S5. Ep 24. Two Gays and the Pop'n'Olly Party

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Season 5: Episode Twenty-Four. Benji and Brad are joined by the wonderful Olly Pike, who is the Chief Executive Unicorn of Pop’n’Olly. The boys discuss all things LGBTQ+ education in schools and how changes are being made to create an inclusive society. Benji and Brad also play a brand new game with Olly where they throwback to some of their favourite cartoons of the 90s! Plus, Benji opens up about his social anxiety and how he is overcoming this by joining gay social groups in London, where things haven’t quite gone to plan just yet!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Hello and welcome to this week's episode of my Big
Gay Podcast, with me Benji andme Brad giving you the life, the
loves and lolls of living inLondon, Two gays, one city.
What could possibly go wrong?
Oh gosh.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
How are you feeling today, do?

Speaker 2 (00:37):
you know what I'm feeling.
I'm alright, I feel good.
I really feel like I have madethe most of being back in London
this week.
I have hit the ground running.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
I was going to say you have been Mrs Social of the
Year this week.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Well, yes, we will come back to that specifically
in a second, but I have beenliterally no club, another sleep
, another club non-stop.
Mama, she's back, but I'mfeeling a little bit like we
always say I definitely feellike I'm getting old, but I feel
so good, I feel like I finallygot a social life back and, yes,
it's been a very eventful weekfor me.

(01:10):
But before we go into that, howhave you been?

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Do you know what I did?
A really wholesome thing.
You know I'm living thewholesome life at the moment.
Sure, I went to the theater inthe West End in London to see
Nicole Scherzinger in the newmusical Sunset Boulevard.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
I have heard really good things.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Honestly, it blew my mind.
She is well, she's a star,right, she is an absolute star.
Her voice is amazing, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Is it worth what she's getting paid weekly?

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Why?
What's she getting paid weekly?
Is it the same weekly wage thatI get for the podcast?

Speaker 2 (01:44):
It is not.
No, I absolutely am not goingto disclose that.
I don't know if I'm supposed toknow, but it is high, it's
really high, really.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
Yeah, are we talking more than say 25K a week?

Speaker 2 (01:56):
We are yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
More than 50K.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
No, I told you I'm not going there.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
More than 50K Shut up .

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Anyway, so back to me .
Ok, so it was good yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
It was really good.
Highly recommend going to seeit.
I mean, tickets are a bitpricey.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
I wonder, why yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
I mean, it's not paid for our wage, isn't it?
Yeah, but if you rock up on theday, manage to get really good
seats for under 50 pounds, oh,that's actually not too bad.
That's not too bad, is it?
But it's a risk going on theday, right, because they might
not have any seats available,true?
So, yeah, if you live in London, that's a good risk to take.
Is she doing all theperformances?
I don't think so.
No, not all of them.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
That's when you know you have made it in the industry
, when you don't have to doevery day.
I think I can offer this job,being like I don't know, manager
of a bank and just being like,yeah, no, I'm just not going to
do this day or this day, I'mjust going to stay at home.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, I want every Monday off, just because I feel
like it.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yeah, sure no worries , yeah, can you just get someone
else to do my job?
That day Is that?

Speaker 3 (02:58):
right, yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, train them up just as normal, don't?
Pay them nearly as much as me,but just they can do it those
days.
I'm not doing it.
It's going to be sunny.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Yeah, literally, literally that.
But if you are going to go seeit and you don't live in London,
then there's various ticket inapps and things that you can
sometimes get some discountedrates on, so do check those out.
It is worth seeing.
She's only doing it for alimited time, it's only for like
a couple of months, so highlyrecommend.
Are you going to go see it?

Speaker 2 (03:21):
I will go see it because I actually love Nicole
Scherzinger and, although we'rejoking about her taking the time
off, she has worked at ourstaff to get where she is.
Yeah, and she is an icon.
She really is, she is an icon,yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
I love that.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
I'm not so sure about the show itself.
I saw the last tour when it wasin, I want to say, in
Manchester, and it was good.
But yeah, it's kind of adifferent version.
This one isn't it.
They've stripped it all back.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah, it was quite a modern take.
There was lots of likevideography, like screens, very
like stripped back, hardly anyset.
It's all quite stylish, quitemodern twist, I would say.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
Okay, sorry, something's just come into my
brain.
I am never allowed to talkabout theatre, and yet when you
go to the theatre, suddenlywe're allowed to give it a
five-star review.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
Because I see really good stuff with you know A-list
celebrities.
So you go see niche things andI'm like I have no idea what
you're talking about, hon.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
Tell me one niche thing that you know that I've
seen One, just one Exactly.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
Wicked about a million times Niche, that is.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
it's a cult.
Now, Definitely a cult.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
Well, anyway, you got your wish Happy Theatre podcast
day.
There you go, You're welcome.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
You're just angry because I shagged Buck backstage
.
That's what you're angry Movingon.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
It wasn't Buck, it was the wizards.
You said it was.
No, I didn't.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
No, I didn't.
I was just angry because Ithought you were trying to drive
.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
That's what I've been telling everyone that you got
your wizard sleeve out for thewizards.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
No, but I just shagged the munchkin instead.
I don't know why I'm evenfighting.
Anyway anyway, we're reallydigressing because I've had a
really really full on hecticweek and I do feel like I need
to share some of these storieswith you.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
Yeah, well, I'm actually really proud of you
this week because I knowsometimes you get a bit of
social anxiety, don't you?
And I've been encouraging youfor ages to put yourself out
there more, meet new people.
Because you said you want toexpand your kind of gay network.
Right, our friends?

Speaker 2 (05:16):
It wasn't so much to expand the network.
I absolutely love the friendsthat I have.
I don't include you in that, no, you know, you know I do,
really, of course, but I, yeah,I feel like since lockdown, my
social radar has just sort ofdropped off the face of the
earth.
And as much I love the people Ihang out with, I'm hanging out

(05:37):
with the same people all thetime and I have made a couple of
new friends, but they're onesthat I've, like I've made
through work in a sense, so Istill work with them.
So like I've befriended a lot ofvery talented and I'm very, so
happy to have these friendships,but like drag queens and
singers, and it's lovely, but Isee them in work environments
and then, if I go out with themin a social, we don't really

(05:57):
have much more to catch up onother than work.
So I wanted to throw myselfright in the deep end and meet
up with a group of people that Idon't know anything about.
They don't know who I am.
See, like I said, do I jointhis WhatsApp group?
I told you this last week,right?

Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the WhatsApp group.
You, you were following someoneon Instagram or someone like
that, and they said I'm going tocreate a new WhatsApp group for
guys.
And here's the link, and youjoined.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
And I joined.
Yeah, I agreed to the rules, Idid all the things and did it.
So it's not.
It's not one of these WhatsAppgroups that a lot of gay people
are in.
It's not one of these like sexparty ones or like nighttime
WhatsApp groups which just helpseveryone get to bed, if you
know what I'm talking about.
Yeah, yeah, wink, wink, nudge,nudge.
It's actually supposed to belike a gay banter social group.
So nice.
Yes, I agreed to go meet upwith them on Saturday.

(06:44):
Just gone in.
London right In, yeah, incentral London, in Soho actually
, and I felt good about thatbecause obviously I spend a lot
of time there.
So I know the clubs and I knowthe escapes and where to go and
and I knew who was performingwhere and when.
So if it really went bad Icould just go watch somebody
doing a show, like one of thedrag queens.
Like actually bumped into RubyViolet the icon that is Ruby

(07:05):
Violet.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
Oh love Miss Ruby Violet, she's.
Amazing.

