Everyone has a story to tell... you just need to ask the right questions
ABOUT THE
You’ve done nearly 100 episodes of your podcast The Joe Marler Show with broadcaster Tom Fordyce and it has hit three million downloads and counting. Has the success surprised you?
I still can’t believe it. I thought we would do four or five episodes and it was a misguided dream of Tom’s and producer Steve Jones.
Tom told me he wanted to do a different type of podcast asking people about their different jobs and I thought ‘Why not give it a try?’.
Everyone has a story to tell... you just need to ask the right questions.
Tom was a sports writer for the BBC and interviewed me in Japan in 2019 when he was covering the tournament. I got on well with him and he was part of That Peter Crouch Podcast. I was a big fan and that and when he and Steve set up The Crowd Network they got in touch about doing a podcast together.
Do you love the weird and wonderful facts that have come to light during the podcasts?
They are great. One of my favourites comes from a marine biologist and is that the Peacock Mantis Shrimp has a punch quicker than a 22-calibre bullet and is so powerful and fast that it can boil the water around itself.
Also that we know more about space than the deep blue.
Hotel managers also revealed the most commonly stolen item from hotel rooms is batteries from the TV remote control. People obviously want to get their money’s worth and nick the AAAs.
You’ve had everyone from pest controllers and astronauts to surgeons and flight attendants on the show. Which episodes stand out for you?
There are so many. The marine biologist was more prepared than we were when he came on the show. He asked if it was alright if he used his notebook. (Laughs) We thought ‘these are the guests we want on’.
I loved Paddy, the homeless guy. His story was really hopeful – they way he had turned his life around, had got housing sorted and was expecting his second child with his partner.
We also had refugee Gulwali Passarlay on recently. His was an incredible story, sad and emotional, and he spoke at around 100 miles an hour. He told how he had been hunting for his brother for eight or nine years and thought he was dead.
He eventually found him and the first words he said to him were ‘Oh, my god, you look so fat’. That for me was brilliant.
How do you manage to fit in rugby, the podcast and family life?
We tend to do podcast camps and have six to eight guests in to interview through the day just to accommodate my schedule with rugby, fit in with the four kids, my day job and spending time with my wife.
There were times during lockdown when the four kids would be running around the house and I’d be doing the podcast and telling my wife I was working.
Do your team mates tease you when you also appear on TV shows like A League of Their Own, Question of Sport and Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel?
I’ve done The Wheel a couple of times and some bits and bobs. I just love doing television and I’m no shrinking violet. I’m a bit of a performer and I like going out there.
I like saying yes to different opportunities and meeting people, even if sometimes they are not always great experiences. (Laughs)
I just have to give my team mates the frown if they start ribbing me, but I’ve fired enough shots myself over the years so I can’t complain if they fire some back.
What was the reaction to your TV documentary about dealing with your depression?
I’ve openly spoken about my struggles with mental health and when lockdown happened it helped to continue to do the podcast.
I prefer to meet people in real life and get that proper connection, but we were still able to listen to people’s stories. I did the documentary Big Boys Don’t Cry for Sky TV and got nothing but positive reactions afterwards.
That was quite a scary thing for me to do. The night before it was released I was asking ‘Can we pull that back and not put it out?’ and they were saying it was a little bit late for that.
But, as soon as it went out, a couple of team mates reached out to me.
It helped me talking about it and I wanted it to help anyone who might have been feeling the same way I had.
Are you now looking forward to performing the podcast live?
We are doing a live show at the end of September in front of around 700 people and we sold out in seven or eight hours. (Laughs) I thought we would struggle to even sell 100 tickets.
It’s nice to know that people love listening to other people’s stories.
The Joe Marler Show is available on all major podcast providers and can be seen live at Clapham Grand September 27. Go to gigsandtours. com for further details
RUGBY STAR JOE MARLER CHATS WITH MARION McMULLEN