Saturday, 6 February 2021

Totally Wrong WhatsApp Messages - The Wrap Up #26

A deep dive into the viral Handforth Parish Council drama, the launch of a new male mental health book, and the complexities of modern fatherhood.

Being FineAberfan disasterHandforth ParishBrockmireSpice GirlsValentine's DayTeam Super Dad
By The Jonnie Jensen Show | 1h 5m listen | 21 chapters
Totally Wrong WhatsApp Messages - The Wrap Up #26 cover

About this episode

Johnny Jensen and Glenn reflect on the launch of Being Fine: The Other F-Word, a new book featuring sixteen male authors addressing mental health, miscarriage, and bankruptcy. The discussion highlights the importance of male vulnerability and the psychological benefits of side-by-side communication during activities like driving or climbing. Special guest Eddie the Eagle Edwards joined the book launch event to support the mission of breaking the stigma surrounding men's emotional struggles.

Glenn details his experience teaching the 1966 Aberfan disaster to his daughter, emphasizing the power of emotive language in historical education. The conversation shifts to the viral Handforth Parish Council Zoom meeting and the specific power dynamics of local government. Additional topics include the dark comedy of the Amazon Prime series Brockmire, the inclusive philosophy of FA coaching badges, and the graphic nature of Northern English WhatsApp group culture. Johnny Jensen recounts his early career aspirations inspired by broadcaster Richard Bacon and a humorous grooming mishap involving a photo of Jason Donovan.

Memorable moments include Glenn describing his plan to have his ashes launched into the stratosphere via a weather rocket and a detailed recap of a twenty-stop London treasure hunt proposal. The hosts debate the merits of the Spice Girls in the nineties versus today, with Glenn favoring Geri Halliwell and Johnny sticking with Mel C. Johnny Jensen also shares a cringe-inducing story about a teenage lingerie gift gone wrong in front of a girlfriend's family.


CHAPTER 01 / 21 Discussion

Team Super Dad Introduction and Modern Fatherhood Philosophy

Johnny Jensen introduces the Team Super Dad podcast, framing it as a community for modern fathers to improve their fitness, finances, and family relationships. He shares his personal journey through a marriage breakdown and mental health struggles, positioning the program as an antidote for dads feeling stuck. The segment establishes the show's mission to lift up "awesome blokes" doing their best for their families.

team super dad· johnny jensen· hero academy· fatherhood· mental health

00:01 Hey, it's Friday. It's the wrap-up. It's that time of the week when you're here with Team Super Dad. No pre-roll, no little thing, but I have created this. So I'll see you on the other side. Where's the button? Come on. Do that on the other side. Welcome to Team Super Dad. Real dads creating their best lives ever. More time, more money, more fun. You are not alone. You're on Team Super Dad. Hey, Glenn. How American is so, so American. I've got to say. You know, we know our target demographic here.

00:48 That's because you think the Americans think that the British accent is sophisticated. That's the market we're going to do. There's a reasons. There's reasons to the madness. When I did the podcast, the podcast started about two years ago. And I needed to put it all together quickly, right? And the quickest way I could get the intro done was on Fiverr. And the guy who was like least awkward to deal with was actually a really cool guy. He turned it around quickly, but he's like, what style do you want? This is the style. They all sound quite similar. I love the professional thing. So you've got this really cool, like slick American intro. And then you're like,

01:33 where's the button? Where's the button? Where's my big red button? Hang on. We're bringing the buttons back in. No, anyway, listen, before we get deep into this, this is the wrap-up. Glenn and I, aka Glenn, aka the dating dad, and me, Johnny Jensen, creator and founder of the Team Superdad community and the Hero Academy program. We do this at the end of the week. We celebrate the end of our week. Just because that's what we used to do in the pub. And that's what we still like to do now, I think. By the way, when you said the Hero Academy, I genuinely thought you were going to say, and me, Johnny Jensen, the hero that you all deserve.

02:16 When I Tommy Cooper it on stage in 20 years time, that's what they say. Wasn't the one you wanted. Definitely wasn't the one hero you wanted, but you deserve this one. And that says more about you than it does about us. Look, you're pretty much on brand there, basically. Team Super Dad is all about revealing the hero, the hero in for us dads. We're shopping, we're cleaning, we're basically being modern dads. And too many are going around unhappy and struggling with their focus and their fitness and their finances, inner turmoil. And really then not being the best they can for their family, not having the best relationships, not having enough fun with their mates.

02:56 And so Team Super Dad, that was my story. That was my journey. And coming out the other side of what ends up being the marriage breakdown and my pretty much mental breakdown, I was like, hang on a minute. This wasn't the plan. And so Team Super Dad has been created as an answer to that, as an antidote to that for modern dads. Because blind me, if it's not Donald Trump doing us all a disservice, it's some doofus dad who's done one. And the reality is that right through the middle are millions of really awesome blokes doing a really awesome job. And that's what we're here to do is lift them all up and have a flipping great life. Living our best life ever, not the life we feel stuck in.

CHAPTER 02 / 21 Discussion

Upcoming Show Topics and Brockmire Series Recommendation

The hosts preview the evening's agenda, including discussions on dodgy WhatsApp messages, Valentine's Day, and the 90s pop culture segment featuring the Spice Girls. Glenn reports back on binging the first two seasons of the television series Brockmire following a recommendation from the previous week. They also mention the launch of the book Being Fine, which focuses on male mental health.

brockmire· spice girls· valentine's day· whatsapp· being fine

03:41 Oh, hell yeah. I'm not the dodgy horse from the never-ending story. I'm Falco. You know, I'm going to be flying above that shit. Good, good references. We're not just about pop references. We're not just about pop references. We can do culture as well. Well, on the subject of culture, before we get into our weeks, a little rundown of tonight's show. We've got dodgy WhatsApp messages, particularly for all of our northern friends out there. Setting my dad up. Oh, mate. I mean, even the mere mention of those words. If my kids ever mention those words, then I'm in trouble. It's okay. It's not quite like it sounds. Valentine's Day is on the horizon, which we can discuss how we feel about that. Hot in the 90s, our little regular special.

04:26 We're going Spice Girls this week. We're going Spice Girls. For those that were here last week, you might have heard me recommend Brock Meyer to Glenn. And he has now consumed the first two series in a whole week. Oh mate, I've got so much, so much to say. Okay. And yeah, and being fine, you know, as our regular listeners and watchers will know, we do touch on a serious subject for a little bit, just to make sure that all us dads, all us men are being looked after. And following on from the being fine reference. last week and male suicide, I actually was part of the book launch because I've contributed to that book. And again, although it's a serious subject, quite funny. Everything's funny about my life, isn't it?

CHAPTER 03 / 21 Discussion

Homeschooling Challenges and the Aberfan Disaster Curriculum

Glenn describes a busy week of work and homeschooling his children, covering topics ranging from the solar system to algebra. He reflects on teaching his 16-year-old daughter about the 1966 Aberfan disaster in Wales, focusing on the emotive language and personification used in essays about the tragedy. The discussion highlights his passion for the power of words and language in conveying human experience.

homeschooling· aberfan disaster· biltong· language· education

05:09 It's just one big car crash. And also, tying into the topic of tonight, when I grow up, which blind me, we've got, I've got so many, I've got like 25 things on here. So it's a good job we do this every week. Glenn, how has your week been, sir? It's been magnificent, yet busy as hell. By the way, sorry, if you hear any squeaks, this chair, I swear the longer I've been kind of using it for the start of the year, it just creaks. And you can't hear it. Every now and then it will sound like I'm farting. And it's like, no, honestly, this is just a squeak. But no, it's been good. It's been a really, it's been a hard week at work, I've got to say.