Speaker 2 (07:08):
She's good.
I've got lots to tell you abouther, but that's a very
different time.
So, yeah, and then on the day Icalled you because my yeah, my
social anxiety, just itskyrocketed.
I was like almost paralyzed.
I felt like I just couldn't getup off the sofa.
Like I'd got dressed, done myhair, like everything, I was
good to go.

(07:28):
I was like I can't, I can't goout the door, I can't do it.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
Yeah, Cause you called me right and we had a
phone call and I was like whatare you doing?
Get yourself off the sofa andgo and make some new friends.
What?

Speaker 2 (07:42):
are you doing?
I think what you actually saidwas get some alcohol in you make
a mess of yourself for once.

Speaker 1 (07:50):
No, the good thing about alcohol, right, is it does
give you that Dutch courage,that confidence.
So, if you do have a bit ofsocial anxiety.
A little drink before you go ora shot or something just gives
you that extra nudge to putyourself out there a bit more
For sure.
Because you're a very confidentperson, right when people know
you and know who you're about.
You're very funny, very quickwitted, very confident.
So I always think of peoplethat have social anxiety,

(08:13):
because I have a few friends whohave the same thing.
Yeah, I just think you're suchan amazing person Like you don't
want to hide that from theworld Like you know, you should
be proud of who you are becauseyou have so much to offer.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
That is so lovely of you to say this is you know, I
love you so much.
I really appreciate you and thewords.
However, when you're the personthat suffers with it, you don't
see any of that.
Yeah, of course.
Yeah, like you might say, like,oh, you're really funny, you're
confident.
No, if I'm in a socialsituation and I look like I'm
coming across confident andfunny inside, I am like dying

(08:45):
and I'm working my arse off totry and make sure people don't
think why is that guy so weird?
That's what's going on in myhead, right.
Uh-huh, uh-huh.
I'm in a battle, and anyonethat suffers from well, I guess,
anxiety in general, butspecifically social anxiety,
will fully get what I mean bythat.
Yeah, you feel like everyone isstaring at you or you feel like
nobody cares that you're there.
It's literally one or the otherand either of them are

(09:07):
terrifying, but yeah.
So soon after lockdown, Irealized I had this.
I was working from home and Ijust wouldn't leave the house
for like four days at a time,five days.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
Yeah, that's not good though.

Speaker 2 (09:18):
No, even just like to go for a walk around the block,
I couldn't do it.
I was just really I don't know.
I couldn't even tell you why Iwas nervous, I just was.
Anyway, so cut to join thisgroup.
Um was going to be on Saturday.
I called you, absolutelyterrified.
You gave me a lovely pep talk.
Um, I did have a very quickdrink before I went out.
I just had like a gin andlemonade with my housemate and

(09:39):
made my way to Soho, and All Ican say is the rest of the
evening did not go at all like Ithought or I hoped for.
But I really feel, to give youthe full insight to the story,
we need to take a very shortlittle break, fill up our drinks
and come straight back.
But I promise you right nowwhat I'm going to tell you you
will not be expecting from Benji.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
Okay, I can't wait, let's do it.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
This episode is sponsored by rainbowlotterycouk.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
Play now and support LGBTQ plus dreams.
Right, my drink is topped.
I'm all ears.
Tell me a story.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
Well, speaking of top , we were talking about my
social group.
Now I'm joking.
I'm joking.
The story, honestly, is notgoing where you think it's going
, I promise you.
Right now I'm a little bitshocked by myself, but I'll
start at the very beginning, avery good place to start.

Speaker 1 (10:35):
Another musical theatre reference.
Today we're doing all themusicals Moose, moose, oh gosh,
I'm just going to leave that one.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
Anyway so, yes, I said yes, I had that chat with
you, I had the couple of drinksand I left the house.
I got to Soho and I was verymuch on time, very punctual, and
I just thought, no, I can't dothis, because if I go in there's
only like three of them there,then I'm going to have to
reintroduce.
This is what my brain does.
By the way, I can see you lookat me like, right, okay, but you

(11:06):
remember, you don't have thisproblem in your head.
Okay, but this is how my thisis what my brain says.
If you arrive now and thenyou're like the third or fourth
person arrive and you knowthere's like eight to 10 people
going, you're going toreintroduce yourself every
single time a new person arrives.
Right, so I was like, can't dothat.
So I went around the corner toa lovely little bar called
Little Coup, which we've been tobefore.
Super fun Went there.
Friend works behind the bar, sothey had a drink killed half an

(11:29):
hour and then I went back,right.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
So a couple of questions for you.
Carry on.
Yeah, so you've been messagingfor about a week on this group.
Yeah, seven, eight days, yeah,and how many people are in the
group?
Roughly 70.
And how many people were goingto the social event?
Eight to 10.
Oh, so it was actually a smallgroup.
Okay, fine, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:46):
I'm there, I'm there, Fine.
So I had that other drink atLittle Coup and I make my way to
the main bar.
Now, another part of the storywhich I probably should have
told you is within that groupand let me finish before any
sort of judgment comes my way Inthat group, obviously it's not
a sex group, it's not anythinglike that.
However, it is a group of 70gays and eyes they wander.

(12:07):
Everyone's singing in the groupand people do DM each other and
there are various likevanishing photo pictures in
there.
Fine, One of the boys who doyou know what?
Fuck it.
I'm actually going to name himbecause no one will know their
surname anyway.
His name is Jack.
Yeah, he slips into my DMsafter a joke I made about Hannah
Montana.
Very funny, this is what dreamsare made of.

(12:28):
And the bands just like kickedoff and I was like, oh, this is
really good, chat, chat, chat,chat, chat, nice.
I was like, oh, maybe we shouldgo for a drink.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
One thing leads to another andwe arranged to go for a date
before the social event and gofor drinks to meet each other.

Speaker 1 (12:41):
Oh, so I think that's quite risky.
So a date with one of the groupmembers then arrived, together
at the social event.

Speaker 2 (12:47):
Well, if I'm honest, I had said well, listen, I don't
mind not going to the socialgroup.
I am actually free on Saturday.
If you are too, we could justgo for drinks first and if we
then want to go meet up withthem, we could do.
But it was very chill, reallychill, right, nice.
He was like, oh my goodness, Ifeel really like very touched,
absolutely loved to like blah,blah, blah, using all the words
like thank you, handsome, andlike, oh my gosh, I'm really

(13:08):
excited and just really likeoverly flirtatious, right.
So that was in like day two orthree of being in the group.
Day four, I see that he's beenreally flirtatious with the main
person of this group, the admin, the head, the head honcho.
So I see that I messaged him.
I'm like, hey, look, I'm justseeing this flotation is going
on in front of everyone withthis guy.
Can I just ask like, issomething going on?

(13:28):
Because I have not joined thisWhatsApp group to have any sort
of drama or weirdness, and ifhe's your ex boyfriend or you're
kind of seeing him, could youjust tell me?
Because I don't want to step ontoes.
I actually am here to makefriends.
I never thought you were goingto jump in my DMs and ask and
like it was going to movetowards a date scenario.
So I gave the option.
His reply no, absolutely not.
That's just like banter for thegroup.

(13:51):
Like it's all fine, I'm reallyexcited to meet you, handsome,
back on tour.
This terminology Me Okay, fine.
Next day he's even moreflirtatious with this guy.
So I send a screenshot to him.
Like listen, I really thinkthere is something going on that
maybe you don't want to tell me, which absolutely fine, but I
just I don't think this is rightfor me.
Him again no, don't be sostupid.
But la, la, la.
Next day happens again the way.

