SPEAKER_04 0:11

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Men's Wear Style Podcast with me, your host, Pete Brooker. This is the third instalment of Influencer Interviews so far. We have featured LA Hellraiser Levi Stock, London Trailblazer, Allie Gordon, and now we're turning our eyes and ears to the affable Jim Chapman. We talk about how his big sister got him into YouTube, where does he draw the line when it comes to privacy and what's it like interviewing Daniel Craig?

SPEAKER_03 0:37

You know, best best I mean is it was just a little bit bored, you know, he needed some entertainment. So I walked to him and said, Hey, so you my first question was to you, James Bond? How's that feel? He's like, I'm not Daniel Craig. I'm like, yeah, but if anyone's got the right to call me to James Bond, it's you, right? You've got the right to kill. He was like, Yeah, I guess. I'd be like, I said to him, I'd love it. I'd go around just shooting everyone at shot him with my fingers.

SPEAKER_04 0:59

That interview to come. Plus, I'll be talking to the editor at large for Menswear Style Beckloads, and we'll be talking about the runners and riders on the red carpet at the Met, the Oliver Spencer 10th year anniversary, and the cheeky swines at Amazon that have just hiked up their annual subscription cost for Prime users. But before we get into all of that, go check out Lisa mattresses! That's right, they're the sponsor for this show, and they were kind enough to send me a King Size UK Lisa mattress to my parents' place where I've just been for the weekend, and it is a little slice of heaven. In fact, I was just at a friend's house and I mentioned I'm road testing this Lisa mattress. She took me upstairs to her room, showed me her bed, and it turns out she has a Lisa mattress too, so the word is out on these guys. And then her husband came home and I dove out the window instinctively because who'd have believed that story? Honey, I was just showing him the mattress, and I'm kidding. But it's an amazing company, made in the UK, designed to cradle and support your body while avoiding that sinking feeling and overheating found in other foam mattresses. You get a hundred-day free trial, and if it's not for you, you can send it back free of charge. What's more, if you use the discount code menswearstyle, you get £80 off any mattress. Go to lita.co.uk forward slash menswear style, and that's Lisa spelt L E E S A. And that code, by the way, doesn't run out, so if you're listening to it today or a month or a year down the road, go to Lisa.co.uk forward slash menswear style and get your £80 off get your discount and get a decent night's sleep once and for all. Lastly, a bit of housekeeping. Make sure you're checking us out on the social at menswear style, the website you should go to for all the latest editorials, competitions, an editorial a review on the Lisa mattress. How about that? It's menswearstyle.co.uk. We have an app or so, just punch in menswear style into the app store, and whilst you're there, make sure you've downloaded the menswear style podcast from iTunes. Leave us a review if you like what you hear, and if you want to get in touch, we'll be part of the show. It's info at mensweestyle.co.uk, okay? Are you ready for this one, Daniel?

SPEAKER_02 3:06

We'll get on with it then. Nothing can be as painful as listening to you talk.

SPEAKER_04 3:13

Here is that interview with presenter, content creator, writer, boxer, trainer, most affable guy on the face of the planet, Jim Chapman. Okay, I'd like to welcome to the podcast now Jim Chapman. Jim Chapman is known as a normal guy from Norwich who has found himself with millions of fans via vlogging. He's now a GQ contributor, writer, presenter, and model. How are you doing today, Jim? I'm very well, thank you. Thanks for having me. Oh no. Our pleasure, our distinct pleasure. Jim, you're not feeling top of the pops at the moment, I hear.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

No, I've had a bit of a tonsillitis, which I haven't had for about a decade. So um I feel like I'm a teenager again. But uh my voice is a bit um a bit raspy at the moment.

SPEAKER_04 4:00

Yeah, oh it gives you that kind of smoky, sexy whiskey quality, right? Thanks, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:06

It's the first the third, I suppose, right?

SPEAKER_04 4:08

Yeah, very uh very Mariella Frostrup. Um so Jeb, for the uninitiated, if you wouldn't mind, could you just give us a little bit of a backspiel? Uh brag a little bit about your life, please.

SPEAKER_03 4:19

Cool, yeah. Well, um I've said this story like so many times. I think um for me it started about seven, eight years ago. Um, my big sisters actually, they know this Pixie Woo on the internet. Um, they do makeup tutorials. They were the originators. So my big sister, Sam, she's 10 years older than me, she was very heavily pregnant with her first child. And both of them, Sam and Nick, are both really successful makeup artists. And one of her friends asked her how to do a smoky eye. And Sam was like, Well, I can't get to you because I'm gonna explode. So there's this new website called YouTube. I'll film it and I'll upload it and you can watch it. Um, I don't think she realized then, but other other people could watch it too. So she was like, Oh, great, that's what I'm gonna do while I'm pregnant, you know. She had nothing else on her plate, just kind of growing a baby. So she was like, Well, you know, I can just sort of make these videos of fun. And there's a few comments happening and you know, all that stuff. Um, not many people watched, but enough just to kind of occupy her while she was while she was pregnant. Then when she had the baby, my other my other sister was like, Well, this is fun. I'll I'll um kind of jump in while you're nursing your child, you know. Um and it started to become a thing, kind of like a very small thing, but it was really enjoyable for them. Meanwhile, my girlfriend at the time, who's now my wife, had um left Sickform. Um, didn't want to go to university because she met me and fell in love, and you know, we were very happy kind of doing our thing. So the girls taught her how to do makeup. Um, she worked on a makeup counter and she worked in Starbucks and she's working in Topshop. Uh, and again on the weekends would make videos because it was exciting and fun. A few years later, I I graduated from university with a degree in psychology. Um, I realized after my first year that I didn't really like psychology that much, but it was kind of too late by then. Um I didn't really know what to do. And in Norwich, there's not loads of jobs to do with psychology, you know. They're not the it's a kind of a city built mostly on retail and insurance. And again, I didn't really want to do psychology anyway, so I I I took jobs in whatever I could find just to pay my bills to my mum when I was living with her, um, and was looking for whatever I would do next, whatever my career would be. Uh no, I've always been really creative, and actually I took psychology over art at university because I thought there was going to be more uh of a job at the end of it.

SPEAKER_02 6:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:40

If I had my time again, I totally would have done something arty. Um so I needed to kind of fill that creative hole. So while I was working the jobs I was doing, which were actually really fine jobs, you know, like for for a lot of people, they're perfect, but for me I felt really um stifled.

SPEAKER_04 6:58

And what kind of jobs were they? What were you?