05:53 Tons and tons of deadlines and exciting stuff at work. I won't go into too much detail because, you know, work is a facet of life. It isn't life. But it's been exciting. It's been really good, really positive. And I've been trying to find a couple of people. I've been actually trying to get a couple of my mates that I've worked with before to join my company. I've never done that before. It's always thought, let me keep my powder dry for when I've found somewhere worthwhile. And actually, where I'm at right now, and I'm not going to big them up because, you know, no one's interested in that, but I really want, we do really cool stuff. And so I want to get really good people to come work with me. So, yeah, I've been spending a week trying to convince people to come and come and join my company. And it's, they're all setting me down. I've got visions of the three amigos, you know, when they

06:39 genuinely, genuinely. There were two people I used to work with at one of my previous companies. And what I said, I want to, I want to get not just want to get the band back together, I want to get the three amigos back together. So, yeah, I'm kind of making offers to them and saying, look, come and come and do cool things. Help the public sector, do what you do best. But it's good, but it's long. So we're recording late today, which is why I'm already a bottle of wine in. Because I've just been, yeah, it's what? 10 o'clock at night, and I've only recently finished work. So it's hard, but I wouldn't do this unless I enjoyed it. But I've been homeschooling as well. This week, I've been covering everything from the solar system, why we have days and nights, through to algebra for seven-year-olds, through to the Aberfen disaster in Wales, where a waste heap

07:28 kind of destroyed a school, and helping my eldest to understand the text of some essays that were written around it, to understand the emotive language in that and so on. And I'm a language, I want to say, I'm not a scholar at all. God, I don't know how, I don't know the facts about anything, but I love words. I love language. I love the ability for these little squiggles on these little squiggles on dead tree bits actually can get an idea out of my brain into someone else's brain. So this is squiggles that someone's put on a page from 1968 or whatever it was, or in the 60s, they wrote something which I've read, which has put an idea in my brain, which I've then interpreted to try and help my 16-year-old daughter understand the concept of personification of fate,

08:19 of challenge, of heartbreak, of death, of tragedy. And that can't happen unless it's through words. And so it's been a real journey of homeschooling through this week that I've absolutely enjoyed. And I've also taught my eldest son how to make Biltong. So I've just been eating a shit ton of beef this week. He's got the beef swear. Amazing. Amazing. Loved it. How about you? How's your week been? You got really passionate then. You're like the proper teacher and you came out. Well, it's weird because I'm never going to claim to be a teacher. Those guys work way harder. Oh, they're saints. If I was a teacher, I'd be up on flipping child abuse. Yeah, I didn't even. I did punch him, but I mean,

CHAPTER 04 / 21 Discussion

Youth Work Career and the Light Bulb Moment

Glenn reflects on his decade-long career as a youth worker, ranging from the British Youth Council to working with high-risk youth facing expulsion. He describes the "light bulb moments" when a young person finally connects with a concept or piece of advice. He expresses pride in a former student who went on to found a youth work charity, validating his years of purposeful work.

youth work· british youth council· mentoring· charity· career

09:05 he wound me up all morning and I just sorry. But no, I used to be, I spent about a decade and a bit working as a youth worker. So working with the not just, so some of it was working with the high-end British Youth Council kids who were going to go on to do amazing things. And then part of it as well was working. I'll be honest, I'm not even exaggerating here with the little shits who were getting kicked out of school because they were stabbing people. I worked with every swathe of that. And there was always these wonderful, beautiful moments where you'd be training, you'd be doing a session, and I called them the light bulb moments where you'd say something. And all of a sudden, you see this. It's this look of their face where they're like,

09:47 oh yeah, I get that. And you'd see these kids, whether they were little shits or whether they were high-end. future prime ministers or whatever, you'd see them and you'd see this something you had said had made a difference and had opened up something in their lives that had opened up a question or given them an answer or helped them to think something through. And that moment, oh, it's intoxifying. It's so amazing to feel like you've been able to help someone through something. And that I'm not a teacher of like maths and English and so on, but I do like the fact that I was trained to be kind of a supporter and a mentor and a guide.

10:26 And I know that some of those, someone, one of those kids has gone on to found a youth work charity that's helped hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of kids. And he wouldn't have done that if I hadn't been part of his upbringing and education and stuff network. And that moments like that just mean that everything I did back then for that entire 10, 15 years was just, it was worthwhile. And I'm so proud of him. Even though I never get to see him these days, I'm so proud of everything he's achieving. Yeah, epic. I love that. I mean, everyone should do some kind of purposeful work at some point in their life. And I don't mean should like you're a shit if you don't, but what I mean is you should because you just feel that stuff coming back, the thing that you didn't know, you didn't know you were going to get from it when you started, but you get as much from it back as you're giving out.

CHAPTER 05 / 21 Discussion

FA Coaching Badges and Inclusive Youth Football Philosophy

After his son expressed interest in football, Glenn earned his FA coaching badges to lead a local team. He contrasts his inclusive coaching style with other coaches who focus solely on winning and talent. His philosophy prioritizes character, respect, and teamwork over athletic ability, ensuring every child has the opportunity to enjoy the sport regardless of their skill level.

football· fa coaching· youth sports· teamwork· coaching

11:16 And that is the purposeful work stuff. Totally. I mean, for a little while, my son wanted to play football. He wanted to be part of a football team. And he didn't have, there was no coaches around that we were able to spare the time. So got speaking to his local club and they said, all we need is some coaches. So actually, I put my hand up and I volunteered to be his football team coach. I've done my FA coaching badges. I'm a qualified coach. It's all crap. But I knew looking at his teammates, none of them are going to be professionals. They were all a little bit shit to one degree or another. But they absolutely love playing football. And they loved it.

12:01 They loved being around their mates. And yes, most of the, most of the other, in fact, pretty much every other coach was, it was all about winning, all about victory. It doesn't matter who you are. If you're crap at football, I'm kicking you out of my team. And my whole shtick was, I'm never going to kick someone out for being crap. I'll kick you out if you're an arrogant little prick. I'll kick you out if you think you're better than you are. I'll kick you out if you don't work for the team and if you don't respect the coaches, if you don't respect the referee, if you're nasty, if you're not good at school, if you don't try hard, all that sort of stuff, by all means, I'll be hard on, but never on ability because every kid deserves to enjoy

12:38 themselves playing football. And so my whole thing was, it was using football as an excuse to do youth work and to help them and coach them and support them and teach them teamwork and life skills and communication and this togetherness that football allows you to bring. And I hate the fact that most football is only about winning. It's only about who's good at football, who's bad at football. No, it's not. It's about enjoying yourself, having fun and being part of a team. And I bloody miss it, I've got to say. Well, another parallel for us, Glenn. I've done the same with my boy. I didn't lead the team, but when shortly after we split up,

CHAPTER 06 / 21 Discussion

Being Fine Book Launch and Male Vulnerability

Johnny Jensen discusses his contribution to the book Being Fine: The Other F-Word, which features stories from 16 male authors regarding mental health struggles. He describes the Zoom launch event and the importance of men sharing experiences with miscarriage, bankruptcy, and loss to break the stigma of silence. The book is presented as a low-barrier tool for men to help friends who may be struggling.

being fine· mental health· amazon· vulnerability· suicide prevention

13:24 Jago started playing football and then I started helping out the guy that was leading the team that we joined. I was like, I'll help you. Exactly the same thing. It gave me a sense of purpose to run around and see them all having a laugh. So yeah, epic. Oh, man. And you got your badges. Absolutely brilliant. Well, my week, my week, a couple of funny things, a couple of rather difficult things as well, but that's not so much fun. But so the book that I was in, right, Being Fine, which actually goes live today, I mean, if it's basically, we'll do this as our little series, but normally this in the middle, but Being Fine is a book that's come out. It's called Being Fine, the Other F-word. And it's about men's mental health problems.