(14:12):
It's the third time and theonly time.
The last time he did it Sent inthe screenshot.
He didn't reply for like eighthours.
He then replied like you know,you're sounding a little bit
jealous and I was like, okay,not the first time I've been
called jealous in my life, butactually I'm not jealous at all.
I'm literally just soheightened with worry of joining

(14:33):
this group and then being likethat person that I don't want to
happen.
Anyway, he doesn't reply to mefor the next two days.
The Saturday comes about whenwe were all not supposed to go
for drinks.
We obviously end up.
We don't go for drinks.
Yally, yally, yally, cut to allthe other things I've already
told you.
I then turn up to the venue andhe is already there with
everybody else.

Speaker 1 (14:52):
So that I agree with maybe playing to the anxiety as
well, right, because you've hadthat pre kind of chat going on.
So I'm with you, I'm with you.

Speaker 2 (15:01):
Right and I was doing all I could to make sure there
was not an awkward situationLike I haven't even met these
people yet.
So this is where it starts totake a turn.

Speaker 1 (15:10):
So I can't just ask what did you do when you arrived
?
What did you say?

Speaker 2 (15:13):
Oh, top, top Benji mode, the mode that you were
talking about before confident,smiley, happy, cracking jokes,
just being great.
Live my best life.

Speaker 1 (15:22):
You know what?
I'm really proud of you fordoing that, because you are that
person, so I'm glad that youbrought that to the surface.

Speaker 2 (15:28):
Thank you.
I don't know if I am thatperson, but I'm working on it,
okay.
So, anyway, when it went in,hello, hello to everyone.
Hey, what's your name of blood?
Chacha, chacha, chacha.
I see this guy, jack, staringat me, and I'm like I make eye
contact with him across thisgroup.
I'm like hey, he's like Hi,you're right.
I was like yeah, straight to us, like there's a vibe.
I'm just not gonna.
I'm not gonna do that right now.

(15:48):
I'm going to talk to the peoplethat are smiling, actually
wanting my attention, which islovely, right, really, really
nice guy.
Like really, if any of you boysare listening, you were lovely,
not you, jack not you, jack,and I'll come to that in a
minute.
But the rest of you, absolutelylovely went to the bar.
One of them followed me, like,oh, I'll come with you to the
bars, you don't wait by yourself.
Even though you had a drinklike really like touching,
lovely, exactly right Once froma social group, right, come back

(16:10):
to the group.
Chacha, chacha, chacha.
There was this one point whereI wasn't in, I wasn't really
directly in a conversation.
I was like in a little circlelike four boys, but I wasn't
actively involved in it.
And then the exact same thingwas happening next to me, but
Jack was literally like shoulderto shoulder with me and did
still didn't say anything to me,and I was like that's fine.
I really think I've done all Ican in the situation.

(16:31):
If he doesn't want to talk tome and he's ignored my last text
, I'm just going to assumethere's going to be no
conversation right now.
So let's just let the eveningtranspire and see where we go.
Right, I think that's probablythe right thing to do.
Yeah, I would do the same.
So we then leave that bar and wewander across the road to
Admiral Duncan, because they allwanted to go watch drag queens.
So we go in there.
Really great, I actually likean absolute gift.

(16:55):
Thank you.
Whoever was watching over meGet into Admiral Duncan, it's
absolutely rammed.
We watched.
The front of the stage in thecorner is a another group of
friends of mine and yours.
There was Sean who did all thesocial media for us for price.

Speaker 1 (17:08):
Oh yes, oh, he's lovely, he's so nice.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, there with Tom, his partner, and then a few of
the other boys I don't need toname, but they were people that
I know from the scene.
They're like oh my God, ben, doyou get me hug?
Absolutely lovely.
So that put me like, relax meever so slightly.
Still stayed with my other theother social group, the new one
watching the drag show.
I looked the other side of thestage and there is Jack stood
all by himself drinking hisdrink by himself, not waiting

(17:33):
for the toilet, just literallystood watching, looking
absolutely miserable.
So I'm there, I'm there lookingat him like, right, benji, in
this moment you can leave him byhimself, or what you are
looking at is your biggest fearis being in a social group and
being left on your own.
So I went in my head I was like, no, do the right thing, make
eye contact and beckon him over.

Speaker 1 (17:55):
That's really good of you because as well he is now
seeing you thrive in that socialsituation, because you've gone
into a new space and you knowpeople, so suddenly you're
chatting, chat, chat, chat.
So I would have done the same.

Speaker 2 (18:07):
So well done, yes, thank you.
And I knew the drag queen and Ijust I felt very, I felt very
comfortable where I was anyway,so I could see he was not
feeling comfortable, so made eyecontact, I smiled and I was
like I was like come over, andhe like gave me like a weird
face and I like laughed.
I was like come, like, come,join all of us, yeah.
And he was like okay, andsmiled Okay, nice, love this.
I was broken, great.

(18:27):
So he comes over and I was likeso surely now he's going to
come over and say hello to me?
He doesn't.
He comes and stands behind me.
Still, I stood there for a fewseconds like surely he's now
going to say hello?
He completely ignored me.
Again 10 minutes later, I turnaround and the guy that he was
flirting with in the group ishand is like around his back and

(18:49):
they are making out literallylike against my arm and I was
like okay, so all the things Icalled out, just literally.
I was like this is not a niceperson.

Speaker 1 (18:59):
So yeah because he was I think it's gaslighting
right, that's the termgaslighting when you were saying
hey, I think this I'm going onwith you and the guy and he's
like no, there's nothing goingon, when clearly there was
because it was building up tothat moment.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
Okay.
So this is where the eveningturns.
I then go back to watch thedrag queen and this other guy in
the group was like are you okay?
And I was like yeah, yeah, why?
And he was like oh, just, yourface just changed.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
Oh, and I've said that face before.

Speaker 2 (19:23):
So podcast is I really struggled to hide what
I'm thinking at some time,especially in those situations,
and my face clearly was likeface of thunder.
I was overthinking everythingand I was.
I was pissed off, yeah Right.
So there I was watching thisdrag queen like with deaf eyes.
He was like you've changed,like you're okay, and I just
told him the whole story that Itold you.

(19:43):
He was like, oh, my goodness,he said he has done that to me
and this other guy that was inthe group and he goes.
I know of one other personwho's not there today, but he's
also done it too Jackie, daddydog.
So me, I saw red and this is thebit that's going to shock you.

(20:04):
So I was saying I'm, I had afew beers.
I wasn't drunk by all means.
I was very much in control andI own all my actions, like
everything I did.
I still stand by it.
There was no drunken sort ofyou know mishaps and I was like
I really think I should saysomething.
And this guy was kind of eggingme on.
He was like, yeah, absolutelyhe should.
Like he's been slagging offthis other guy as well.
That I really fancy.
That's really unfair.

(20:25):
I was like, okay, that'snothing to do with me, but
clearly clearly this guy iscausing riffs.
Yeah, whatever words you want touse Sociopath, psychotic, toxic
, all the above, whatever youlike.
He was ticking all of them inmy eyes.
So me, tap, tap, tap on theshoulder.
It's like I stopped themtouching each other, like
literally Hello.