SPEAKER_03 7:00

So I was working in uh in every I was doing a lot of retail um while I was studying, but actually I decided that there's not a great deal of progression in retail. You can kind of go from a um short floor system and then you can work your way out to manager, but there's not loads you can do. So I was working in uh insurance for a while, and again, like lots of people I worked with loved it. You know, it's one of the things that you you you can see a real progression. You could you clock in at nine, you clock out at five, um, and in a year you could get promotions to the next level, and the next level, and before you know it, you could be area manager. And I saw that laid out in front of me, and it just made me really sad. I was like, I I don't know if I can do that, that's not what I want to do with my life. Um, another job I was doing was I was the I forget what they called it now. It was like a uh an enforcement officer. That's that's a very brief release. Basically, yeah, it wasn't. That's all that's just sat behind a desk, and when people had fines um that they didn't pay, I would send the bailiffs after them. Um and you know what? For some of them, they were pretty nice, you know, some of them were like knife crimes and stuff, and I kind of didn't feel that bad. But other people were living on the breadline, they had a parking ticket they didn't realise they had, and it escalated, and I had to sort of hunt them down via various sort of databases and things, and then go, right, found you, now I've got to send the bailiff after you. Um and I'd have to call them beforehand saying, right, your 60 pound car park ticket is now um 400 quid, can you pay it now? And they'd be like, Well, no, of course not. So then I'd have to send a bailiff after them, and it was just it was such a beautiful job. You know, yeah, so I needed something to do it on the weekends. I would go home and I would make videos, just chat about stuff because it was something really creative to do. I'd appeared in one or two of my wife's um and I and I just kind of you get a real buzz from it, but especially back in the early days when you get people like you know, that it wasn't really a thing before then, and you get people commenting, going, Oh, this is fun, or look what you're doing, or you know, whatever. Um, and you get like a real sort of like it makes you really happy and really excited. So I would make videos just to just to kind of pass the time. I had no idea it would become a job. I was doing it while I was looking for whatever my career would be. I was applying for so many jobs, um, and over time it kind of started to take off. I actually was doing a master's in psychology um part-time over two years instead of one because I was paying it for it myself um as soon as I could afford it. Again, even though I know I knew I hated psychology and didn't want to do it, I just thought, well, it's a job and I need a job, so this is what I'm gonna have to do. And after my first year, um, I started getting a little bit of traction. Like not really much, but it was enough that I was paying my rent to my mum via my YouTube stuff. So I quit my job and I was like, right, well, get used to me, mum, because this is where I live now. Uh I'm living with you forever.

SPEAKER_02 9:43

And she's like, shit, no.

SPEAKER_03 9:45

My mum, my mum had a bit of a panic because um I was in in um inverted commerce, the smart one. Because out of four of us, I'm the only one who went to university. Um, and actually, that doesn't mean anything. My sisters were had a kick-ass career. I've got a twin brother who was doing great, and you know, me being the smart one was the only one who was really struggling with what he wanted to do, and you know, was he in a bit of a bit of a not a dark place, but you know, a bit of a I just kind of was was clueless. I didn't I I had no direction. Um so then I discovered this thing and it was happening, and I was like, right, well, this is what I I'm gonna do for a while then, whilst looking still looking for new jobs. But I chopped out of university because I'm never gonna do psychology, even if I um get a first in this degree and get offered a great job, I don't enjoy it, and this is gonna make me sad. So I decided just to kind of re-evaluate. Um and while I was doing it, I was putting more time into the YouTube stuff, and it just started taking off. Um, and it's one of those things where it's it's I was very fortunate because when I first started doing it, no, it was a very small thing. The website was much smaller, there wasn't many people using it, not many people consuming it. So I made all my mistakes quite early on when no one was really around to see them.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Right.

SPEAKER_03 10:55

Um, you know, like back then I'd get a couple hundred views and it would be massive. I'm like, oh, that's so exciting. And now we're talking millions, is it you know, to to kind of make make yourself known. So um it was a very different ball game then. I like I always say when people ask me about it, because a lot of people think that I'm some sort of genius entrepreneur, and I'm totally not. I just stumbled upon it and enjoyed it. Um I think that I was the best of a bad bunch back then, you know. Um there's nothing particularly special about me. I just kind of I think I found it early and really enjoyed it, and there's something I worked hard at it, and there's something about my personality or me or whatever it is that kind of makes people want to come back for a bit more. So um I kind of went for it. Um and yeah, over time it grew and grew, and now eight years later, here I am.

SPEAKER_04 11:42

Well, what kind of things were you vlogging about in the really early days? So, like your first couple of videos and when were you getting oh sorry, when were you just getting traction at what what point did you think?

SPEAKER_03 11:53

Yeah, I mean, yeah, interestingly it's kind of come full circle in a way, in that um when I first started, I was talking about kind of similar to what I'm talking about now, it was much more kind of fashion and grooming and kind of gadgety and just things I'm really into. Um then I discovered that you could, you know, I've got this platform I can talk about whatever I want to do. And being 22, 23, that's when I started, you know, kind of doing a lot of personality stuff. So basically being a young lad, I was just doing wacky things like shading my legs, uh shapes made out of ketchup and chili and that sort of thing. Um and then it got to a point where I was like, oh, I need to grow up now, and it kind of came full circle, and I started doing um things that actually I'm into um rather than just humiliating myself, not humiliating myself, but you know, kind of having a little chip of my of my um integrity or my um self-esteem, I suppose. For people's entertainment. Um and yeah, it's like I kind of decided that you know what, that's when I got to about 26, I think it was, like, you know what, I need to stop doing that now, I need to at my age. Um that's when it started changing. Uh, in terms of when it kind of reached critical mass, and when I when uh when I knew it was an actual job, I still freak out about that now. I think it's it's for a long time we were knocking on doors, going, hey, we're great, work with us, you know, with lots of brands and stuff. And they were like, Oh god, get lost, we don't know who you are. And then it's kind of become more and more mainstream, really, and more and more acceptable and more and more of a credible career. Um but still I'm aware that I'm only as popular as um you know, my my my last thing, you know what I mean? Like it could disappear as quick as it came, and I'm very aware of that. And I think actually it's something that a lot of the new people who do this aren't. When I you know, when I first started, I went to people doing it, so I've I've worked shit jobs, I realise how fortunate I am now. I really appreciate what I've got and I don't take it for granted. Yeah, um, I think when people when you start getting a little bit successful and people are watching you on the internet, they go, right, well, I've got a camera and I've got the internet, I can do this. Um slightly different reasons and don't necessarily appreciate what it takes and what it means. And some of them, you know, come straight out of school and now have millions of subscribers, and you can understand how that may go to the head a little bit and how they don't necessarily have a concept of what life actually is. Um so I think it's really important to keep my head uh very firmly on my shoulders and think bigger than just my YouTube channel. So that's why I work really hard on lots of other things, so I know that when I outlive my shelf life here, I've got other areas to to walk into, you know.