14:07 And this sort of gets banded around quite a lot. And you see coaches talking about it. And it also gets a bit boring. But this book, I got approached by the woman whose publishing company has produced this book. It's called Being Fine, the Other F-Word. And I talked a little bit about it last week, but the funny thing was the launch happened last week. I've got a picture on it here. I'm going to bring the picture up for those watching the live. Do a little share screen, share screen, click that. Check out who was with us on the live. Is that the eagle? Oh, God, I'm jealous of that.

14:47 That is amazing. So, so we're doing the launch, right? There's like 50 to 60 people on the Zoom launch, obviously, all around. We're doing the Australian one next week, but all around all around the world. All the different authors, 16 male authors, two female authors, all about the tough times and bouncing back from it all. And so, Joe goes to me, I'll put that back on. Anyway, yeah, that's that's Eddie the Eagle Edwards, a British Olympic ski jumper and all-round good guy. So, um, Joe rings me up about two o'clock in the afternoon, and the uh, and the launch was at six o'clock.

15:25 She goes, I've picked your name out of the hat, and I was like, Oh, brilliant, what have I won? She goes, You're reading one of the ex you're reading an excerpt from the book tonight of the launch. I was like, Oh, okay, which one? She goes, She goes, You can choose. So, tell me you read your own one. You must have read your own one. No, that was the condition. You're allowed to read your own one. No, I know. I was like, Oh, brilliant. Love to talk about myself. She goes, You can't read your own one. So, then I have to, I got to put the phone down. I said, Oh, that's brilliant. Thanks for choosing me, right? Don't get off the phone. I'd not read the book. But you can read, can't you? You can read work. No, I know. For all my audible loving, by the way, you know, go and get your audible voucher from.

16:09 No, I haven't actually got an audible voucher. You need one, you need one. No, I should start getting some, what do they call it? Like affiliate name. Yeah, affiliate. We'll get some affiliates going on to pay for our booze, basically. No, so she goes, Yeah, so you know, you have to read the book, but it's only 120 pages long, right? So, this is a series of short stories. And I'll tell you, the amazing thing is, as I read through it, bloody moving blokes from builders to billionaires, not kidding, that's literally it, isn't it, right? Motivational speakers, me, you know, marketing bloke, turned dad coach. Um, and whatever the story is, you're reading it, you're like, okay, yeah, okay, he was married, he was this, he was a ski jumper, blah, blah, blah.

16:46 And then they go, and then this happened, and you're like, boom, something really harsh happens. And the amazing thing was, though, that the experience after that bad thing happened was pretty much consistent. So, for any men listening to this, it's the classic thing that men do is, oh, no one will understand. I can't talk about it. Like, it's just me. I'm the only one struggling. No one else has ever had a miscarriage. No one else has ever lost a brother. No one else has ever gone bankrupt. Like, guess what? Loads of us have. And the best thing you can do is bloody talk about it. So this book, Being Fine, it's transformational as well as inspirational because you've got everyday guys. And it's not like a self-help book or a, you know, how to be brilliant. It's just, I was an ordinary bloke going about my life and then this happened.

17:30 And amazing. Really amazing. So if you check it out on Amazon, Being Fine. And someone said at the end of one of the people, like the guests, they said, What should we do if we've got a friend in our life who we know is struggling? And actually, it sounds a bit trite to say, oh, well, go and get them this book, but it's a really low barrier way to say, have a read of this because I think you might get something out of it. And then another bit of advice I gave was be yourself. Don't like go, oh, I can't talk about that. I don't know what to do. Don't suddenly start throwing them Samaritan numbers at them, although that can help. And we have mentioned a couple of numbers in the past episodes. But my mate, when I was struggling, he took me climbing because that was what he could do.

CHAPTER 07 / 21 Discussion

Side-by-Side Communication and Eddie the Eagle

The hosts discuss the psychological benefit of "side-by-side" communication, noting that men often find it easier to have frank discussions while driving or climbing rather than face-to-face. Johnny mentions that British Olympic ski jumper Eddie the Eagle Edwards was a guest at the book launch. They briefly touch upon the 2016 biographical film about Edwards' life and career.

eddie the eagle· communication· climbing· psychology· mental health

18:10 That's what he was good at. And he goes, oh, let's go and climb a mountain. And he paid for the flipping hotel and just it got me into his world. And we had a weekend where I was just free of the struggles that I was going through at the time. I guess also it takes you out of your normal situation, which gives you the freedom to kind of like think about the challenge that you're facing from a different angle. And something like that is perfect as well, because I've read somewhere. One of the kind of common things is many more couples have honest and frank and open discussions whilst driving because they're both sitting facing forward. You're both facing forward and you're not facing each other. There's no adversarial nature. It's

18:55 both traveling in the same direction and you're both doing something like at the same time. And you can have those discussions because it's not facing each other and facing off like in a battle. And something like something like climbing. No, I could set up for an audio experience. This is after hours. This is all guns are all better. But climbing, I'm guessing as well, is one of those things where whether you're climbing on auto-belay ropes, which you can both climb next to each other, or whether one of you's climbing and then you come down, the other one climbs.

19:33 You're both able to have those conversations without having to have that awkward face-to-face, where do I look? What do I say sort of moment? Yeah, totally. And you're not getting pissed. there's a time and a place for that, but sometimes it's you know, anyway. Point being, it's just real life dads, real life men, real life stories, and totally relatable. And Eddie the Eagle, I was watching it, right? Let's just bring that back up, right? Because I'm sat there, you know, the whole thing's going on, and I'm like, who's the bloke bottom left? He didn't half look like Eddie Eagle. And then Joe says, and now I bring on my special guest, Eddie the Eagle Edwards. And you didn't expect him to be there. No, no, top bloke, not surprisingly, top bloke, top bloke.

CHAPTER 08 / 21 Discussion

Boyhood Dreams of Space and the Big Send-Off

Glenn shares his lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut, acknowledging that his path now likely requires Elon Musk levels of wealth or a post-mortem trip. He has instructed his children to launch his cremated ashes into the stratosphere via a weather rocket. Johnny mentions a business idea called "The Big Send-Off" for creative ash disposal, referencing a famous scene from The Big Lebowski.

astronaut· elon musk· ashes· space· big lebowski

20:17 I mean, what a story. Yeah, we haven't got time to go into too much detail, but no, movie, see the movie. No, I know the movie. There's fictionalized elements of it and all, but still, it's a brilliant movie. I loved it. No, he said about 70-75% bob on. He said, anyway, it's a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. So, yeah, anyway. Oh, yeah. Boyhood dreams. Let's talk about boyhood dreams, right? This came up for me. I got asked it on a podcast this week. I've been a podcast guest on about two or three different podcasts this week. One called Nacho Kids. Right. She's a stepmom. So she goes, Nacho Kids. Oh, right. Yeah, yeah, no, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah. So that was pretty cool. And then another one with a lady called Tracy Keimberg.

21:01 And that was all kind of healing. And she was talking about people breakup and people moving on. And so it was that she's doing a special sort of series on that. So I've been on these on this podcast. Brilliant. And I asked about boyhood dreams. What did you want to be when you were growing up, Ben? Me, astronaut. Well, without hesitation. And I'll be honest, it's not even when I was growing up, still want to be an astronaut. The difference is, I now know that you can't be an astronaut just by being like really, really smolderingly good looking. Because obviously that's what I am. But you also, I'm not a scientist, so I'm not going to be able to get onto a sort of space shuttle or something.

21:42 So the only thing I can do is hope for Elon Musk levels of wealth at some point. That's the only way I'm going to end up in space. Although that being said, I've made my kids, and they know this, they're well rehearsed on this. They've promised me that when I die, you know, in the next couple of years, when I die, they're going to cremate me and stick my ashes into a weather rocket and take me up in a proper weather into the stratosphere. Yeah, and they're going to put a little camera on it so they can prove that I was up there. And so, because I want to be in outer space at least once in my existence. So I always wanted to be an astronaut. Yeah. I had an idea for a company.