(20:46):
He turns around like smile,like oh, like a shock that I was
there.
Oh, hey, I was like hey, whyhave you been ignoring me all
night, straight in Great, callit out, call it out.
I said Jack, why have you beenignoring me all night?
He's like I haven't been.
I said no, you absolutely havebeen.
You ignore me at the last bar,you've ignored me here.
I just made the effort tobeckon you over and you still

(21:08):
didn't have the decency to comesay hello.
I said what is going on?
He was like oh well, you weretalking to all those other guys.
I thought you were trying tohook up with them.
So I just did.
I thought I just leave you toit.
I said Jack, this is a socialgroup and you haven't even said
hello.
How do you not understand?
There's something wrong withthat.
I said also you've beenmessaging me all week and I've
brought up the fact that you areflirting with this guy and

(21:29):
you've denied all of it and mademe feel like I'm psycho.
You even painted me with thebrush of being jealous when all
I'm trying to do is understandthe situation.
And he was like no, well, I'mreally sorry.
I said you are only sorrybecause I have called you out.
I said also, I know three otherpeople you've done this to, and
by this point the guy that hewas kissing was getting involved

(21:50):
the admin of the group andlistening.
I said I know three otherpeople that you've done this to,
and this guy was like what'shappening?
I was like well, xyz explained.
He was like Jack, and Jack waslike no, like just you, the
admin guy, who I won't name.
I was like no, no, I know threeother people.
I said so if you would like totake a guess of which three
people I know about, go for it.
I said but I bet you the namesare going to be different.

(22:12):
And his face is like oh well, Idon't think I have been.
I said go on, you name thethree or I will.
And so he named some names noneof the names that I knew, so
there's even more people thathe's been doing it to.
And I literally said I said you.
I said you have got to sortyourself out.
This is a gay social groupwhere people are trying to make

(22:34):
friends and you are in herefucking people over like a
psychopath, just trying to getgetting what's called a kicks of
getting people to ask you ondates.
I said you're a toxic prick andI hope I never see you again.
And he was like I'm reallysorry.
I said you're not sorry.
I said stop saying sorry,because you are only apologizing
because I've called you out infront of everyone.

(22:55):
By this point, sean and theother boys were like grabbing my
hand, like Benji, like come on,leave it now.
Leave it now, yeah, and I waslike no, no, no, I'm done, I'm
rich, I'm fine, I'm so fine.
But I was like this person.
I said you are vile.
I would never expect to dealwith someone like you in a brand
new group of like gays who areobviously all of us trying to
make friends.
You are using, you are usingand abusing.

(23:17):
So then he got, he looked alittle bit teary, not going to
lie, I mean.
I said other things which Iwon't go into, I won't repeat on
the podcast.
But then he left and the mainguy left with him and I went to
go outside and try and resolveand be like look, I'm really
sorry I popped off on you, butyou got to understand where I'm
coming from.

Speaker 1 (23:34):
But they, they left together which is bad on the
admin guy right, because he'strying to create a group of,
like a social group, and he'saware that then this is all
going on and it still goes offof that guy.
Yeah, yeah, so that's not great.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
But to give him credit I don't think he listens
to the podcast, but to give himcredit.
He then called me the next dayfor like a good hour, did he?
Yeah?
And then explained his side ofthings and actually they went
for drinks around the corner andlisten in my head.
Fine, if, if Jack neededconsoling or felt a bit shaken
by me literally ripping him anew asshole and not any good way

(24:09):
.
Even if you're like the mostvile person in the world, it
comes from somewhere and I don'twant to add to you feeling bad
about yourself Because you knowme, I I'm very fair, I'm very
honest and for so many times inthe past I've seen people
treating other people badly andI've gone home and kicked myself
and not calling them out, and Ithink it's because I was in a
brand new situation.

(24:30):
I, yeah, I acted the way that Idid.
Now I think people listening athome I agree that maybe the
terminology that I use with himI may have come across a little
bit too strong, but the mainthing I want people to take away
from telling the story iswithin the gay community we have
so many problems that we'restill trying to change.

(24:51):
We have like countries thatwould like, even from countries
in the world where you stillcan't be gay, to, even in London
, like people, people gettingstabbed for being gay.
Let's call it out.
Why the hell are we causingissues within our community?
We should always have eachother's backs big, each other up
, and it's absolutely fine ifyou're not best friends with
everyone, but do not make theirlife difficult or make them feel

(25:13):
any other way than sort ofaccepted and great, especially
if it's a brand new social group.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
Just in general.
Right, as a community we've gotto look out for each other.
You know, we are all the same,we've gone through the same
lived experiences, obviouslydifferent versions of, but I'm
sure at some point in our liveswe have experienced some sort of
homophobia, right?
So, yeah, we've got to look outfor each other and do as you
say be nice.
We don't need to be the meangirls and all of that, you know.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, so that was my social story.
That was my best attempt atmaking me friends.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
I love how it went from calling me up going oh,
brad, I don't know if I shouldgo.
I feel we nervous, got lots ofanxiety.
So then you causing drama,causing riffs, calling people
out on their behavior I love it.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
But well, people said the exact same thing.
So I put this big message inthe group like hey boys, this
group is not for me.
I'm really sorry for any angstthat I've caused.
Yeah, really long message.
I think I finished it with likeJack sought your life out.
It's a laugh.
The main admin deleted it,which I felt edited, which I did
.
I read it.
I'll let you edit me sometimes,but I don't like being edited

(26:20):
Because what I said was reallyjustified and the message was up
for what?
15 minutes at about 1am in themorning and I had 22 of the guys
message me privately Like areyou okay?
Like are you on your own?
Like I'm not in London, but ifI can help, like I don't want
you out there by yourself, yeah,like, really lovely.
And that I think that's themain reason I stayed in the

(26:40):
group, because all of a sudden Ifelt I was focusing on the good
of the group and I think, forso long with my anxiety, I
always focus on what can gowrong.
And the bad things were.
Actually we should be changingour mindset to it.
But imagine what good you couldget from this group, even if
there isn't bad as well.
Think find, find the good, findthe good things.
So, yeah, good TBC on how therest of the next meetup goes.

Speaker 1 (27:03):
Wow.
Well, you know how to makefriends.
I certainly do.
Yeah, I mean, maybe it's Stem'sfilm.

Speaker 2 (27:11):
My Childhood, who knows?
But speaking of childhood,we've got a very special guest
on the podcast this week OlliePike from Pop and Ollie he is.
You know Ollie.
We've spoken about him, I think, before off air.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
Yes, yeah, I do know Ollie.
I actually think what he'sdoing for the community is
fantastic.

Speaker 2 (27:26):
It is amazing, and actually we were at London Pride
.
Sadly we didn't see him there,but we were marching the same
Pride this year.
But, yes, so we're going totake a little break.
So go grab yourself anotherdrink, coffee, alcoholic
beverage, whatever you like, alittle snack one two and after
this break we will be back withthe very special Ollie Pike.

Speaker 1 (27:50):
Hey Brad, oh hi, benji Brad, what's on your mind?
Oh nothing, benji, justdaydreaming, I guess.

Speaker 2 (27:57):
What are you daydreaming about this time?
A thicker hairline?
Not today.
Oh then what is it?

Speaker 1 (28:03):
I just wish I could do more to support the community
without breaking the bank.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
Oh, and dreaming of true love's kiss Well you're in
luck because you can do more tosupport the community.
Really.
How?
By playing the Rainbow Lottery.
Of course, you can play from aslittle as one pound and 50% of
all tickets goes towards anLGBTQ plus organization that you
get to choose Whaaaaat.
And every week you could win upto £25,000 as well as other

(28:30):
fantastic prizes.
So when you play, you really dohelp support the community
Exactly, and I've won twicealready.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
Where can I get tickets?

Speaker 2 (28:39):
Just head over to rainbowlotterycouk.
It's super easy.

Speaker 1 (28:44):
Oh, do you think the Rainbow Lottery can also get me
true love's kiss?