SPEAKER_04 14:39

And yeah, no, I totally understand that. I think it's um I think the problem that we have in society is people love so much what they do in their spare time, but they don't know how to monetize it, and there's that yeah leap of faith that people have to do sometimes, and when that leap of faith doesn't pay off, that's when they get ruddless. That's when they go, Well shit, what do I do now? Because I've completely abandoned the career or the the studying that I did at university to pursue this dream, and now the dreamer's died, you know. Yeah, you know, what's left for me?

SPEAKER_03 15:07

It is really tough actually, and the thing is it doesn't work out for everyone, and particularly now when it's so much harder to shine through. Again, when I started, there was about a handful of people doing it, so it was much easier to kind of be seen. Now it's so it's so um saturated out there, and actually I heard of a stat the other day. Apparently, kids in um their careers meetings, the the the job they want to do most is what I do for a living, and that's obviously incredible, but also totally unrealistic. I can't all do it because there's there's you know there's not enough to go around, you know. Like you know, there are millions of people watching, but there's also millions of people creating now. Um, and as a result, you can't really sustain yourself on the number of views and things you get. You have to be really exceptional to shine through.

SPEAKER_04 15:54

And do you enjoy it as much now as you used to? And are you kind of conscious now of obviously you've got a lot more eyeballs on your product, but when you're young, dumb, and full of full of you know what, you can literally do what you like and express yourself in any way you can know what I mean? Yeah, I do.

SPEAKER_03 16:10

I I kind yeah, both. Um I actually enjoy the content I make more now than I ever have done before. You know, even when I was younger and I was doing the the silly stuff, um I've always been quite an old soul. And I think actually there was always a part of me that was like, oh, I don't want to have to, you know, I don't I don't know, I I enjoyed it at the time, but I think in hindsight, um, you know, I look back and go, oh, why do I ever do that? You know. Um, and there was certainly for me, there was a there was a point where I'd been doing it for maybe I think I did this the stuff I was doing for maybe a year too long, because in my head, I'm I'm actually older than I am. I think, you know, I'm 30, but I feel 40. You know what I mean? Quite mature for my age, I think. Um, so when I was like 25 and I was doing that stuff, um, I was thinking, I should do this. And actually, I think I just did the job with um Burberry, I think, and it was a really cool thing. It was one of my first ever jobs with like with like a you know high-end brand, and I was so excited. But then the next video I uploaded was me and my mate um whacking my armpits.

SPEAKER_02 17:11

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 17:12

Um, and I uploaded it and I went, I know that's gonna do really well, and it got three million views, and I was like, I know it's gonna be a huge video, but at what cost? Because I know that if say Burberry see this, they're not gonna want to work with me again, and you know, I can't kind of I can't do both anymore, and I don't want to do both, so I actually made the decision to stop making that content and take a massive drop in my views. Like my views are nowhere near what they used to be.

SPEAKER_04 17:34

Yeah, um, so what other projects have you got going on at the minute, Jim? What can we talk about?

SPEAKER_03 17:40

Well, I uh I do a lot of writing anymore. So I I do a lot of other things, I do a lot of presenting, um, which I still really love. Um but actually the thing I'm most passionate about at the moment is writing. So I've actually just finished my first screenplay, uh, which is a feature film, which is now off with um a bunch of people to have a look at and come back to me with notes. Um fingers crossed, you know, I feel really hopeful that I can actually get that made. Uh and I've already got ideas for the next two films I want to write, so I'm gonna I want to put a lot of time and effort into that. Um I'm also doing a bit of modelling here and there, and I'm very I'm very much weirdly, it's kind of come uh it's kind of almost the roles are sort of reversed. I'm now very much into being behind the camera. I'm I'm into photography, I'm taking loads of photos at the moment, and the things I've shot quite recently have been obviously I've been in front of the camera because I have to be, because that's that's my job, but I've also been kind of art directing and um thinking about shots much more and kind of being behind the entire thing. Often when I work with a brand, they hire me for my face and my voice and you know, for me to talk about certain things. Um, but I've kind of been trying to work with them in a slightly different way now when they get in touch. I'm like, cool, I'd love to do that, but I'd also love to be in charge of the rest of it too. So let me come up with a concept and let me kind of come up with um how this looks, and you know, um, it's much more exciting, you know, to have total control over things and and to make something that never existed and make it look beautiful and do something special. Um, and I think because I've been doing this for a long time now and I and I've proven myself, actually, I'm surprised at how willing brands are to let me do that. I thought there'd be a lot of resistance to them going, no, this is our brand, we need to kind of toe the line and make sure we do it our way. But a lot of them are like, yeah, totally, you know, we'll give you the range, you go for it and see what you produce. Um, so yeah, it's it's kind of it's very exciting at the moment. And I get to do the kind of the full 360 rather than just the the in front of camera stuff.

SPEAKER_04 19:42

Nice. Well, so long as you're not doing stuff and shaving your armpits with it at the same time, I guess they'll give you uh like the carte blanche. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you ever miss the silly stuff? Because I mean I I used to do stuff like that back in the day, and since meeting my girlfriend, she says, look, you've got a digital footprint now. You need you need to have everything online that everyone's gonna see. You need to be very sensible if you want to be professional. And I said, Oh, okay, and then you had to delete the well, I had to delete these old videos like they were my children. Alright, well, they still sit on my hard drive. And she goes, No, no, no, they've got to come off the hard drive as well. I was like, Oh, sound of them.

SPEAKER_03 20:14

Yeah, I don't I you know what I don't miss it. I I I have deleted them. Uh I thought about it, and I sometimes come back to this thought, I think, oh, should I delete them? But actually, I kind of think that it's almost like my the heritage, in a way, of what of what I've done, you know, it kind of represents my journey, so I don't think I really need to, you know, I don't have to pretend that I came fully formed. Um, it's hard enough to break into the fashion industry, I think, um if you're not already kind of living in that world. And I've managed to break through and have you know quite quite a good voice in that world. Um, and I don't feel like I I think it's actually part of the reason people like my opinion is because I'm the normal guy. You know, you look at a lot of models who who kind of champion closing, wow, you look incredible. I can never do that. I think having someone like me who can talk about stuff like a normal guy and say why those trousers are good for you and why, you know, this is what's in in in season, um, what this is what's cool this season is is great, you know, because a normal guy talking to other normal guys is is very like digestible. And I actually think that having my old stuff there kind of doesn't do that any harm in a way. It's like, you know, I was young and I was doing silly stuff. I was a bit of a bit of a a geezer, a bit of a lass doing you know the crazy stuff like all other 22, 23 year olds were, and I don't, you know, I think everyone goes through that. So um I'm not gonna delete them, I don't think. I mean, maybe maybe I'll have a meltdown in a couple of years and go, right, they're all gone. But um I actually look at it, it's all it's almost like my like a diary in a way. You know, you can look through my catalogue and you can sort you can totally see my development, and that's interesting.