22:22 I had an idea for a company. And this is probably, it turns out they do exist, right? But it was called the big send-off, right? And it was basically you could have your ashes put inside a rocket and fired off somewhere or some random thing done with your ashes. It turns out in America, there's like there's loads of these things. No, the big send-off. That's my business. Never started it, but probably made more money than I am now. Yeah, the big send-off. Have you ever seen The Big Labowski? Of course, everyone wants to see the Big Bowski. I love that bit at the end. He throws the ashes out and the wind blows it straight back in his face. So what did you want to be when you're growing up? Racing driver.

CHAPTER 09 / 21 Discussion

Career Aspirations and Richard Bacon Anecdote

Johnny discusses his early ambitions to be a TV presenter, which led him to leave a prestigious grammar school for a radio and journalism course. He compares his path to that of broadcaster Richard Bacon, whom he admires for balancing humor with serious journalism. Johnny recounts a radio interaction where Bacon jokingly asked to be invited to Johnny's first best man speech.

richard bacon· tv presenter· journalism· drama· radio

23:01 Like Formula One. No, mainly a rally driver. My dad was a co-driver for Lancia and Ford and so I wanted to be a rally driver or a TV presenter. And I wanted to be a TV presenter. I mean, CBDC sort of thing. Yeah. I wanted to, I was, I was at an awesome grammar school, like one of the historic grammar schools of Great Britain or whatever. And at 16, I left and went to a shitty college because they had a City and Guilds radio and journalism course. And I was like, yeah, I'm going to go and be a TV presenter. But the stupid thing was, I was too embarrassed to talk about it.

23:42 So like, obviously. Come on. If you're going to be a TV presenter, you have to have an entire lack of self-embarrassment. Utter confidence, yeah. But here's the thing about people. The people that end up as Radio One DJs and stuff, when they were at school, they were the freaks that ran the acting association or the or the or the uh or literally the the radio. I was the only guy in the, I was the only, only boy in her entire year. I used to get all the lead roles because no one else did drama. And it all were hot women. Oh, good tactics. No, no, no, I wouldn't say hot women. These were these. Okay. I went to a school in East London. Oh, okay. So, yeah, I wasn't. I did drama at GCSE.

24:24 I was in the choir. I was also. See, it's weird. I was mentioning this to someone today. So, yes, I was in the drama club, the school choir, the school council, the student support. I set up the entire student support thing. So they're all geeky things. things. I was a librarian for a while. I was in the poetry club. I used to love the computer. I was in the chess club and that sort of thing. But equally, I was in the football team. I was vice captain. I was a captain of the cricket club and I was on our school running team. So I kind of straddled those weird worlds of you were bridging the void. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What fucking good has that done me? That's rubbish. I'm not Richard Bacon.

25:08 He has stolen. I say he has stolen. There we go. You could have been Richard Bacon. All I needed to do was get into cocaine. Richard Bacon definitely ran the drama club or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. That man has got my job. He's got he's got a job that I could I could do and I could thrive at I could love. So yeah, Richard Bacon, I'm coming. He actually, once he invite, he asked for me to invite him to my first ever best man speech. I dialed into a radio show once and yet when you just kind of chatting and chatting and chatting, it was like I don't XFM or something like that. And I dialed in for some sort of radio competition and you just end up chatting and chatting and talking. And by the end, it was like, you know what? I want you. Promise me you're going to invite me. When you do a best man speech, invite me along.

25:53 I want to be there. I promise I'll be there. And did I bollocks? So Richard, what's happened after his cocaine bust and Daily Mail exposure? No, no, he's brilliant. That was decades ago. No, I know that, but I don't. No, I know, but he used to be on 5 Live. And I don't know. Yeah, he's a Radio 5 staple and Radio 4. And he's a regular DJ. He's a dude. He's a dude. Yeah, I like him a lot. I think he's got that kind of ability to both be fun and kind of light-hearted, but equally, he can be serious. He can take people to party.

CHAPTER 10 / 21 Discussion

Haircut Disasters and the Jason Donovan Reference

The hosts share humorous stories about grooming failures, including Johnny taking a photo of Jason Donovan to a hairdresser in the 90s. Glenn discusses his plan to buzz his own hair at home despite the risks of using clippers without professional help. They joke about the "landing strip" effect and other common DIY haircut mistakes made during their youth.

jason donovan· haircut· grooming· barbers· 90s fashion

26:33 He knows guys. He knows guys. Oh, I tell you, this is kind of related, right? But I once, in my days of wanting to be a TV presenter, I once took a picture of Jason Donovan to the hairdressers. But I cut Jason Donovan's face out. So the hairdresser goes to me, he goes to me, he goes to me, you do realize I know who that is. You do realize I'm not a miracle worker. I know, I had a lot of hair. No, I'm sitting there, I'm looking at you, and all I can do is I want to Photoshop

27:19 a picture of Jason Donovan's hair from the 90s onto your current face. That's what I held up like a fuzzy felt. I was like, a fuzzy felt, can you do this? If I hold it far in front of me, can you get an idea? No. I'll talk about hair. That's something I'm going to be doing. I was going to do it tonight, but I've probably had too much wine. But I'm going to, I've decided I need to get rid of some of my hair. I've got too much hair. So I'm actually going to do some home. Like, I'm going to buzz it at the back and like do something at the top to make it shorter. I can't be doing with this much hair. It's too much. Surely your 16-year-old can get that. Surely. Like I'm going to trust her with a blade anywhere near my exposure. No, I know you're not going to go. You're not going to go flipping.

28:00 No, no, no. You've got your hair clippers, surely. Oh, she'll still cut me. She's, she's. She'll cut me, Mick. Cut me, Mick. She's eat. And she's been waiting. She's been waiting to get you for years. Well, listen, I've got some clippers. I'll bring them around for you. Well, I've got beard trimmers, although it doesn't look like I've used them very much. So I'm going to give that a go. And I'm just going to, I don't know. I say, when I go into the barber, as I say, number two on the side, short on top. So I don't know what a number two on the sides means. Does that mean two millimeters? Does that mean what? No, but my clippers have got like a guard on it that's a number two. Yeah, yeah, I've got a guard, but of course, each like

28:37 plip forward, you click, click, click, click. Each one of those is one millimeter. And that does a number two relate to two millimeters, or do hairdressers have some magic measurement system, like some old weird imperial shit where it means something different. I don't know. All I can tell you is the blending bit is bloody hard. You're actually going to have some sort of Eastonian step type haircut, basically. It's going to be brilliant. I can't wait to see it next week. I know in the past when I used to do it when I was a lot younger. And it was kind of a certain whatever it was around the side. And then you'd kind of do it on top. And then one night, just before I was going out, of course, I've started, I think, let me trim myself.

29:20 And then as I've gone like that, the guards come off and I've just taken this massive chunk right out of the back of my head. It was like I had some sort of drunk landing strip going over me. But I was going out out. So all I did was just make sure I had Monterrey. drink and just made it out, made it a talking, yeah, you gotta put your chest out, it's like, yeah, whatever, yeah, yeah, everyone's doing it, and they're well behind. This is what the cool kids are doing. Where's your strip? Well, we can we can segue neatly here. You can video that haircutting experience and we can put it on WhatsApp, right? Which obviously, but the thing is, once you share, once you video something that is embarrassing on WhatsApp and then you share it with one person, you know it's going to end up shared with everybody, and that's what I'm worried.

CHAPTER 11 / 21 Discussion

WhatsApp Group Culture and Graphic Content

The discussion shifts to the "funnel of shit" found in certain WhatsApp groups, specifically those involving friends from Northern England. Johnny expresses his distaste for the graphic and sometimes disturbing content—ranging from accidents to explicit imagery—that is frequently shared in these private chats. They debate why people feel compelled to curate and forward such "premium grade" shocking material.

whatsapp· social media· internet culture· graphic content· privacy

30:04 I don't want my embarrassing shit being shared with random, dirty, filthy WhatsApp groups that I've never been part of. Well, it would have to be pretty bad to get shared too many times because this is what I wanted to bring up, Brady. Where do people get this stuff from? I mean, I'm not in a group called absolutely disgustingly awfulthings.com, right? But it seems that my northern mates are because they just send so much of it. But I think it's unbelievable. It feels like there's always at least one or two people that curate it.