Speaker 2 (28:47):
I doubt it.
Oh Play the Rainbow Lotterytoday from as little as one
pound to win big and help someincredible courses.

Speaker 1 (28:53):
The Rainbow Lottery Supporting.

Speaker 2 (28:55):
LGBTQ plus dreams.
Players must be 18 and over.
Always play responsibly, wetdreams not included.

Speaker 1 (29:06):
Okay, benji, we've had a break.
Have you calmed down a bit?

Speaker 2 (29:09):
I fully calmed down, I've had a little refresh, I've
had a bit of air and, yes, I'mready to continue with the
podcast.
But I do feel better havingshared that story with you.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
Great.
Well, no thanks for sharing.
This is a safe space and we'reall about growing and learning
here.
Speaking of growing andlearning, we've got a fabulous
guest about to come on.

Speaker 2 (29:25):
I see what you did there.
Yes, like we said before, wehave a very special Oli Pike who
he goes into the educationworld and, in his own words, he
combats LGBT plus prejudicebefore it even begins or
develops, and he stands forchildren and not born prejudice.
But it's a learned behavior andwe're very excited to have him
on my Big Gate podcast.
Please put your hands togetherfor the very special Oli Pike

(29:47):
from Pap and Oli.

Speaker 1 (29:52):
Hi everyone how's it going?
We are great.
We are so happy to have you onthe podcast today.
Thanks for taking the time tocome and join us.
You're welcome.
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 3 (30:02):
This is going to be really cool.
I feel like you guys are reallychill much as I have like a
nice little chat oh absolutelyor kiki, whatever the kids are
calling it.

Speaker 1 (30:13):
Speaking of the kids, you probably know more than us
about what's going on ineducation at the moment, because
you are out there working withthe younger generation.

Speaker 3 (30:20):
Thanks, yeah, I really am and the kids are
absolutely amazing.
They're hilarious.
I go into a lot of primaryschools and the kids they're so
unbored with the whole LGBT plusaspect of the world Great.
When I tell them aboutdifferent types of families, a
lot of them are like, yeah, yeah, how many subscribers have you
gotten, tiktok?
And I'm like, okay, first ofall, what's TikTok?

(30:44):
But you know I'm trying to getdown with it, so you know I'm
getting there.
Love that, love that.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
And is it just the primary school age range that
you cater towards?

Speaker 3 (30:53):
Yeah, I mean, that is what I'm just naturally more
passionate about, because mybackground is in children's
theatre and children'stelevision and I just fell in
love with that world.
It's so fantastical andimaginative and I just love
sharing stories with that agegroup and the fact that I can
make it LGBT plus inclusive andthat I can inspire kids to be

(31:13):
more accepting kind of adults.

Speaker 2 (31:15):
I just yeah it's my dream job.
When you first started goinginto schools, did you think
you'd have any sort of like Imean, backlash maybe is a too
strong a word, but like did youhave any idea how the kids might
react?
Like, were you sort of takenaback by how open they were to
these things?
Because obviously, when you'rea child five or six you don't
really necessarily have any sortof built-in homophobia or

(31:36):
anything like that.
So what was your sort ofexperience with it?

Speaker 3 (31:40):
Well, I think, first of all because it happened in
this for quite a while.
I've been doing this for about10 years, oh wow.
And when I first started likemaking the videos and writing
the books, I wasn't thinkingabout schools.
I was thinking more aboutsame-sex parents.
I was like, oh, this would begreat content for them.
But then what happened was isthat my videos started going
like a bit viral and thenschools were getting in touch

(32:02):
with me telling me they wereusing it in their assemblies and
their classrooms.
I was like, oh my gosh, likeare you even allowed to do that?
Because I was super naive 10years ago and I wasn't really
sure what was and what wasn'tallowed.
So, yeah, and then I was like,oh, there's clearly like a need
for this type of content.
And the company just growinggrew, I made more and more
content and kind of focusedspecifically more on schools and

(32:25):
primary children.
And, yeah, when I started goinginto the schools, I was kind of
like I think I had, you know,my arm around because, going
back into a primary school forthe first time since I've left,
I was a bit like, oh, is thisgoing to be triggering?
What's this going to be like?
But I was just kind of likereally overwhelmed with some of
the schools and how inclusivethey were and the way you know

(32:48):
the culture of the schools ingeneral was just like, oh yeah,
we welcome everyone, we've gotchildren who've got same sex
parents, and things had reallychanged since I'd been at school
and it was just amazing to seeBecause you just said like it
would be slightly triggering.

Speaker 2 (33:02):
Are you saying that?

Speaker 3 (33:03):
did you have a really bad time at primary school then
, and was that to do with sortof not understanding sexuality,
or yeah, I didn't have a reallybad time, but I think it's, you
know, a common experience forqueer adults to have had some
difficulty during primary school.
I'd like to senior school,because it's just that sense of
like I'm different, I know I'mdifferent, but I can't quite put

(33:26):
my finger on it.
That was my experience anyway,and I've actually written like a
whole video slash poem called aboy, not the same, which is
about how I felt as a child.
I kind of felt really differentfrom my friends and I felt a
lot of shame because of the toysI played with, because of the
way I wanted to dress, becauseof who I wanted to be friends

(33:46):
with, and I just know that sucha kind of like universal
experience for a lot of gaypeople, for a lot of queer
people, that was my experience.

Speaker 2 (33:57):
You said before, when we were talking to just before
we hit record that you are nowgoing into schools.
You're not only talking to thekids, but you're also talking to
the teachers, and you said theparents as well.

Speaker 3 (34:06):
Yes.
So Pop and Ollie, me and myamazing team have had a bit of a
brainwave.
You see, what we were doing iswe were going into schools and
providing workshops, talking tothe kids, sharing our videos,
really simple stuff aboutdifferent types of families,
stuff about combating negativegender stereotypes and also for

(34:29):
the older children for yearsfive and six, kind of an
introduction to what LGBT plusmeans really really basic and
received really well by thechildren and loved by the
teachers and the seniorleadership teams in the schools
as well.
But there was sometimes like alittle bit of a problem with the
parents because a lot of them,you know, they didn't have this

(34:49):
education when they was atschools.
So not many of them, but someof them were jumping to
conclusions about what we wereteaching and getting really
stressed out and we were likeyou know what?
Why don't we just nip this inthe bud and let all the parents
know exactly what we're going tobe doing in the sessions?
We shouldn't have to do that.

Speaker 1 (35:07):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (35:08):
Because heterosexual people don't have to do that.
But for this moment in time,like it's such a toxic debate,
particularly around gender andtransgender people and gender
non-conforming people, that it'slike there's just to be an open
book.
We've got nothing to hide and Ifeel like if we can just hold
the parents' hands, not all ofthem because, like a lot of them
are like yeah, this is amazing,let's do this.

Speaker 1 (35:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (35:30):
Hold some of the parents' hands and just be like
it's going to be okay.
We're teaching your childrenabout different types of people
because it's really importantthey need to know his why they
need to know and his how we'regoing to teach them Do you have
a memorable moment of a timewhen you was at a workshop and
maybe a parent had their viewschanged and came and expressed

(35:50):
that to you afterwards.
I would say I mean, we've onlybeen doing this very recently,
like the past six months, butalready we've experienced, you
know, such positivity from theparent session, with parents
being like this is really great.
I'm really grateful you'recoming in, so that's been really
lovely.
We do get the odd I like tocall them prickly parents.