SPEAKER_04 21:51

Well, that's exactly the argument I presented to my girlfriend. I said, Look, if I want to film myself running on a treadmill naked, then that is my business. I can see the trajectory of my life going for Stupid lad uni bad and then onwards and upwards into the higher stratospheres of the floor. I didn't do I didn't do nudity. Damn it, just when I was starting to feel good about myself. Um it's interesting though that you're talking about that. I often I've heard it related to as uh the Philip Seymour Hoffman syndrome, where Philip Seymour Hoffman is obviously or was this fantastic actor that every film would just be uh so well critically reviewed. And the theory was that all the critics were reviewing these films so well because every film critic looks like Philip Seymour Hoffman. So if every guy next door has something about Jim Chapman in their look, then they're gonna listen to this guy over someone, you know, David Gandhi-esque. You know, not that you wouldn't listen to David Gandhi, although I hope you get my point. Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_03 22:48

No, but that's it. Yeah, I think I think it coming from a normal guy, you know, who uh is really interested in it and knows a little bit about it, but kind of can talk about it in his own words rather than it sounds sort of uh overly fashiony and overly kind of uh prescribed, um makes it just so much more simple, you know?

SPEAKER_04 23:06

Yeah, yeah, no, I agree. And so I was gonna ask you about where you draw the line in terms of being a public figure and what you like to keep back for yourself. So um what what do you have in in mind for the future? So you don't have kids at the moment, do you? No, no, no. No, not at the moment. So um if that you know comes later down the pipeline, have you thought that far ahead as to you know what you show and what you don't show?

SPEAKER_03 23:31

Yeah, I have actually, because I um weirdly I'm actually I'm I'm fairly private. It's very rarely my wife is on my content. You know, she might appear on my Instagram every once in a while, but she's hardly ever in my videos and Ditto's, I'm hardly ever in hers. Um so my stuff is it's kind of lifestyle in a way, but it's it's much more kind of formatted. You know, I do the occasional daily video where I take people through my day, but even that isn't really um so much about me as such, it's about what I'm up to. Yeah, I don't know, it's quite quite a hard sort of differentiation. But you know, on my on my videos I talk about fashion and I make cocktails and I talk about um gadgets and stuff, and that's not really about me, it's about the thing, you know what I mean? So I think there's I'm still very personable, and I think people get a real sense of me, but they don't know what my personal life is like. There was a time where I was daily vlogging every day um and I felt like I was oversharing, and also like my life is my life's amazing. I have it's totally changed, you know, from living in Norwich with kind of you know having to work a load of jobs just to pay away through university to now, you know, I live in London and and uh do incredible things every day, you know. I fly around the world, it's it's amazing, but I also spend a lot of my time at my laptop writing um or going to the gym and stuff that is kind of actually not very cool for a video. So there's a time where I was filming every day and it got really samey. And actually, the cool stuff I get to do, I can't film because it's often with a brand that I'm working with, and I'm not allowed to show it for weeks or months until it's ready. So I found the daily stuff got very boring actually. Um, I was aware that I was uploading basically the same thing every day, um, and I didn't want to kind of cross the line and get my wife involved because that gets loads of views. You know, if I if I'm like I'm showing intimate time of being my wife, even if we're just watching TV, people are like, ooh, they feel like they're kind of it's a bit sort of reality, and they feel like they get an insight into a life. And I didn't want to do that, so I just stopped doing it, just stopped making those that content because it wasn't exciting me anymore or my audience. Uh, and short of me oversharing, I decided just to knock it on the head. Um, so yeah, I'm actually weirdly uh kind of fairly private-ish in a way. You know, you there's lots about my personal life that I just don't share.

SPEAKER_04 26:04

Well, you've got to have a little bit back for yourself, don't you?

SPEAKER_03 26:07

For sure. I think when we have kids, I'm I'm I'm obviously not gonna keep the the kid a secret, you know, um, but I'm also not gonna make a uh a thing of them being in my content because I think that I came into this at you know, I was old enough to deal with it, um, and it happened sort of fairly gradually for me. For you know, children aren't equipped to deal with a number of people. You know, I've got two and a half million people who are subscribed. Not those people watch me, but you know, I I'm definitely I'm on the internet, a lot of people know who I am. Um, and children don't have the natural resources to deal with that, you know, it's something I'd have to learn myself. And I would hate for my kid to feel self-conscious or to feel like they're being watched, or you know, even when I'm walking down the street, I get stopped often. Um and it's lovely, but I don't know what that does to a child, and I don't want to them to I I would hate just something I've done by putting them out in the public eye for it to interfere with their upbringing. So you know, I I will be I will be um I think keeping them keeping them off here interesting. It's something old enough, isn't it? When they can make their own choices.

SPEAKER_04 27:19

Yeah, it's it's you have to kind of not think for yourself anymore, but think later down the road and on the line and for other people when you have that that kind of lows amount of eyeballs on you, right? So interesting. I always think also going up to people I met someone um who I follow on Instagram in Liverpool Street the other day, uh, but obviously we've never met and he doesn't know me from Adam. But I I was about to go and go, hey man, it's you from Instagram, it's it's Pete, I follow you. And I I sheaved my tongue quite wisely because I felt that was just super creepy and super weird. But uh but yeah, I mean uh obviously you're I hope you're very approachable and everyone else uh on Instagram doesn't have that same kind of fear of approaching people like I do.

SPEAKER_03 28:00

Yeah, no, I mean I I often weird if I get stopped, people walk past me. Oh Jim, like they know me. Uh you know, they'll they'll kind of they'll it'll blurt it out and then they'll put their hand over their mouth and go, oh no, I actually don't know you, do I? Um because because they're so used to seeing me and I'm such kind of a I think because I'm I'm very much me, you know. If you watch my my content, I am um I'm just a you know there's there's it's not like a show that you put on. I think people can see that. That when they meet me, sometimes they realize that they've said it and I'm like, hey, and they have a bit of an awkward moment when they wish they'd kept their mouth shut and realize they don't actually know me, um, or that I don't actually know them because you know a lot of them do know enough about me. Um but sometimes you know it can be really lovely, and actually my audience got older with me. It used to be entirely young girls, like 16-year-old girls you watched, and that was all um because of the stuff I was making, you know, and it was really cool for a long time. I felt like a pop star, but you know, because people would just scream and cry, and it was bonkers. Um, but actually, as my as I've got older, my audience got older, and now what I get often is a handshake or a quick photo. Well, I really like your stuff, man, and then they'll and then they'll go off. Um and I love that. It's so nice to know that people um it's having an effect, the stuff that I'm making, and people actually genuinely find it interesting. Um, it's really lovely.