30:41 It feels like there's like a funnel of shit. And every WhatsApp group needs that one person who just all, you know, I don't know where they get this stuff on, but it fills this funnel and stuff gets to you. And you know that the stuff that's getting to you is the premium grade shit. So it makes me wonder how much random fucking awful stuff ends up filling their funnel. Yeah. Well, Mickey Flanagan's got a funny sketch about the guy at the factory who used to have the porno videos. Mickey Flanagan, like, what's happening for a weekend? What's happening for the weekend? But of course, now it just sketches, you know, forward group bosh. There you go. Flipping this week. So what sort of things are you actually getting to use? No, I'm not in this.

31:26 I don't have WhatsApp groups. My brother, he like we can have a conversation and he'll be able to describe the shit that's been sent to him whilst we're having a five-minute conversation. Look at my face. I'm wincing and I'm not even talking about it. I'm just thinking about it. So they're my mates, right? They're my best mates from uni. There's four of us in the in the group. And I'm not none of the other groups I'm in. This happens. Okay. So it's just my, and they're all northerners, okay? A Mank. Well, there's where we go then. A Mank, two scousers, and a Geordie who's lived in Liverpool most of his life, right? So they know I'm a little bit squeamish. Yeah, they say they know. I delete it. So they go. Soft southerner. No, no, no.

32:10 They go, well, don't let your kids look at it. I'm like, I'm not letting my kids look at it. I delete. It's not my kids. It's my eyeballs. I don't want to. That's what I say. I'm like, it's me. Yes, by the way, I do clear the history pretty much every other day. What are we talking about? Are we talking about this week? Are we talking about a man wearing like stripes and checks in the same outfit? What? I mean, how bad can it be? Some of it's funny. Some of it's funny. Okay. So there's this, there's this, you can say black guy. He's a black guy, right? He's a black guy, right? He's got this, he's got this, he's like from Africa or something, okay? And he's got a cock that comes down past his knee, yeah. And apparently, this is not photoshopped. This is the real.

32:50 I'm sitting here right now. And I'm, I mean, I'm not, I'm not a tall man, but, but my thighs are like that, okay? That that would make your eyes water. No, I know, yeah, but this is like social media, social media, internet kind of currency type, fame type, type stuff. So, so this picture then gets superimposed onto lots of other funny situations, yeah. So, for example, you'll be if I can't even remember when they're, but they were like, it requires you to zoom in and you zoom in thinking it's going to be something awesome or something smutty or something funny, right? And then it's him, and then

33:28 it's funny, it's funny, but then, but then I'm not going to talk about it too. I don't get myself in bloody trouble, but some of it is just I don't mean like illegal stuff, but but stuff like what is that? What is this? What is wrong with you that you saw that and you thought I know who wants to see that? I want Johnny will want to see that. That's that's I'm going to share it with him because that's going to make his day better. No, three old blokes shagging pigs was too much for me. Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, sweet child of mine. No, you said nothing illegal. I mean, I don't know what part of Kent you're from, but bestiality, I don't want my bacon with any predefined salt on it.

34:11 I mean, no, no, so so and I was like, okay, okay, that's okay. Now I'm going to spend however long it takes to unthink that, but other stuff like car accidents, like just oh, a good car crash is good. I mean, just the flipping and that sort of thing. But there's a guy doing like. like road sweeping, and he's there with his, with his other, with his road sweeping buddy. And he's, and he's, and then this bus drives straight into his dust truck, which he's standing in front of. It's in like in India or somewhere, and completely no, he's like flat as a pancake, like his brains explode out of his cool. I mean, I don't mind the whole kind of close call stuff.

34:53 I don't mind the whole stuff goes past them and so on. No, no, I don't, I don't want to see people being killed. No, I don't want some sort of pound shop snuff movie. Fucking hell. No, so there you go. So I just, I like to talk about this. I just, I know, like, this stuff goes on. It's like, this is, this is the kind of pub. Why are they doing that? Why are they sending it? Why are they thinking? That's going to, I'm going to send that because that's going to make someone happy. No, I don't know. No, no, but no, you've said it before. We are so far down the funnel. Like, I'm getting this in a mates group as kind of like the good stuff is, you know, it's like, oh, 32 pairs of breasts on some sort of

35:39 sort of gift, right? I'm like, okay, that's all right. Yeah. But no, death, bestiality. I want to say for the record, I'm very happy not being part of that group. And it's got nothing to do with them being northern. No. No. It's just call me old-fashioned, but pig fucking. It's not my thing. I mean, I know. No, no, no, no. I've never shared my Tinder profile with you, but still, no, it's not for me. No. Definitely going to put the old E on this episode of The Wrap Up. Probably worth it. So on a much more light and easy subject, how was Brockmeyer for you this week?

CHAPTER 12 / 21 Discussion

Brockmire Series Review and Dark Comedy

Glenn provides a detailed review of the show Brockmire, praising its portrayal of a disgraced baseball commentator dealing with addiction and narcissism. He identifies with the character's tendency to think aloud and his underlying principles despite his horrific behavior. The hosts recommend the series, which is available on Amazon Prime in the UK, as a top pick for 2021.

brockmire· amazon prime· dark comedy· baseball· addiction

36:21 Because I thought you were going to like it. Oh, mate. No. See, you go recommendations are one of those things. It's so personal. And you never know whether someone else is... They like something because it's speaking to them at a certain point in their life or it's arty or something like that. And you know what? I just, I don't want to get into something which is going to just make me sad. My God, I feel, I feel, in some ways, I feel seen. I feel like Brockmeyer and I, we would not be, we would be good friends, but not good for each other friends.

37:01 I feel like he is, he is an extreme version of all this shit that I know that if I didn't have kids, fucking, if you've not seen it, without giving away any spoilers, obviously you kind of gave the basic premise of the show, but it's just about an American baseball commentator, someone who talks for a living. And so, you know, with me being such a narcissist, I can absolutely relate to this. He has a horrific incident that happens, causes him to break down, go right back to scratch. And then essentially, he has to start working at how he can rebuild his life whilst, and I'm not sharing any secrets here, whilst being a functioning alcoholic and massive substance abuser, probably

37:50 a sex addict as well. And all of these things combine, but you've got this guy who's who talk, he thinks aloud and he thinks the things and says the things that just you, but whilst also having these underlying values, which are good values. He's got, he challenges shit that goes, that you shouldn't have to challenge. He says he's got all the right principles, but the way he goes about them is just horrific. And for some reason, that speaks to me. And I tell you, two nights, two nights that I could have done it in one, but I had the kids with me.

38:29 So I had to get up the next day for them. But otherwise, I would have just binged the shit out of it. The best recommendation of 2021 without hesitation and probably for quite some time before that. I know. I've been looking up t-shirts this week. I want to spoof up Team Super Dad kind of Brockmeyer, have another beard t-shirts. It's just a brilliant, brilliant TV program. That's a great episode where they're trying to raise some more money for their local baseball team. And so basically, they come up with a thing where they get the ground and everyone, no matter what happens, the phrase is have another beer. So someone, and I don't know baseball, but it's like someone threw a ball, have another beer.

