James Haskell swaps a rugby ball for a live mic as he takes his world famous podcast on tour this spring

The world’s biggest rugby podcast will tour the UK and Ireland, bringing the banter and chat the podcast is famous for to the stage, with ‘The Bad’ James joined by fellow England hero Mike Tindall (The Rugby) and former Sky Sports rugby presenter Alex Payne (The Good). The live tour is the first ever outing for the hit podcast which, since launching in summer 2020, has grown to become the UK’s top sporting podcast, with more than 3million listeners and 20million-plus viewers online.

How did the podcast originally come about – and why you, Mike and Alex?

I knew Mike from our England days, and we both knew Alex through his work with Sky and we came together to work on JOE Media’s House of Rugby podcast. Our chemistry just worked really well, so we took it from there for the new podcast.

Most memorable moment on the podcast?

All the live shows have been pretty special. Interacting with the audience while also chatting to our guests is a great thing to do. We’ve got well over 10million downloads, we have an average listener time of an hour and 20 minutes – which is pretty much unheard of, so we’re clearly getting it right.

What’s your favourite thing about The Good, The Bad & The Rugby – and how will that translate to the live show?

For us, it’s a rugby podcast that doesn’t talk about rugby… It’s about the people and the stories behind the scenes and the worlds we live in. Giving people a look at worlds they wouldn’t have seen before, and we are at the heart of that as people who enjoy what they are doing and sharing the personalities of it all.

The whole idea is that it’s entertainment, stories, details, previously unheard anecdotes and humour. Although it has rugby at the core, it’s not necessarily a podcast for people who love rugby.

You launched The Good, The Bad & The Rugby right in the middle of the pandemic. How did that impact the podcast? 

We created The Good, The Bad & The Rugby because we wanted to share something with people. And we went ahead despite all the challenges of lockdowns and Covid-19 as a way of showing that the world would go on. When we started, the overarching feedback was that we were helping detract from the horrible things and sadness going on, and we were helping people’s mental health. We harnessed that and went with it. For us, we do something very different [to most podcasts] as it’s visual. It’s live, it’s entertainment, it’s so much more than a podcast. When it came to series two, I refused to do any more Zooms, I hated it and wanted to be with people, live. I’m a natural giant show off and performer and that was important for me. We got back into the studio and back to what we wanted to do with The Good, The Bad & The Rugby. We had missed each other. It was great online but it’s really gone up a notch back in person.

Do you miss the rugby life – or does the podcast help fill that void? 

I’ll be honest, it’s been really important for me. I can’t stand still, I’m a workaholic, and the podcast kept me involved with rugby – without damaging myself anymore. I have other things I do; my fifth book came out at the end of 2021 and I did some live shows with that, and my DJing, it’s all going pretty well. But it’s the podcast that’s changed people’s opinions of me as we’ve shone a light on some important issues within sport – such as men’s mental health, the welfare of players in particular with issues surrounding concussion, and exposing imbalances in the game, as well as the unfair treatment of the Pacific Island nations. We’ve been able to get people to come forward and talk about these things, and that’s been a great impact that we’re really proud of.

What can listeners and fans expect from the live show?

Entertainment, humour, fun, exciting. Stories never heard before. Guests to blow them away.

You’re used to performing on the pitch in front of thousands of people. But how do you feel about the more intimate setting of a theatre – getting close up and face to face with the crowd?

I’m probably the most used to it from the three of us – doing my own tour shows, stand-up, speaking events, DJing, I’ve done a lot of ‘stage’ type work solo since retiring. Whereas, with playing rugby you’re on a team, the crowds are fun and you know you’re not on your own. Actually, a theatre-type audience is where I’m now most happy and comfortable. If I’m invited to a dinner, I hate just being a guest – I find the schmoozing and small talk awkward, and I won’t go if I’m not actually doing something.

Away from the podcast, what keeps you busy?

Lately it’s been writing and then promoting my book Ruck Me, that’s been a big project. I have my own podcast too, as well as The Good, The Bad & The Rugby, music producing and DJing, and supporting the charities I work with.

Who will be the most entertaining / shocking / revealing on the tour? 

Me! Actually, it’ll be fun to see how we do all adapt to the live audiences – so who knows how it’ll turn out… 

Tickets are on sale now from www.cuffeandtaylor.com 

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE RUGBY - LIVE

Sunday 1st May – LIVERPOOL, Empire Theatre

Wednesday 4th May – CARDIFF, St David’s Hall

 Friday 6th May – MANCHESTER, Bridgewater Hall

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