SPEAKER_04 29:19

Jim, I've just realized that um you would actually make a rubbish boxer because you wouldn't have a good boxing name. So, like if you were to be introduced, it would be like Jim, really affable and nice chapman. You know, there'd be no kind of nastiness about you. There'd be no way that the master of ceremonies could bring you into the ring.

SPEAKER_03 29:38

I've actually just started boxing as well, so that's awful.

SPEAKER_04 29:42

Oh well, we'll I'm sure we'll come up with something in the meantime. You can't be spar Jim, you can't be sparring, surely. You don't want to mess up the cash register, right?

SPEAKER_03 29:50

Well no, do you know what I've um I I've literally had about two lessons, um so it's just pad work at the moment. Um I don't think I'll ever get to sparring, I'm just doing it for the cardio. But I've got I've got quite a long reach. I'm a big guy, I'm like six foot four. Well um Jesus. Yeah. I I have I have no coordination though. This this is the issue. My my boxing coach teaches um he's he's got like a lot of people who are you know who are like semi-pro and some professionals that he teaches as well, and he's a badass. Um and he looks at me and goes, Oh bless. I've just got no rhythm. But I enjoy the discipline and I enjoy the um the cardio of it. Um and I think it is it's such a good outlet. Um, but I'm never gonna get in the room.

SPEAKER_04 30:30

Yeah, it's um well I've been boxing for quite a while, but I got into it quite late, as it were. So I just thought there's no way I'm gonna be competing. So what's the point of really getting in there and mixing it up at this stage in my life? But um but certainly for discipline, for sport and exercise, it's the best. It trumps swimming, it trumps running, it trumps all of that because it kind of combines everything, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_03 30:53

Yeah, and I do a lot of um because I'm I'm very tall but very slim. So I do a lot of resistance training, like weight stuff, um, because I need to, otherwise I just literally waste away. I I have my I found out the other day I had a um a test thing done, we sound on these weird scales. I have the metabolic rate of a 15-year-old and I'm 30. Um and my base my base calorie intake, which is just just a function, is 2,200 calories. So it's when I want to start gaining, I have to eat like 3,000 calories plus, and it's I don't I don't have the time for that. Um but because I have to list a lot of weights, I then I I crave like a good, sweaty sort of cardio session, and that's where the boxing comes in.

SPEAKER_04 31:29

Nice, nice. Well, you'll have to let us know how you're getting a getting on with the boxing. Maybe we can set up a grudge match or something with other bloggers and influencers. Yeah, let's do you know that happened recently actually.

SPEAKER_03 31:39

There was a boxing match uh between two two influencers. Um I didn't watch it. You know what? I don't I don't watch any I don't watch any content. Uh I the other things I watch, I watch film reviews because I'm obsessed with film, um, and I watch um science y stuff, yeah. Uh, and that's all I watch on on YouTube. But for me it's kind of a buttons holiday. I spend so long making content. I don't then want to sit in front of that kind of interface and that screen um you know, consuming things. So I you know I watch Netflix or I go to the cinema or read a book.

SPEAKER_04 32:10

Yeah, no, I totally understand. I'm the same. Um, Jim, I'd love to talk about your film, maybe in another episode, but uh I'm conscious I've got you on the blower now for half an hour. Is that okay if we just finish off with a question from my editor and then just a very quick fire round of silly questions? Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so um my editor, Craig, wants to know uh, do you still get starstruck?

SPEAKER_03 32:32

No, I never get starstruck. My wife does big time. Um I find really weird because she's acting. Um and she you know, she's just landed a few really cool roles. Um, but she gets starstruck constantly. But the thing is, I do a lot of hosting, and a lot of the hosting I do used to be, I haven't done that for a while actually, was on the red carpet hosting um, you know, like red carpet ever film premiers. So I've done some of the biggest films around it. I did Star Wars um The Force Awakens, and you know, some of the biggest stars ever. Um so as part of my job, I have to interview these people. Um so I never get starstruck. I think if I was to meet Ryan Gosling, I think that would do it for me. And maybe Rob Pitt, but I've done Harrison Ford, who for me is an my idol, because I grew up to Indiana Jones and um, you know, Star Wars and stuff. Um, and because it was just I had the cameras on me, I had the lights on me, I had a microphone in my hand, I had to deliver, so I actually didn't even have a chance to feel Starstruck. Um did you meet beforehand?

SPEAKER_04 33:30

Did you hang out in the green room or anything?

SPEAKER_03 33:32

No, no. Annoyingly not. So actually, usually when you do those things, um you see the film the day before uh you're given your kind of the script. I never I never really sit to a script, but I you know I need to know the run-through order. Um, and then you the next day you're you're there. And if you're lucky, you might meet some people before you actually do it, just so they can recognise your face. But it'll end up a handshake and a hi. Um but on that instance, I hadn't seen the film before. I'd been in LA, so I flew home on the day because they wanted to hire me for it. Um, got my suit on and went to Leicester Square totally unprepared. Um, and actually that was the last one I did for two reasons. One, because I was like, I I don't have the time for them anymore because I'm really busy doing other stuff and I haven't got that time of diary. But also, they're bloody terrifying, you know, they're just it's it's it's really hard presenting to do. You've got a man in your ear telling you, um, okay, you're on gym, and then kind of feeding you questions. You're live on the PA system, but there's like a bit of a delay between your voice and your voice on the screen, which makes you want to slur a bit and you have to entertain the crowd, but then you have to also um talk to the celebrity when they come out, but you don't know what mood they're gonna be in, and you can wait half an hour for for anyone to come. There's suddenly three come at once, and it's a really tough gig. Um, and I remember doing the um The Force Awakens and getting there and just going, shit, do you know what? I haven't seen this, I don't know any of the new blood. I knew all obviously um Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher and the old schoolers, but I didn't know anything about um the you know the other the John Vieger and um and uh Daisy Ridley and stuff. When I saw them, I was like, shit, I don't know you, I know nothing about your character. Um so yeah, I I kind of I went through purely on kind of guts and um and because my job mostly is to add lip anyway, I just kind of went for it. But it wasn't until I finished I was like, ooh, that could have been awful. Um so yeah, I haven't done that since just because I I can't I was so unprepared for that one, I can't commit the time to it at the moment. Maybe when these calm down I'll go back to it. Yeah, who knows?

SPEAKER_04 35:31

Oh, that's a good story. It it reminds me of The Simpsons where uh Homer doesn't have anything left in his tank to say and he's just groping for words and he just says, so you like stuff?

SPEAKER_03 35:41

Yeah, yeah, it was kind of that. I was like, Harrison Ford, you're a you're the space pirate. How she feels me back, and he was like, Yeah, really good. I was like, Cool. Um, but yeah, no, I I think uh what I've learned with presenting stuff, because you know, often people use auto cue and and things, and my my style is very similar to my YouTube stuff. As long as I've got points in my head, I ad lip the rest, and it kind of if you do it with confidence, it doesn't people don't know you haven't got a clue what you're gonna run about. So my my tactic is yeah, deliver what you're saying with utter confidence, look like you really know, and then one go, oh yeah, that guy knows everything.