39:12 Someone hit the ball, have another beer. And you know what? That's the kind of game that I could absolutely, that feels like 2020 criticship, basically. It does. Ah, good times. TMS on cocaine. So it's actually on Amazon Prime if you're listening in the UK. If you're living in the USA, I've no idea, but you can search it up. Or if you've got a dodgy app on your fire stick, then just search Brock Meyer. It will be there. I loved it. Absolutely brilliant. The only thing that's made me smile anywhere near as much that I've seen recently has been the Hand Forth Parish Council shenanigans that's been happening today. I don't know if you've seen that at all. No, I don't even know what I'm talking about. Yeah,

CHAPTER 13 / 21 Discussion

Handforth Parish Council Zoom Viral Video

The hosts discuss the viral Handforth Parish Council Zoom meeting, comparing the real-life local government drama to scripted comedies like The Thick of It. Glenn, a former parish councillor himself, explains the "Little Hitler" dynamics often found in small-scale local politics. They encourage listeners to find the video in the Team Super Dad Facebook group.

handforth parish council· zoom· viral video· local government· jackie weaver

39:57 I implore everyone to view. There's snippets of it essentially. And this is not a produced HBO special. This is literally the recorded Zoom meeting from a parish council meeting that was held in whenever they've just released it. And my God, if you could imagine kind of W1C meets the thick of it. It's just these just parish. I mean, for those who don't know about local councils. So this is real. A real life thing. This is real life. And you've got kind of county, usually parishes are in the county. So you've got county council kind of do the back

40:43 too much detail. We get the picture. I'll tell you how local. You've got the districts who do the medium thing. And then the parishes, this is just like you and your neighbours getting together to come up with some sort of neighborhood fucking watch scheme. Yet, and I speak as someone who used to be a parish councillor, the kind of mini Nazi kind of people, the little hitlers who want this control and the arguments and the passion. And if you Google this thing, Handsforth Parish Council meeting, it's quite possibly the funniest real life situation I've seen. Now, it's not quite my standards of production quality, but it's every bit as hysterical.

41:27 Check us out. We're doing goggle box. We're doing dirty WhatsApp messages. Handsworth Parish Council meeting. It does come up first. I guess I might look for the old video. But yeah, we'll put that in the Team Super Dad group. Basically, if you are, if you've listened for 41 minutes and I failed to mention the Team Super Dad group, which I think I have done, where is this Team Super Glad? It's at Facebook. It's at Facebook. So basically, bittheoldfb.com groups, Team Superdad forward slashes in there. Just search Team Super Dad. You'll find it. It says Dad Success Group. And we're in there. We're hanging out.

CHAPTER 14 / 21 Discussion

Hot in the 90s: Spice Girls and Age-Appropriate Crushes

In their "Hot in the 90s" segment, the hosts debate which member of the Spice Girls was the most attractive then versus now. They justify the segment by explaining that crushing on 90s icons is more age-appropriate than looking at modern celebrities. Glenn expresses a current preference for Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) due to her involvement in Formula One, while Johnny remains a fan of Mel C (Sporty Spice).

spice girls· geri halliwell· mel c· victoria beckham· 90s pop

42:02 We're doing the F5 Focus, Fitness, Finance, Family Fun. And as well as sorting all those areas out, we are actually just keeping it real and having a laugh, which I think is quintessentially British, basically. We are lads. There's a little bit, because particularly given our age, there is a degree of Lads Mag coming out here. Talking about Lads Mags. Next thing you'll be talking about is fucking FHM. Who would ever think about that? But I'll tell you what, though, who was the fittest spice girl? That's an interesting question. Well, this is where we've got a challenge because we're talking about... Are you talking about now or are you talking about back in the day? I'm going to start with back in the day. Back in the day, it was baby spice. Bom, bom, bomb. Check it right.

42:44 So for those that are listening on the podcast, we do love and appreciate you, right? So leave us a review, share the hell out of this and get as many more listeners on the old podcast. But if you're watching the live, which actually we do get a lot of people on the video replays and stuff, because it's on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter. So you can see glorious pictures of the lovely Spice Girls back in the 90s. I mean, there's only two. It's only a conversation between two. And I'm very clear about who those two are. I'm assuming you agree with me here. There's only two that are in the discussion. No, I used to just flipping, go back and forth. It's like, I don't know. I think.

43:27 No, I mean, yeah, baby spice, but it's baby spice or ginger spice. There's nothing else. I know, but there was, I always thought that there was, you know, there was some for me that I think Sporty is attractive, but there was just something. No, no, she is. But I think I just like the fact that I just thought she'd be a flipping good laugh. Good. I'd go out and get pissed with her, but put her in a line up and say, you know what? If any one of these was attracted to you, which one would you go for? It would not be Sporty Spice. Okay. But now, right? Things change. Now they've got a little bit older.

44:04 Ginger Spice, whatever she's called. Remember, we were talking recently about the fact that they're still going to be the women we find attractive because they are in our age bracket. Yeah, so for anyone not tuned in before, there is a reason we do hot in the 90s because Glenn and I a few weeks ago were talking about. about how come we don't know about all the toti these days and then it and then we realized was because if we did we'd be talking about women that were closer to our kids age than our age so what we've done is we've realized actually uh to be appropriate we need to go back to the 90s and talk about women that we fancied in the 90s because yes they would be an age appropriate right now um so this picture they are this was like they that doesn't look that reason that looks about 10 years ago

44:55 no they wouldn't be in a picture with with what's her name there would they and she wouldn't be smiling i mean she's not physically able to smile these days i think she's the least attractive the the the the posh spice yeah yeah i'm with you on that i'm with you on that i go i'd go in terms of least attractive it would be posh sporty uh scary and then the other two yeah i think sporty would be naughty she would be really naughty there's a rumour as well she was a bit of a bit bit like to go both ways maybe so but she i don't know she's i think maybe as well she reminds me of one of my sisters that's always going to ruin it

45:34 it's not not right now jerry the the ginger spice now these days yes and for two reasons one she's hot as and two her feathers into formula one and i'm a massive formula one fan so you know during during early during getting to know you phases there's an absolute chance i could go and see some races okay yeah well you what you're thinking you're gonna weasel in and be mates with her boyfriend i'm gonna woo her and you know i'm charmed via shared interest with her current will absolutely be my best buddy okay how about you so so right now these days

46:15 oh these days yeah these days all being equal so the person that you're attracted to all all five of them absolutely fancy the pants off you and they all say you know what we all want you but which one of us are you going to choose i'm going i'm still going sporty there's something about her just did it for me yeah i'm looking at that picture now look at this is a modern picture of her modern good it's it's it's lovely of you it's a wrong answer but it's lovely of you look right now she scrubs up well and i'm not saying she's unattractive at all but still

47:00 anyway good chat as always bit of a bit of a lads mag 90s re rewind there glen and i uh keeping it keeping it real keeping it true to ourselves there the great thing is that when we're talking about lads mags they weren't lads mags women because they were all about goal power they're all about feminism and in a good way they're all about like smashing that mindset of women are there for men yet still being sexual for their own own yeah but when lads mag started they were they were they were all right they were they were they were they were proper good laugh like art schools it wasn't all about women with their boobs out when it got to the end when there was like nuts and loaded and there was loads of them it was just basically a boob fest which they were pretty much getting on to flipping average level pornos it was complete

CHAPTER 15 / 21 Discussion

Valentine's Day Commercialism and Gender Expectations

The hosts critique the commercial pressure of Valentine's Day, praising Tesco for allowing customers to opt out of holiday advertising. Glenn argues that the holiday places an unfair, one-sided expectation on men to be romantic, while Johnny expresses a dislike for "forced romance" and inflated prices. They advocate for year-round appreciation rather than a single day of performative affection.

valentine's day· tesco· commercialism· gender roles· romance

47:47 completely inappropriate but but i think we should i think there should be a bit of a bit of a rebalance because i don't know i i mentioned this the other week you know i want to i want to i want to just want to have some fun i want to meet some flipping hilary ass funny women and go out and have some good times that's the dream that's the dream they are out there and are we going to see them on valentine's day glenn what next week and even if i did it's like you know what i'm i'm sick of valentine's day i there's a great thing tesco's they do this thing where you can actually opt out of advertising and tesco's i salute you because i'm sick of it this this this pressure and we go on and on and on about um kind of uh

48:31 equality and it's all yet valentine's day becomes this thing where men are expected expected to go out of their way to do nice things for women i'm not talking about a month later it's not it's not like steak and player job day is a is a commonly accepted thing valentine's day still is why when was the last time most on average it was accepted that women would be as romantic towards men as men are expected to be on valentine's day towards women it just it doesn't happen and that pisses me off it really angers me especially because i'm single and i've got no one to really go and be romantic with and i'd really like to do that that is the yin and the yang yang and the subject.

