusion networks play a huge role in making sure the voices of a range of people are heard.

To round off ITV Pride’s coverage of LGBTQ+ History Month, the ITV Pridecast is back looking at what it means to be asexual and aromantic. Many LGBTQ+ people’s lives have been recorded and documented over the years, allowing for a celebration and time of reflection during each February. However, the recording of asexual and aromantic people’s lives has been much more limited with more still needed to be done.

Those who are asexual do not experience sexual attraction to anyone. Unlike celibacy, which is when people choose to abstain from sexual activity, asexuality is intrinsic to those who identify in this way. According to a report by Stonewall from last year, 2% of the population in the UK now identify as asexual. People who are aromantic are those who do not have any, or very little, romantic feelings towards others. However, not all aromantic people are asexual and vice versa, and while the two can overlap it doesn’t mean the two always go hand in hand.

Someone trying to raise more awareness of people who are both asexual and aromantic is Yasmin Benoit and she is the guest for this ITV Pridecast. She is a British model who identifies as both asexual and aromantic. After coming out in 2017, Yasmin has worked to become a voice for the asexual and aromantic community and give a platform to people that have not been heard within the mainstream.

She is working to make sure that those who are asexual and aromantic have full social and legal recognition and to make more people aware of the intersectionality that exists within these identities. In 2022, in partnership with Stonewall, Yasmin began this work by launching the UK’s first asexual rights initiative, The Stonewall x Yasmin Benoit Ace Project.

In this episode of the ITV Pridecast, Yasmin discusses what it means to be asexual and aromatic and the work she is doing to support the community. She also chats about the dynamics about being a model as well as an asexual activist and dispelling misconceptions around the two. Joining Liam McConkey to co-host this episode is Dougie Robertson. Dougie is an Engineering Manager for ITVX and an ITV Pride Committee member. Within his work for the ITV Pride network, he works closely with InterMedia UK which aims to support members of the LGBTQ+ community across the media industry.

The transcript of this episode is available here: ITV Pridecast with Yasmin Benoit - transcript

More information on asexuality and aromanticism:

• Asexual Visibility and Education Network: https://www.asexuality.org/
• Stonewall's six ways to be an ally to asexual people: https://bit.ly/3ZpurSf
• Yasmin Benoit's website: https://www.yasminbenoit.co.uk/
• Stonewall's five things you should know about aromantic people: https://bit.ly/3KHalik