SPEAKER_04 36:17

Um so yeah, that's what I did. I guess it's also quite hard to ask people the questions that they might have been asked a thousand times before. Like I'm conscious when I'm doing these interviews, especially to get the backstory, um, to introduce influencers and go, just tell me how it all began, because then I could just I could sense okay, well, let me uh regurgitate this, but maybe in a slightly different spiel, do you know what I mean? So that's yeah, I'd like to do this.

SPEAKER_03 36:38

Maybe you sort of Yeah, I probably have to answer that question maybe once a week or so. But like I I did the um the press trunket for Spectre, and I was one of the last guys. So basically, um Daniel Craig sits in a room for three days, the same room, sits there for three days, having press from all over the world ask him the same questions. And I was one of the last people on the last days, and I could just see that he was so sick of it, bless him, because it must it's it's mind-numbing to be asked those same questions, but you know, every publication needs to have it themselves. So I tried to sort of mix it up a bit, which I think he sort of appreciated. But yeah, totally. I can imagine for those guys it must be really sort of quite boring, actually. You know, they they they finished the film a year ago, they're now in a very different headspace and a different character, working on a new role, suddenly thrust back into being that guy and answering the same questions over and over again.

SPEAKER_04 37:30

And these dudes just want to look forward, right? They're like moving sharks, they only just want to go forward, they don't want to look back and talk about things in the review, do they? And did were you that a lot of them just want to act. You weren't the person that you said he wanted to slit his wrist to rather than do another Bond film with you.

SPEAKER_03 37:46

No, not to me. I did shoot him with finger guns um because I could see that he was yeah, didn't go down that well. I could see that he was a little bit um, you know, best best. I mean, he was just a little bit bored, you know, he needed some entertainment. So I walked in and was like, hey, so you my first question was you James Bond? How's that feel? He's like, I'm not, I'm Daniel Craig. I'm like, yeah, but if anyone's got the right to call himself James Bond, it's you, right? You've got politics to kill. He was like, Yeah, I guess. I'd be like I I said to him, I'd love it. I'd go around just shooting everyone again. Um and I kind of I actually shot him with a few with my fingers. Um and I I nearly got a smile.

SPEAKER_04 38:26

That is fantastic. I'd love to meet Daniel Craig one day. I'm the huge I'm a just a massive bond nut. Um so that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_03 38:31

Yeah, he's he's actually I I think he gets a bit of a bad press, you know. I think people often say he's really grumpy and stuff. I don't think he is, I think he's actually a nice guy. Um I I think on that instance I could see that he would he was a nice guy, he just was a bit, you know, bored.

SPEAKER_04 38:46

Yeah, and and you would be right three days into that sort of thing. So I'll forgive Danny Boyd for that one. Um listen, uh Jim, you've been an absolute diamond on this podcast. Thanks for doing all the heavy lifting and all the wonderful, colourful answers. Uh, can I just finish with some quick fire ones and um and we'll and we'll wrap it up. Um but before I do, uh people should realise if they're not there already that Jim Chapman has got his own website. It's jchapman.co.uk and on the social everywhere, you're ubiquitous, omnipresent, at Jim Chapman is where they'll find you. Yes. Um okay. So here we go, Jim. Your number one style icon, dead or alive.

SPEAKER_03 39:26

Oh, uh James Dean. James Dean.

SPEAKER_04 39:29

Oh nice. Uh and which other influencer should we interview in a future podcast episode?

SPEAKER_03 39:35

Oh, good question. Um Marcel, I forget his he's from One Dapper Street, he's a lovely guy. He's um he's German but also American and just kind of very cool.

SPEAKER_04 39:47

Excellent. Well, I'm gonna um reach out to Marcel and say that you want a grudge match with him. That's fantastic. Favourite bond and favorite bond film or moment.

SPEAKER_03 39:58

Ooh, favorite bond. Do you know what? This is very controversial, but it for me it used to be Piers Brosnan because I was of the Piers Brosnan era. Um the first bond I saw in the cinema was Goldeneye. And I look back at it now and it's bloody awful. Um actually, I genuinely think Daniel Craig is one of the best. Sean Connery, obviously, but I think Daniel Craig is is actually excellent. And then Casino Royale, it's one of the best bonds there is. Um so yeah, I'm gonna go I'm gonna go Craig and I'm gonna say Casino Royale.

SPEAKER_04 40:28

Fantastic, great choice for Craig. Um, how many pairs of denim do you own? Uh let me think quite a lot.

SPEAKER_03 40:36

Uh about seven, no, not it, not not in ordinary amounts, I've about seven or eight. Um but I like my denim. I like I like it to age well, you know. So I wear a pair and I wear it to depth and let them sort of fade and get kind of quite gnarly. Um so I've got kind of varying ages, varying degrees of of tatter, basically. Nice.

SPEAKER_04 40:58

Um, and lastly, who gets your hand-me downs?

SPEAKER_03 41:02

My twin brother does really well out of me. He's he's a bit shorter, so I'm 6'4. Yeah, I'm 6'4, and he's about six foot, but he's a personal trainer, so he's quite buff, and actually we end up having pretty much exactly the same chest size just because I've got a bigger frame than him. So he does really well out of me. Um what I do is I just keep I get sent a lot of clothes as part of my job. So I keep them things that I kind of I kind of have a rotation, things that I'm finished with. I just keep them in my spare room, and when he comes over, I'm like, just take it all. So yeah, he does great.

SPEAKER_04 41:32

I'd be around every other day. Yeah, nice. Well, listen, um, thanks again, Jim. And not only that, because you've uh you're you're under the weather, so um pretty tough to do something like this with tonsillitis. So I appreciate that as well. My pleasure, no worries at all. Okay, and enjoy the rest of your day and good luck with the film. What's the name of the film, by the way? Do you have a working title?

SPEAKER_03 41:52

Well, uh, do you know what? Yeah, I do. I'm not sure I can share it yet because I've just sent it off to people, um, and I'm waiting on on um feedback. So the title might change. Um so yeah, I'm not sure I can share it, but it's romantic comedy um and I like it.

SPEAKER_04 42:07

Well, hopefully uh we'll have you back on to talk about it at a later date. Of course. Brilliant. Cheers, Jim, I'll let you go. Thanks, mate. Have a good one. You too. Thanks. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Jim Chapman there. Thank you, Jim. And now we're gonna speak to Beckloads, editor at large for Mentor Style. Now, I should say up front, I kind of screwed up the audio on this one, didn't have the microphone plugged in, so it might sound a little tinny. I'm effectively just talking into my laptop, but you'll get the gist. It's a great interview, it's a news roundup. Stay tuned for this. Introducing Beckload. Okay, like to introduce editor at large, Beckload. How are you doing today, Beck?