49:15 But I'm totally on board with you. Anything, anything these days that is completely out of whack and unbalanced is I used to hate, I just hate the idea that we're gonna, and that's why I'm not really a massive fan of Father's Day either. I mean, the kids love it, and that's great. But I say to them, I could like, if I get to choose between having one day where you treat me special or just know that you think I'm awesome all year, I'll take the awesome all year option. Thank you very much. Don't save it, don't save it for one day. It's forced romance, it's forced romance when every restaurant can up their prices, every flower shop can up their price. Oh, I hate that. You have to pay for a nose. I mean, that being said, I do feel like there's ways of doing it that are better.

CHAPTER 16 / 21 Discussion

Elaborate Marriage Proposal and Treasure Hunt

Glenn recounts the highly elaborate treasure hunt he organized to propose to his ex-wife a week before Valentine's Day. The event involved 20 stops across London, cryptic clues, Sudoku puzzles, and the help of multiple friends stationed at monuments. The proposal culminated at Tower Bridge with a 30-meter banner displayed across the River Thames.

marriage proposal· london· tower bridge· treasure hunt· romance

49:59 So, one year for my ex-wife, because I've not really had Valentine's Day with other people, which is sad for me, but great for them, because they didn't have to put up with it. It's coming, pending, pending. One year I made, we didn't have any money, so I made, I actually got cut like paper, rolled up green paper, cut out individual petals for like roses, made a bunch of a dozen red roses complete with little dots of glue which represent like dew on them, wrapped it all up, and then delivered it to her workplaces handmade roses.

50:40 That's cool. But my, I actually proposed to my ex a week before Valentines, because I knew she was expecting something on Valentines, because I've taken that one year I took her to Paris or shit like that, you know. So I built up a rod for my own back, but one for proposed the week before Paris, I got a friend who was moving house to take her out to do furniture shopping. Um, I said, Oh, that's right, I'm working that day, so take the kids to my mum's. She's agreed to look after them. As she went into my mum to drop the kids off, got given a DVD to say, Oh, Glenn's asked you to watch this. And it was a DVD of me saying, Actually, you're not doing that, you're going on a treasure hunt.

51:22 And it was 20 stops around London where every single stop had. So, first of all, to find out where the stop was, you had to work out a cryptic clue. Then she was on her own this whole time. No, she was with her mate. And so, the two of them, because I know she wouldn't want to do it on her own, so her and her mate, they got given a card, an envelope with a card in it, and that had a cryptic clue. So, to work out where to go on the way there, they had to do a Sudoku. That Sudoku had some shaded squares, and so when you put them in order, it gave you a phone number and it had a challenge on.

51:58 So, when you got there, you had to phone the phone number, which was one of our friends who I'd set up to be at a London monument at a certain time. Do the challenge on the bottom, and as soon as you completed that challenge, you're given another card. You had to work out where to go, phone out who you're phone in, and do the challenge. There were 20 of those, and I was ahead of her the whole time. So, I'd meet my friend, set them up, give them the thing, then she'd come along, do the challenge, and then I'd see and make sure he'd done that. And I'd run off to get to the next place. And this was 20 stops all around London. Um, so everyone like coordinating all of that shit. I think that's quite good.

52:38 And the last stop was me on the south buttress of Towerbridge. I said, Right, your last challenge, you've got to decipher a message. And that message, I said, right, look over there and work out what the message says. And everyone who'd take a part in the whole day was on the south bank of the Thames with a 30-meter banner. I'm going to cry. She said, Will you marry me? And I was then, she turned around, I was doing the whole one-niche shit and all that sort of stuff. And then we went out for beers. Actually, she said yes. So I know romance. I know I do this shit, but I hate the fact that on Valentine's Day, men are expected to do that.

CHAPTER 17 / 21 Discussion

Marriage Philosophy and the Pressure to Wed

Following the proposal story, Glenn explains that he waited to buy the ring until he was certain his partner wanted to marry him for the right reasons, rather than due to societal pressure. He reiterates his stance that romance should be about "wanting" to do something rather than "needing" to. The hosts discuss the importance of mutual desire and avoiding "reverse sexism" in romantic expectations.

marriage· engagement· relationships· romance· commitment

53:23 I wanted to do that because I wanted to do it. Yeah, true. I was expected to do it. I think good quality guys will do something different and won't just do it all year round. Early days in my marriage, I did similar things like her. I love doing that sort of stuff, but wrote, got post-it notes in the shape of hearts and put like a hundred of them all around the house. You try and write a hundred nice things about someone. No matter how awesome you think they are, it's bloody difficult. Yeah, so that was, that was, that was, and it took a lot to clear up the flipping house afterwards. But yeah, it's not about spending loads of money, but you do want to flip in, feel the love back.

54:05 So, oh, that was your wedding proposal. So, I guess, yeah. That was around Valentine's Day, and I was deliberately. deliberately done. And that was only because, like a week earlier, she'd said, I don't think we should get married. I think we should just save and buy a house. You're like, I'm probably knee-deep in, baby. This is happening for like eight or nine years at that. No, I know, but all the plans were half done. You're like, there's no going back now. I was like, no, no, no, fuck you. On the banner, we only make the plans after she spent nine years creating this mindset of like, we don't need to get married. We don't need it's not about needing to get married because everyone says you should get married and do the romantic shit. I'm happy with just you. You and I are together. We're happy and we're doing this thing.

54:47 And so it should be about wanting to do it. You know, I want you to do it rather than you need to do it or you have to do it or you feel pressured to do it. And then the moment I believed that she didn't want to do it because everyone wanted her to do it, but because she wanted to do it, literally the next week I went out and bought the ring because that was the moment I knew she was doing it because she wanted to marry me rather than rather than just feel like she should. Yeah. And that for me, that's romance. For me, Valentine's Day, I've got no problem with using it as an excuse to do something nice. But the trouble is, it's always, always reverse sexism. It's always the man expected to do the good thing and the romantic thing for the woman.

CHAPTER 18 / 21 Discussion

Romantic Reciprocity and Men Deserving to be Wooed

Johnny and Glenn discuss the most romantic things ever done for them, including a professional treasure hunt that ended in a nighttime picnic. They emphasize that men deserve to be wooed, desired, and surprised just as much as women do. They argue that thoughtful gestures from a partner are more meaningful because they are less culturally expected for men.

romance· reciprocity· dating· relationships· male emotional needs

55:29 And I'm desperate to find someone who looks that I want to do something romantic for you. Yeah, quid pro quo, but cut both ways. What's the most romantic thing someone's ever done to you? Oh, well, I say to you, for you. Yeah. You just saw my eyes light up. It wasn't so much romantic as just fucking awesome. Romantic. So I hired someone make a whole treasure hunt for me.

56:11 Like all around the local area. And it finished up with a romantic nighttime picnic in a friary. Wow, that is pretty cool. I can't think really. The problem is, as far as my marriage goes, there's been so much grief that the good stuff is kind of clouded a little bit. She did do a, she did, she made a got a photo album made and it had pictures of, and basically I'd written this story about our future and before we got married and stuff. So she had it turned into an album. That was best. It took it

56:55 not just romantic, but it really projected our future. So it showed, you know, showed a lot of love and commitment and stuff like that. Actual kind of romance, special occasions, surprises. Because that's the thing, right? Like I say, we're expected to do that as men. And I don't know about you, but I feel just as valued and happy and proud and satisfied and kind of enamored with my partner if they do something thoughtful for me as they would if I did it for them.