(36:12):
So Jack Lynch, who is mycolleague and kind of heads up
our workshops department, theydo a really great job of like
leading these sessions and youknow, once they finish, the odd
parent might be like oh, butisn't this all like an ideology?
And Jack very kind of tactfullyexpresses how, you know, this

(36:32):
is actually their lived realitybecause they are non-binary,
they identify as they them, soit's not an ideology for them.
Sure, if that makes sense.

Speaker 1 (36:43):
It makes total sense.

Speaker 3 (36:44):
But Jack always handles it all really well,
really professionally.

Speaker 1 (36:47):
Great.
Well, it's amazing what you'redoing and, honestly, we need
people like you to go forwardand pave the way for the future
generations.
And am I right in thinkingyou've got 30,000 books sold
worldwide?
You've won awards.
It's all popping off forpoppin' Olin.

Speaker 3 (37:02):
It is popping off, but it's been like popping for
10 years.
It's been like a long journeyand I keep thinking like I'm
fresh and I'm new and you know,but actually I've been doing it
for a while, so but I am reallyproud of what we've achieved.
Yeah, like 30,000 booksdistributed worldwide.

(37:22):
We're just about to hit 10,000books donated freely to UK
primary schools, which is a lotof books that we've given away
for free.

Speaker 1 (37:32):
And is this part of your Pride in primary campaign
that you're doing it?

Speaker 3 (37:36):
is yes, nice link there.
Thanks so much, thank you.

Speaker 1 (37:41):
We did our research.
You see, when you came on, ohbrilliant, thanks, gang, so yeah
obviously my main company iscalled Poppin' Olin.

Speaker 3 (37:49):
The website is poppin'olincom, but our Nibblin
I guess I don't want to call ita sister site.
It's like a non-binary site.
Do you get what I'm going for?
Totally get it.
Our other site is calledprideinprimarycom and that's
basically a huge database ofevery single primary school in
the UK and whether they've gotcopies of our books, because our

(38:12):
aim with that is to make sureevery single primary school in
the UK has at least one LGBTplus inclusive book in their
school in their classrooms.
So what you can do is log onthere and look up your primary
school, look up your localprimary school, see if they've
got books and if they haven't,guess what you get to donate to
them.

Speaker 1 (38:31):
That is so great, so that's the campaign Because I
would love to be involved withthat, because I came from a bit
of a small town and I probablysimilar experiences to both
yourself and Benji where it wasvery suppressive of the time
where we grew up.
So to be able to make sure thatmy old primary school has got
some LGBTQ bus literature in isfantastic.

Speaker 3 (38:52):
Well, should we look it up right now?
Let's do it.

Speaker 1 (38:54):
Let's do it.

Speaker 3 (38:54):
Where is it so?

Speaker 1 (38:55):
what part of the country in Kent McKent boy back
in the day.

Speaker 3 (39:00):
Okay, so that's like Southeast, isn't it?

Speaker 1 (39:03):
Southeast.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,southeast.

Speaker 3 (39:05):
Gosh.
One thing I'm not good at isgeography.

Speaker 1 (39:07):
And art and storytelling.

Speaker 3 (39:09):
But like, yeah, Okay, so what?
So you can search for aspecific school?
Do you know the name of theschool?

Speaker 1 (39:17):
Whitfield primary.
So it's about W-H-I-T and thenfield Okay.

Speaker 3 (39:23):
Whitfield, whitfield primary.
How do you spell field?
No, I'm joking, I've got it.
Yeah, okay, I've got Whitfieldschool.
Yeah, guess what, it hasn't gothad any books donated to it yet
.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
So well, that is going to change right here,
right now, because I'm going todonate a book to my primary
school.

Speaker 3 (39:42):
Yay, thank you.
That's really cool.
You can choose like any of ourbooks to donate.
You can just donate one, youcan do.
Our most popular one, I wouldsay, is what does LGBT plus mean
?
Great, which is like anintroductory guide into what
LGBT plus means.

Speaker 1 (39:55):
I feel like, if they've not got any books,
that's probably the one to startoff with, isn't it?

Speaker 3 (39:59):
Yeah, or we've got kind of like the fairy tales as
well, which are like a nicelittle introduction into, you
know us queer folk.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
Yes, great.

Speaker 2 (40:08):
I think something for me.
I am a gunkle, I am a gay uncleand my sexuality has never,
ever come up with them.
So I've got nephews and niecesaged from about six to 16, never
spoken about it and for years,when I suddenly became an uncle,
I was terrified because I waslike I know that this
conversation is going to come upat some point.
Or they're going to say likeUncle Ben, are you going to get

(40:31):
married, do you have agirlfriend?
And all this.
But what I will say is not onceever have they gender specified
any relationship that I've beenin and that for me is so
important as a gay personBecause I was although I'm not
in education anymore, butbecause of what I went through I
was so scared that one day I'dhave to tell them this
conversation.
And I actually never have had to.

(40:52):
And I really think it's peoplelike you who are going in and
educating the youngergenerations to kind of avoid the
stigma.
It's not that I'm not proud totalk about it, it's that I'm
nervous for them and how theyprocess it, and actually we
don't.
I don't have that problem asmuch anymore.
So for me, as a gay uncle,never having to have that
conversation.
I just want to say thank youfor what you're doing, because I
really think it'sgroundbreaking and it's it's

(41:14):
actually so important, not justfor the younger generations, but
for us as well.

Speaker 3 (41:17):
Oh, that's lovely to hear and thank you, and yeah,
that is part of the reason why Ido what I do it's not just me,
I'm not like the only persondoing this.
It's, you know, everyone whoworks in inclusive education.
It's bringing so much to themovement.
There's queer teachers outthere, there's queer
headteachers, there's otherauthors and writers and

(41:38):
lecturers, and you know, it'sour kind of collective effort
that is helping to make the nextgeneration the Gen C's I'm no,
the ones below Gen C's yeah,what they called.
Is there a term for that?

Speaker 1 (41:49):
I don't know what are they.
I don't know, we'll be back toA.

Speaker 3 (41:52):
We'll be back to like Gen A right.

Speaker 1 (41:53):
Oh yeah, that would make sense yeah.

Speaker 3 (41:54):
Wow, I just liked you remember when Spice Girls
covered Generation X do youremember that?

Speaker 1 (42:01):
That's our vibe innit , that's us, that is my vibe.

Speaker 3 (42:04):
I'm not that generation.
I'm a millennial, believe it ornot.
I know I look like a Gen Z, butI'm actually millennial.

Speaker 2 (42:11):
So for people wondering obviously we did email
Pop and ask if Pop wanted tocome onto the podcast.

Speaker 3 (42:16):
But they were unavailable.

Speaker 2 (42:17):
But for people that don't necessarily know who Pop
is, could you explain so?

Speaker 3 (42:21):
Pop is this little balloon sidekick that I dreamt
up 10 years ago, and he's justnever left.
It's like you, brad.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
I'm the Pop to your Ollie.

Speaker 2 (42:33):
Yeah, I'm a Pop you.

Speaker 3 (42:37):
I mean, pop is very useful.
He's a really great littlemetaphor at times actually for
helping to explain kind of likequite complicated topics.
Like we have a video aboutdiscrimination and I say to Pop,
who's like this blue balloon?
I'm like, can you imagine ifthe shop didn't serve you
because you're blue, or thisperson didn't let you on the bus
because you're round?

(42:59):
So he's a great tool to usewithout making any children feel
othered.
Yeah, yeah, it's clever in anyparticular way, so very, very
clever.
That is Pop.
Yeah, he doesn't do any of theheavy lifting, though.

Speaker 1 (43:11):
Never around to record Polka.

Speaker 3 (43:14):
Trying to get him to do promo is like.