SPEAKER_00 42:53

Yeah, good, thank you. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_04 42:55

I'm really well, it's good to have you back. Uh, what have you been up to? Anything new?

SPEAKER_00 43:00

Um, no, not really, just the usual pottering about. I actually had a week in New York, that was great, looking at some different shops and things like that. That was really fun, actually. So, and Miami as well, it's a great place to go and have a looch around. So, yeah, it's worth having a checkout if you ever think of going.

SPEAKER_04 43:18

Yeah, I'd love to do both. I've um Miami's actually on the bucket list. My girlfriend keeps telling me that's a guilty pleasure location. I don't know how much of a guilty pleasure things are when you have gorgeous beaches like that. She says only Hawaii and Miami have like the world's consistently good beaches all year round.

SPEAKER_00 43:35

Yeah, it was great. Actually, I was really pleasantly surprised. I was because I'd heard sort of a few different things, but it is it's a great, it's a it's quite a strange place in a way, but um South Beach is kind of just all hotels down the beach, but it's really, really nice. And there's a place called Windward Walls, which is uh full of graffiti and some really great shops like Shinola are there and the the whole of The outside of their shop is covered in graffiti and some great men's store. There was one called Base, um, which was really cool, really great brands in there. So, um, yeah, definitely a good place to go and check out.

SPEAKER_04 44:12

Awesome. Are you on Instagram, Beck Loads?

SPEAKER_00 44:15

I am, yes.

SPEAKER_04 44:16

Hold on, let me have a look for you. Hold on, B E C. This is great, Pod, as I just uh typed in your name. By the way, we should say menswear style is on Instagram as well, ad menswear style. Um but BeckLodes, because I want to see pictures of graffiti buildings.

SPEAKER_00 44:37

Oh, yeah, actually, I haven't put the ones up yet. I was editing some of them, so uh I'm I'm getting those ready to go because uh there's some really incredible graffiti, actually, really cool.

SPEAKER_04 44:46

Alright, cool. Post those. I've just followed you. That's that. Um now, meanwhile, back in the news. What has been happening? Uh you've sent me a link to the Met Gala. You know how we like to talk about red carpets here. What is the Metgala?

SPEAKER_00 45:00

Right, so the Met Gala, if you don't know about it, um it's been going actually, it's been going since 1948. Um, but Anna Wintor took over in 1995, and I'm a bit I'm a bit of one of those sad people that kind of stayed up to wait for the uh photos to come up online. Um it always happens on this sort of first uh Monday of May, so it's just happened this week. Um, and it's basically um the launch of the new fashion exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Arts Costume Institute in New York, and um it's a huge event, it's a massive like fundraising event basically. Um massive red carpet. Um, I think tickets are about $30,000 to go. Um, and there's a theme every year, so this year's was Heavenly Bodies, Fashion and the Catholic Imagination. So it's quite controversial this year, actually. There was a lot of sort of people who are quite fully against it because they saw it as sort of yeah, having a go at um taking fashion into the Catholic realm. But um, yeah, there were some pretty spectacular outfits. Everyone tries to outdo each other, so it's worth having a look.

SPEAKER_04 46:19

Yeah, I'm looking at a couple of the links online, so you can just Google this, you'll find it on Esquire and GQ. Uh, which ones stood out to you?

SPEAKER_00 46:29

Well, for the men, I think uh Jared Leto, I think probably one of the standout um who really did push the boundary, he really went for it. I think he was uh what happens is normally uh designers pick or I guess they collaborate with a few celebrities because so they kind of go as a group. Um, and he was part of the Gucci group, and uh he was fully adorned in embellishments and a gold crown. Um, yeah, so he really went for it. Darren Chris from our great Versace.

SPEAKER_04 47:03

Oh yeah, Darren Chris. Hey.

SPEAKER_00 47:07

He was actually very snazzy.

SPEAKER_04 47:08

Yeah, he looks the nails in this. I mean, I've got a load of Versace episodes to catch up on because I've been away for a few weeks, so I can't wait to get into some Versace. Um and I whilst I was uh looking looking at his profile, I only just discovered that he's straight. He's like straight in real life.

SPEAKER_02 47:27

I did not know that.

SPEAKER_04 47:29

This dude is straight in real life. And I only say that because uh if if you've ever seen the The Assassination of Versace, the episodes that are running on BBC, he plays a gay dude like no straight dude has ever played a great a gay dude in all of TV and all of film. He is by far and away, that dude is the best actor that is on the face of the earth right now.

SPEAKER_00 47:50

He was absolutely brilliant, he's so good.

SPEAKER_04 47:52

I even text my girlfriend, I said, I said it the guy's straight. It's almost like one of these things when you when you when you it's the reverse of coming out. He's come in. Yeah, you know what I mean? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:02

Oh, good for him. Yeah, good for him. I I wouldn't have put that on a straight man, so he did well.

SPEAKER_04 48:12

Exactly. Anyway, oh well so have a look at some uh outfits online. They are some of them are a bit out there. I think Jared Leto um is perhaps the pack leader in this, but there's some really, really, really cool ones.

SPEAKER_00 48:24

There were some good classic tuxedas, well, some British uh people there as well. Gary Aldman and Colin Firth, they were there in classic uh tuxed, and they looked very smart. And Andrew Garfield was wearing a red velvet Tom Ford jacket, which would look pretty nice.

SPEAKER_04 48:39

Yeah. Uh I've just seen Lewis Hamilton there in a white tuxedo.

SPEAKER_00 48:44

He was definitely quite extra.

SPEAKER_04 48:45

Yeah, yeah, he's gone all out. How do you feel about the tuxedo, the smartware mixed with sneakers and converse and stuff like that? Are you are you for all that?

SPEAKER_00 48:56

I think I am. I think I mean I think there are boundaries, definitely. Um, there are I mean, I love a proper tuxedo full-on outfit. I think it just looks the bee's knees, like it really does. Um, but I think people obviously you see a lot more nowadays on the red carpet, you know, sort of wearing the freshest trainers out there. I think Virgil Abloh, um, who's now taken over at Louvre Vuitton, he was wearing his uh limited edition uh Nikes with his white suit, um, which I guess some people say, you know, it's kind of going against tradition. But yeah, how about you? What do you think?