57:31 And I love that it means such so much more because it's not common for them to do something for the woman to do something for the man. But when they do something romantic, actually, it matters. It means so much. And I want guys to look at this and think, you know what? I deserve romance. I deserve to be wooed. I deserve to be desired and loved and have that attention and care taken to me in a romantic sense. We deserve romance. We deserve to be wooed. Yeah, 100%. And that actually tips into some of the stuff that goes on for men.

CHAPTER 19 / 21 Discussion

Relationship Coaching and Reconnecting via Valentine's Day

Johnny offers coaching advice on using Valentine's Day as an excuse to reconnect and ask deep questions rather than just buying chocolates. He suggests asking partners what they used to love that has been lost in the "everydayness" of the relationship. The goal is to foster genuine appreciation and understanding of what makes a partner feel alive and special.

relationship coaching· communication· intimacy· appreciation· marriage

58:11 And, you know, it's important to me as part of Team Superdad is that we feel whole inside of our relationships, that we feel loved and respected and that other person wants to make us feel alive and special and surprised. I think there's nothing better than feeling surprised about something, feeling like someone's done something unexpected that was out of the ordinary. And what was the reason? The reason was because they appreciate you and think you're awesome. And I think that's what's lost a little bit on Valentine's Day is when people think they have to do something like, oh, shit, I need to go and buy something nice.

58:54 I need to take her somewhere. And I don't think your average woman appreciates that that much. Woman appreciates that much. And maybe she does if she's been so ignored for the previous. previous 364 days of the year that she'll take any bit of joy and love and appreciation she can get. But it's just a sham. It just shows the relationship up for what it is. And yeah, do you know what? This is a bit of coaching. I think any guy listening to this is an opportunity to reconnect, use Valentine's Day as an opportunity to reconnect. What are we doing here? Is it fun? How special do you make me feel? Do you look out for me? Do you appreciate me?

59:33 Like, what could I do for you that would have you feel more appreciated? What would be your best? What's the best day out you could imagine with me? Because I'm going to make it happen. You know, questions like that. Here's a good question. Is there anything I used to do for you that you loved that I don't do anymore? Yeah. And that's because we get so caught up in the everydayness of our relationships that we forget why we fell in love with each other. So I think there's a using it as an excuse to reconnect and to ask yourself those questions is wonderful. It's just don't think that it's Valentine's Day, so you know what I'm going to do?

CHAPTER 20 / 21 Discussion

Lingerie Gift Disasters and Parenting Perspectives

Johnny shares a "worst ever" story about buying a Wonderbra for a girlfriend when they were teenagers and having her open it in front of her family on Christmas. Glenn reacts from a father's perspective, stating he would be protective if a boyfriend bought his daughter lingerie. They laugh at the awkwardness of getting the size wrong and the public embarrassment of the situation.

wonderbra· christmas· lingerie· embarrassment· parenting

1:00:12 I'm going to take her to a restaurant. We can't at the moment, but I'll have to buy some chocolates, buy some flowers, maybe buy some lingerie, and that'll tick the boxes. No. Do you want to hear my worst? That's not romance. No, it's very poor. Do you want to hear my weird? And what do they love? And what makes them tick? And how are you going to put a smile on their face that no one else can? Do you want to hear my worst ever lingerie story? The girl I lost my virginity. What were you wearing? No, no, the girl I lost my virginity to, right? It wasn't a good relationship, but that's another story for another day. But I bought her for Christmas once. You remember those Wonder Bras? Of course, of course, I remember. Of course, right? So Wonder Bras. And obviously, if you went...

1:00:58 Yeah, if you went to the right shop, you could buy the Knickers and the bra. And it was plus, they were quite hard to get a hold of and everything, right? So in front of her family on Christmas boxing day, Christmas Day, whatever, bearing in mind, we're still only about 17, 18 as well. So I bought her underwear. And the worst thing is, right, I've got the size completely wrong. Completely and utterly wrong. So not only is she mortified, but anybody with half a brain is set there going. Christmas. Christmas! When she's going to open shit in front of her parents, oh, yeah, bad on so many levels.

1:01:41 I mean, I'm not going to lie. My eldest is 16. She's going to be 17 at the next Christmas. If she has a boyfriend at that stage or a girlfriend or anyone who buys her fucking lingerie, that kid is going to be out in their fucking ear. Oh, Glenn. That's me. That's how detached I am from things. I'm trying my best. I'm trying my best to get more to. I'm just all about like, yeah, let's do it. Let's do it. It's going to be brilliant. But no, I don't really think it's through. I'm assuming you've grown since then. I don't know. I'm prone. I am prone to a clanger. Her brother, who was pissing himself, her older brother was laughing so loud, like he was on the floor crying.

CHAPTER 21 / 21 Discussion

Team Super Dad Outro and Upcoming Valentine's Special

The hosts wrap up the episode by teasing a Valentine's Day special for the following week, featuring female guests from the London podcasting community. They provide details for the March intake of the Hero Academy and invite listeners to join the Team Super Dad Facebook group. The episode concludes with their signature sign-off and a reminder that "you are not alone."

team super dad· hero academy· podcasting· london· facebook

1:02:26 Absolute gold. Absolute gold. Yeah, yeah. No, no. Well, look, that is the perfect way to wrap up. I have not got round to my story about setting my dad up, but we'll save that for next week. I've got so many things to say. Do you want to hear this one? Leave that on a cliffhanger. It's not quite how it sounds, but it is funny. I'll tell you what else I want to talk about next week. Have you seen that thing go around on Facebook? Best gig, last gig, first gig. Do you see that around on Facebook? Those sort of things go around all the time when they're trying to do that. So I will absolutely verbally respond to that.

1:03:04 Yeah, yeah. And you know what? Next Friday, I want to get two women on because it is Valentine's Day and I want to do a wrap-up Valentine's Day special. Valentine's special. And we'll try and do like an alternative like clangers, worst experience, like cringe presents. We'll do that. Can we do four people on this whole setup? So that people can. We can do 10, 10 on StreamYard. You know what? As much as I'm up for. Let's go for a verbal four-way. Let's see it. Let's do it. I'll put it out to the, I run the London podcast community, so I'll put it out there that we're looking for two women podcasters to come on and join us.

1:03:46 Well, listen, if you are listening to this, if you think that's going to be you, then come and get involved. It's not that you have to be a podcaster, but it's just that someone who's easy breezy can just sit and chit-chat like Glenn and I do and have a bit of. of banter. Um, we don't want someone who's their first time. Whoa, so many, so many phrases, so many things. I'm a gentleman. We're gonna pop someone's podcast cherry on Glenn. You're on Twitter, aren't you? Tell people where they can find you on Twitter. They should definitely come and find some of your banter on Twitter.

1:04:24 Almost anywhere else is a dating dad. Google that stuff, and I will turn up like a Varuka, and you won't be able to get rid of me. Do you put a grim white sock over the top? And if you have listened to this, thank you so much. We're an hour and four minutes in. TeamSuperdad.com. Basically, anything and everything can be found at teamsuperdad.com. The Hero Academy, we've got a March intake happening. As long as you're in by March 1st, you are in. And if you just want to hang out with us, come over to Facebook and facebook.com forward slash groups forward slash Team Superdad.

1:05:02 We would love to have you with us. Share this, like it, review it. Do flip and stick it on WhatsApp with some grotty picture. The wrap-up is here for you every week. Glenn and I signing off. Take it easy, everyone. Team Super Dad out. Bye. Glenn, I got one of those random endings ready for this. Oh, I'm so excited. This has been Team Super Dad. Find us at teamsuperdad.com. Join the program and create the best life ever for you and your children. You are not alone. You're on Team Super Dad.