Speaker 1 (43:18):
And so, ollie, if you're going to write a new book
, is there like a process thatyou go through, or is it just
when inspiration hits, that'sthe next story.
Or is there a formula Like howdo you go about writing a new
story?

Speaker 3 (43:30):
Normally a lot of doodles and scrap pieces of
paper.
Yeah, I always just get like Ihave so many ideas in my head.
I'm like I should turn thatinto a story, but like I just
have to make a note of itbecause otherwise I'll forget it
.
So I have like a lot ofnotepads filled with like half
written stories, but it's kindof like the essence of an idea.
Yeah, they come to come togethereventually, and sometimes

(43:52):
they'll take years until theylike actually become something.
And then other times it'll liketake a week because I'm just
desperate to like get it out ofmy head and get it into some
sort of format that I can shareit with.
Yeah, so every process isdifferent.
However, with the moreeducational stuff we do take a
little bit longer than that,because we have an amazing head
of education called Malaynewho's been in teaching and

(44:14):
teacher training for over 20years and she works really
closely with me going throughall the content and just making
sure that it's understandablefor different age ranges, that
we're using the right language,that we're not overcomplicating
things and that the children arejust going to get the most out
of it in the clearest waypossible.

Speaker 2 (44:32):
Amazing, Great.
So we know on the podcast thatwe have a lot of listeners that
are within education theirteachers, but we also have same
gendered parents and obviouslywe grew up not really
understanding how to educate theyounger generations on this.
So for them listening, wherecan they go to sort of hear more
about you and the work that youdo and potentially get you into
their sort of their fields?

Speaker 3 (44:50):
Papanoli in general.
I would just head to ourwebsite, which is papanolicom,
which is like the hub, where youcan find everything.
You can access our books, youcan access our teacher
membership area, you can accessour digital training, find out
more about our workshops.
So that's probably the bestplace to go.
Other than that, just searchPapanoli on, like all the

(45:10):
socials, on Instagram and notTwitter, because I hate Twitter.

Speaker 2 (45:14):
Yeah, it's not even called Twitter anymore, is it?

Speaker 3 (45:17):
Oh my gosh, it's so toxic, I can't even say it, I
mean we're on there if you wantto follow us on there.

Speaker 2 (45:22):
If people went to go Google Papanoli, I guess it
would come up with all thesocial places where they can go
and follow and find out moreabout you and get in touch with
you or a member of your team.
Yes, amazing.

Speaker 3 (45:30):
And if your teacher, you know, find me on LinkedIn,
you know, so we can connectprofessionally.
I just like discovered thepowers of LinkedIn.
I'm like, oh, this is cool.
People are going to think I'mreally smart.

Speaker 2 (45:41):
But, oli, well, it's been amazing talking to you.
I thought I could actually talkto you about this sort of thing
for hours, because it'ssomething that's very close to
my heart.
But we were wondering, brad andI on the podcast, we like to
get guests on to play games, sowe were wondering if you'd like
to come back after a very shortbreak and play a little fun
retro game with us.

Speaker 3 (46:00):
I would absolutely love to do that.

Speaker 2 (46:02):
Okay, Before we take the break, I've got to ask when
you were younger, did you watchcartoons?

Speaker 3 (46:08):
I still watch them now.
Well, there we go.
I feel like you're going to bereally good at this game.

Speaker 2 (46:11):
So we're going to take a very short break, grab a
drink, and we'll be back afterthis very short break.
So, oli, welcome back.
Like we said, we have a very, avery brief fun game to play
with you Before the break.
You said that you do, in fact,still watch cartoons.
Is that right?
It is true, great.

(46:31):
Well, because of the line ofwork you're in, working with
children, we thought let's goall go back to our childhoods
and let's come up with a littlegame which we haven't actually
given a name to.

Speaker 1 (46:40):
Oh yeah, we haven't.
But, we'll brainstorm that andthen we'll announce that
afterwards.

Speaker 2 (46:46):
That's the right order to do it, in sure.
So what we're going to do iswe've got five theme tunes of
retro.
I can't believe I'm callingthem retro because to me they
still seem current, but they'renot current.
Retro shows that you may or maynot hopefully you did watch as
a kid and all you have to do istell us which ones they are.
Now it gets a little bit moredifficult because we're going to

(47:07):
play them one after the other,almost mashing them up, right,
but there are at least.
There are five that you'retrying to find.
Okay, cool.

Speaker 3 (47:15):
Can I make notes?
Am I allowed to make?

Speaker 2 (47:17):
notes.
Of course you can make notes.

Speaker 3 (47:20):
Okay, great, I'm very organised.

Speaker 1 (47:21):
Yeah, I'm serious, I'm taking this like I'm in it
to win it.
And Oli, there is actually alittle prize If you do quite
well at this game.
We thought we'd send you alittle my Big Gay podcast mug in
the post.
I love mugs.

Speaker 3 (47:33):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
Well, there's all to play for, then, oli.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
Okay, there is all to play for, so I will play these
back to back and they will crossover each other, which makes it
slightly more difficult.
Okay, but there are five.
Are you ready?
Yeah hit me.
Are you ready to play?
Insert game here.
Right, here we go.
Here is the first track.

Speaker 3 (48:01):
Easy, easy, yeah, got it.
Ah, what's that one?
I know that one.
Wait, this is going to be fastAh.

Speaker 2 (48:25):
Well, Ollie, that was all five.

Speaker 3 (48:27):
I've definitely got the first two stupid E's in, Can
I?
I just need to sing I wanna bethe fairy ghost.
No one ever was.

Speaker 2 (48:36):
We'll be back after this short break.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
Now Ollie.
This is my actually favouritePokemon.
All right, I got it.
That was Pokemon, Right, I needto hear again.
So what was?
Or do I not get to hear again?

Speaker 2 (48:51):
Don't worry yet.
Of course you do.
We're going to play them allagain.
Are you ready?
Yeah, right, here we go.
I'm going to play Pokemon.

Speaker 3 (49:07):
Come on, Huh, huh, huh, huh, huh.
Oh yeah, I know I wanna be thevery best.
What's that one?

Speaker 2 (49:30):
I'll leave this one parallel, but longer for you.

Speaker 3 (49:32):
Huh, huh, huh huh huh , huh, huh, huh, huh, huh, huh,
huh, huh, huh, huh, huh, huh,huh, huh, huh.
No, no idea, Some sort ofguitar, okay?
Huh, huh, huh, huh, huh.
These all seem very tetris.
I'm saying hey, hey, hey, hey.

Speaker 2 (49:52):
They're definitely not.
Wait, do you get this one?
I've never seen before.

Speaker 3 (49:58):
Nah, don't know that one.

Speaker 2 (50:01):
Wait for the chorus coming up, here we go.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah yeah yeah, yeah, yeah

(50:25):
, yeah.

Speaker 3 (50:26):
Avengers, Alright, okay, I was never into Power
Rangers, so that is why I didn'trecognise that that's good.
Okay so I definitely didn't get5 out of 5, but I'm very
confident I got the other 4.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
Okay, so, ollie, what was this one?
That was Little Pingu.
Okay, very good.
And the second one.

Speaker 3 (50:56):
Telly Tubbies right, that's it.

Speaker 1 (51:00):
Just a little throwback.
Do you remember back in the daywhen Telly Tubbies come out and
it was the thing I remember mysister was into it.
My mum tried to get her atinky-winky teddy bear and she
couldn't get them in the shopsbecause everyone was stealing
them out of the trolleys.
It was carnage.

Speaker 3 (51:14):
I mean Telly Tubbies is like 20 years old now as well
, which is concerning Becauseit's like how old are we?