SPEAKER_04 49:36

I think as soon as I ask you that, I realize I'm coming across as old man Brooker talking about, oh, how dare he wear a sneakers and a red carpet. Doesn't he know it's a real shell? Um but you know it's it's each to their own. I think Lewis Hamilton's he doesn't really want to get in a suit. That's my impressions. I think every time I see Lewis Hamilton dressed up, he doesn't he doesn't want to be in it. He likes it, but then he just wants to let everyone know that he's super cool anyway, and he he prefers his casual wear. I think that's where Lewis Hamilton stands.

SPEAKER_00 50:04

But he does like his out sort of outrageous casual wear that it's normally got something crazy going on it, like some sort of embroidery or embellishment or gold something on it.

SPEAKER_04 50:15

He's a Tommy Hill figure, that's what he's wearing. I wouldn't have put that in.

SPEAKER_00 50:18

Yeah, there was actually, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:20

Right, um, so that's that. Yeah, it's super interesting. Oliver Spencer, Ryan.

SPEAKER_00 50:26

Yes, talk to me about Oliver Spencer. Ten years. Ten years they've been there. So yeah, they've they've come out with uh uh new, well not a new uh uh collection, a small, very small capsule collection to celebrate their ten years in Bloomsbury. Um so that's nice to see. Um they've sort of gone back into archives and sort of recreated one of their classic jackets, sort of their Fisher jacket, um sort of a bomber style, which is nice.

SPEAKER_04 50:56

Yeah, no, it looks really cool actually. I like the I really like the t-shirt as well that they've put out with this just kind of huge ex-Roman numeral with Oliver Spencer under it. Um and it's a Oliver Spencer is one of these guys that I would just clean house with if I had the money because I really do like his casual wear and some of his knits and his blazers. It has a bit of a prep look to it, if that's even the right word. But I would just be doing a supermarket sweep in an Oliver Spencer store and just say, I'll take it all.

SPEAKER_00 51:25

Yeah, yeah, it's very nice. The t-shirts are simple but in really nice colour, and um they're limited edition, so get your hands on them soon if you want one.

SPEAKER_04 51:33

Oh, really? Oh, okay, cool. What are they going for?

SPEAKER_00 51:37

No, I'm not sure how much they are, but um shouldn't be too bad.

SPEAKER_04 51:41

Yeah, well, um, so that's Oliver Spencer. Well done, Oliver Spencer. Good to see the British brand's doing well, and he makes about uh was it about 40-50% of the stuff is made here in the UK. And anyone, any uh brand or tailor looking to get off the ground knows how expensive it is to just get stuff done in this country. So um kudos to him. Uh the London Craft Show is still going, I think, isn't it? I mean not by the time this goes out, but it's uh it's still this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 52:08

Um this weekend, yeah. So unfortunately, yeah, it'll just be gone. But um it's their fourth year, so it's a great, it's a great event actually. Um and yeah, if if you've uh been a part of it or check some things out, it'd be good to know um what people have been up to and been seeing. But uh yeah, it's all over London just kind of celebrating um you know different brands, British brands, and uh you can get tickets to go to workshops and galleries and um studios that you wouldn't normally be allowed to go to. So um yeah, it's quite interesting.

SPEAKER_04 52:43

Yeah, I liked the Henry Poole did something as well, didn't they, this weekend? And I think it was yesterday, John Kerry popped in to see what they were up to. Um one of the old he ran for president, didn't he, John Kerry?

SPEAKER_00 52:57

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 52:57

Yeah, he who was he up against? Bush, I think. Lost against Bush. But John Kerry, uh I've got a mate who has a claim to fame for John Kerry. He was out in a just holidaying, and John Kerry was in the same restaurant. And at the time I think he was running for office, so he couldn't be seen doing anything dodgy. But these two girls came over to John Kerry and said, Oh, please, let's get a picture of you, John. And John's quite excited because these two girls are red hot. So he gets up and gets it and he's about to have this picture taken, but then in the back of his mind, he thinks, shit, this is gonna be all over the news. Me out with two hot chicks. Um so he has a look around the restaurant, he needs another dude in the picture, and my mate is just right there. He goes, You get in the picture, and he's like, What? Me? He showed me a picture on his phone the other day of him just randomly in a picture with John Kerry and these two hot red blondes. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:47

That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04 53:48

That is pretty cool. That is pretty cool. So um, yeah, it'll all be done and dusted by the time we uh we put this out. But London Craft Week, I think it's in its fourth year now, is it? Um it's all pro-profit and it's it's it's great to focus on London Craft and keeping everything in town. So check that out. And what else?

SPEAKER_00 54:10

Yes, I until you told me I had no idea that this had happened.

SPEAKER_04 54:14

Yeah, the sneaks, the sneaks. So uh I pulled an article off from the Verge.com who have covered this quite well. And basically, Amazon are boosting their annual Prime memberships from 99 bucks to $119, which works out to be about 87 pounds, I think, roughly thereabouts. So, why are they doing this? Well, what happens when you get a monopoly on a market, right? You can just call the shops.

SPEAKER_00 54:41

Yeah, see what you learn.

SPEAKER_04 54:43

Um, I'm not subscribed to anything in Amazon. I I I go there and shop a little bit, but I don't think people are gonna take too kindly to this, but I get why they're doing it because they need to build a second headquarters in the United States. And uh yeah, exactly. And when when the Empire needs another Death Star, you know, it's not all hands to the pump. They can't go to Vietnam anymore and get the slaves. They need to uh they need to fund it somehow, right?

SPEAKER_00 55:09

Yeah, so um I'm not I signed up to Prime a long time ago and I got really annoyed with it. The only reason I found it useful was to get next day free delivery. That was the only thing I enjoyed. And I I'm an I'm more of a Netflix person than an Amazon Prime, so yeah.

SPEAKER_04 55:26

Yeah, and I I think this is good news for Netflix because people I imagine so because they've they did a hike on the monthly Prime membership and now they've done it to the annual Prime membership. People are just gonna go, can I can I really spend £87 a month just to get free delivery? And imagine the amount of stuff you have to spend that with Amazon just to reap the benefits of that. Yeah, so uh anyway, they're the sneaky ones, but who am I to argue? They've got 100 million subscribers, so I'm sure they they don't give a crap about my. Exactly, right, exactly. Um cool. Well listen, thanks, Bex.

SPEAKER_00 56:00

Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_04 56:02

Okay, we'll speak to you next time.

SPEAKER_00 56:04

Yeah, next time. All right.

SPEAKER_04 56:06

Cheers, Donna.

SPEAKER_00 56:06

Bye. Bye bye.

SPEAKER_04 56:08

Thank you, Beckloads, and normal service will be resumed next time when I remember to plug in the microphone. I want to thank Jim Chapman for coming on, for you for listening. And also make sure you're checking out our wonderful sponsor, Lisa.co.uk. If you want to get yourself a decent night's sleep, check out their mattresses over there. That's it for me. Until next time, remember it's only fashion people, and you're never fully dressed without a smile.