Speaker 2 (51:21):
It's freaky.
My favourite was La, la.

Speaker 3 (51:24):
Yeah, I think that was my favourite as well.
She's kind of basic, wasn't she?
Yeah, that was the one Iidentified with.

Speaker 2 (51:33):
Right, anyway, and this was the third one.

Speaker 3 (51:38):
X-Men.

Speaker 2 (51:41):
Now, I'm sorry, X-Men cannot be referred to as
Hedgehog.

Speaker 3 (51:46):
No, you're right.

Speaker 2 (51:49):
It's a bunch of men in capsies.

Speaker 3 (51:50):
Yeah, there's a lot of fierce females in tight suits
as well, which I wanted to bewhen I was younger.

Speaker 2 (51:57):
I thought you just said there's a lot of fists.

Speaker 3 (52:00):
That's what I thought you just said there's a lot of
punching for sure.

Speaker 2 (52:04):
Oh my, okay, this took a turn.
Okay, and what was this one?

Speaker 3 (52:09):
This is Pokemon.
I can't believe I didn't getthis one.
That is Pokemon.

Speaker 1 (52:14):
Ollie, what's your favourite Pokemon?

Speaker 3 (52:16):
My favourite Pokemon.
Again, I like the really basicone, you know, the one that's
like a little egg, that's likewhat's it called?
Mitsu used to hold it.
Oh, what is that one?
I feel like you could beEgatron Togetic.
No, that's not what it's calledTogapie, is it Togapie?

Speaker 2 (52:38):
It's a new Pokemon.
That one was really cute.
Brad's got a fun story aboutPokemon, not this.
Tell us.

Speaker 1 (52:48):
Come on, brad.
Well, ollie, I once hooked upwith a guy and we somehow ended
up in role play and he waswearing a Pikachu, like for a
onesie.
It just happened, so I did havesex with Pikachu.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
Togapie.

Speaker 3 (53:01):
Pikachu.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
Wow, can I just say that was one of the first
stories we ever brought on thepodcast and we are now haunted
by Pikachu gifts.

Speaker 3 (53:10):
Whenever we upload stuff.

Speaker 2 (53:10):
People just send us Pikachu gifts.

Speaker 3 (53:13):
Remind me not to get a Pikachu onesie, but please.

Speaker 2 (53:16):
Not around.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
Brad, anyway and for number five.

Speaker 2 (53:21):
What was this one?

Speaker 3 (53:25):
Well, this was Power Rangers, but I didn't get it, do
?

Speaker 2 (53:27):
you know what I feel like you did really well and I
think you should still get inthe my Big K podcast mug.

Speaker 1 (53:33):
You're still getting the mug.
Thank you for the shit, yay,thank you.

Speaker 3 (53:38):
I mean, yeah, four out of five was pretty good.

Speaker 2 (53:41):
It was a long intro, to be fair, but also you didn't
watch Power Rangers, the GZ no,I was like it's too violent for
me.
Well, fun fact, I was obsessedwith Power Rangers and then I
wasn't allowed to watch anymorebecause I kept on beating up my
brother and sister.
Oh really, it actually made mereally violent.
What was your favorite color?
The pink one?

(54:02):
Well, it was the red one, thenthe black one came and then, all
of a sudden, I was just in lovewith the pink one.
I think that was my sexualawakening.
I was like pink is just thenext thing, I'm definitely gay.
Yeah, I think if I wasinterested, it would have been
with the pink and yellow one,yeah, but yeah, I kept on drop
kicking him in the face.

Speaker 3 (54:20):
It was all just very fast paced, wasn't it?

Speaker 1 (54:22):
It was very stressful , yes, yeah, it was high rate.

Speaker 2 (54:26):
Anyway, that was our game that we didn't give a name
to, but congratulations.
We will be sending you my biggay podcast, mug.

Speaker 3 (54:33):
I can't wait to sip from it.
So thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (54:36):
I mean, there are options for you.
You can either have the genericlogo on, or you can have a team
Benji, or you can have a teamBrad mug.

Speaker 3 (54:42):
Don't do that to me.
I'll have to message youprivately.

Speaker 2 (54:46):
I look forward to your message.

Speaker 1 (54:48):
Hey, I could be the chosen one this time.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
To be fair, there's no team Benji mugs left.
They've all sold out.

Speaker 3 (54:54):
No, I'll just get generic.

Speaker 2 (54:57):
Generic is good, all right, well, oli, thank you so
much for coming on to thepodcast.
We really do appreciate it.
Like we said before, if youwant to go follow what Pop and
Oli and Oli is doing, pleasehead over to their website it's
popandolycom, and you can findthem on various social media.

Speaker 1 (55:12):
Thank you so much for what you're doing, and you're
paving such a bright rainbowfuture for the younger
generation, and it's people likeyou that are doing that, so
thank you for that.

Speaker 2 (55:22):
Because one day these people will be leading the
country and they will be fullyeducated on everything they need
to.
So, yeah, what you're doing isincredible.

Speaker 3 (55:28):
I know we've had a lot of fun today, but I just
want to make sure everyone knowsI do take my work very
seriously and no doubt they'llsee that when they log on to my
website and see what we'vecreated and thank you for
letting me platform it today onyour platform, so really
appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (55:44):
Pleasure and I'm definitely going to be going on
to the Pride in primary campaignthat you're running and donate
in a book.
I think that's such a greatidea.

Speaker 2 (55:52):
Thank you, I'm going to be doing everything and
hopefully we will.
Maybe we'll meet you face toface.

Speaker 3 (55:57):
Finally, one day, very soon.
I'd love that.
Yes, yeah, let's do it.
That would be great.
Okay, ciao.
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (56:07):
Bye, we'll play you the big dirty bangers to track
you out of bed.

Speaker 2 (56:37):
We'll see you next week.
We'll see you next week.

Speaker 1 (56:42):
So look at us, we are on the wholesome journey.

Speaker 2 (57:13):
We're on the way to the big gay podcast.
We're always looking for fun,refreshing stories and places to
go which are supportive of thequeer community, so if you have
anything you'd like to write inwith, please do, and if you're
thinking I wish I had myself formy big gay podcast mug like Oli
Pike.

Speaker 1 (57:28):
Well, you're in luck because you can head over to our
website and purchase one.
Any sale of my life we putstraight back into the podcast.
So it's like the circle of lifeyou know, you give, we give.
It keeps going.
Everyone's a giver.
Wow.

Speaker 2 (57:44):
Okay, but like I said , that is all your time from
this week's episode Until nexttime.
See you next.

Speaker 1 (57:51):
Wednesday Right mate.

Speaker 2 (57:52):
Before we finish we really need to talk about your
puns and how to actually befunny because they're not
acceptable.
What when I said it's allpopping off in the comments and
how to actually be funny becausethey're not acceptable.

Speaker 1 (58:03):
Yeah, I was creasing up at myself saying that.

Speaker 2 (58:07):
Yeah, on your own.
So please can we workshop yourjokes next time.
But don't forget, before we go,you need to head over to his
website so you can donate thosebooks to your old school.
Just make sure, when you go tothe top, pop it in your basket.
Also, I don't know if you foundOli on Instagram.
He's actually a really gooddancer.
If you scroll down, you canwatch this video of him popping
and locking and jamming andbreaking.

(58:28):
Anyway, mate, I've got to go.
I'm absolutely starving, so I'mgoing to go pop a pizza on your
oven.

Speaker 1 (58:36):
Oh, and for dessert, are you going to treat yourself
to a lolly pop?