SAM THOMPSON: Our Biggest MIC Fallout & Why Jamie Finally Said Sorry

0:00Coming up in this episode of Great Company. Because you said 2025 is the worst year of your life. It's been a wild year. I thought I was Superman. I was like, you can't take me down. Everyone can get taken down. And last year I got really, really bad burnout. Do you feel depressed? Yeah, I felt really, really, really down. One minute you're Tigger and the next minute you're literally on the floor. Because we had our fallout on MIC. We had a few, mate. Get out of my office. Fuck you. Fair fucking minimum. You dated Sophie, my now wife. You guys broke up and I started dating her behind your back.

0:29You had a bit of a history for going after people's exes. I remember saying to you after, just please don't do this one. You and I did not talk for like half a year. Here we go. Hello, I'm Sam Thompson and I'm in great company. Install the nation's heart. King of the jungle. Sam. Sam Thompson. Louise basically had a very tricky pregnancy and nearly died on giving birth. Nearly died three times. That was one of the hardest times in my life by an absolute fucking mile because I remember the doctor came in twice and when we can't stop the bleeding. And I was like, oh my fucking God, like what? This is a nightmare.

1:02I don't even think I'd properly process it now, if I'm honest with you. You did a 260 mile endurance challenge from London to Manchester, carrying the Socceré Bull. I was 2k away from the end of the first marathon. I felt like a gunshot had taken my fucking calf out. The physio goes to me, he goes, mate, you've torn your calf. And I went, what do you mean? He went, you're not running on that.

1:26Hello everyone. My name is Jamie Lang, and this is Great Company.

1:33Hi, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Great Company. Okay, this week, we've got someone you guys have been asking for for a while. Okay, it's my buddy, my friend. It's Mr. Sam Thompson. Okay, I persuaded Sam to sit down with me at the end of last year, and we talked about so many things. We talked about our friendship. Okay, we've had a little bit of a rocky one over the time. Okay, we had one of Made in Chelsea's biggest fallouts. Yeah, we get into that. We talk about heartbreak and why 2025 was the hardest year for Sam. He's come out much stronger and better in so many different ways.

2:07Now, before we get into it, I'm just going to ask you to do one thing for me. Okay, please follow and subscribe to Great Company. It's totally free and we want to keep it that way. It really helps us keep bringing the guests you love and making the show bigger and better for everyone. If you can do that one thing, I promise I'll be forever grateful. All right, enjoy this incredible episode of Great Company with Sam Thompson. Hello, I'm Sam Thompson and I'm in Great Company.

2:37Sammy!

2:41When do you remember we first met? I know, you won't know when we first met, but I know exactly when we first met. It was when I drove my sister to pick something up from your flat that you lived in with Francis Spencer and you. But you won't remember this, mate. I might remember. It was, you know, when you go up the Harwood Road and turn right? Yeah. It was that flat there. Oh, my God. Yeah, that, that, mate. Opposite the Chelsea Stadium. Yeah, mate. So that was like years. That was way before I even joined the show. That was my funnest. That was the best. that was the funnest time like if I look back at times in my life that period when I was living in that flat with Francis and Proudlock and we were just started doing Made in Chelsea was like it was just so carefree yeah there was nothing there was no reason I just had to worry about dying I didn't have to worry about anything I remember you guys I think it was you it was it was you who opened the door and I was like oh my gosh Jamie Lange and I was and he goes and you open the door and you went you're alright I think you might even have been hung over and you're like you're alright and you're like I think it was because Spencer was like Spen like that and you turn around and I was like oh my god this is actually like made in Chelsea because man I was a bartender back then because how old were you when you started the show?

3:5821 were you 21? I was at 20 and 20 so late 20 about to be 21 so what was your impression when you first saw it? first shot in none of you want to speak to me yeah yeah yeah none of you want to speak to me I remember that really well and I was I get it I get what it's like because obviously you don't know who this like really young i looked about 16 yeah you look very young and like and i met you it's like when you join a new school and like it's it's not like anyone's gonna like you're not gonna go out your way to speak to the new kid because i'm so like young i'm so much younger than everyone as well so i knew it was gonna happen mate i no one spoke to me you know when you do those event days and you go in and like i used to like look over oh god i'm making a chelsea event and uh and i like and i stood there and i remember the phone you know when everyone goes for lunch yeah and you guys all the cool kids went for lunch and um i just stood there not eating just waiting for the day just stood yeah yeah just stood waiting just like talking to the camera guys and then my sister felt bad for me went you want to come for lunch with me roting binky and i was like yes please and so i just sat there at their lunch and didn't say a word it was when What was your first ever scene that you did on Main Chelsea?

5:09Opening the door to Andy Jordan, who was going through, I think, a breakup with Louise. And I will never forget this. It was Andy comes in and he's like, and all I had to do was open the door. It's like my big reveal. And he goes, just open the door and go, Andy, I think I know why you're here. Come in. And then turn around and go, Louise. and that was it, right? I couldn't do it. Mate, I did that scene about 50 times. I was opening the door. I went, Mr. Jordan, I think I know why you're here. And then he went, cut. And I was like, what? He goes, you're shaking. And I was like, what do you mean?

5:53He was like, you're visibly shaking. I was like, okay, fine. Mate, it happened about so many times. And then I started like adding things in because I was so nervous. I opened the door. Mr. Jordan, I think I know why you're here. let me put the kettle on he goes he's panicking and he goes he goes we're not they're not having tea they're not having tea and eventually this is so bad eventually Andy when he was very sweet about it he literally went he went look mate I know this is your first time I'm like no more I'll do it and bear in mind he's going through a breakup they're about to have like a really savage scene and he's literally I've opened the door he's taken the brother who's meant to be like you're coming into my sort of space he's taken me by the shoulders and led me into my own house.

6:39Man, I remember first starting MIC and it was like, because I just didn't understand it. I think you got it quite quickly because I think you're more in tune with that kind of idea of, okay, this is an entertainment show. We're making entertainment here. I, for ages, didn't understand it. Do you know what? Do you know what was weird, though, is back then, I was so, it was so great because I don't really think there was any career possibilities around it. So in my head, I was like, just screw around for a little bit and then go and get like, you know, like a different job. So like enjoy the early 20s.

7:17And then, because we didn't have Instagram. We had nothing. We had Twitter. That was it. And no one had really, that wasn't, it wasn't like an, there's like, it's so weird because it's like a double-edged sword. You go into a reality show not knowing there's anything beyond it. And then you see there's something beyond it. eventually and there's like an industry there you know this kind of stuff radio presenting or whatever it is but then you go i can't get to it because of the the barrier that doing a reality show well explain that what do you mean well but before that i didn't know that this is the point i was sort of making is that when when i first started i didn't know there was any industry behind i just thought it was a reality tv show that you'd have fun in your early 20s and then go and get a different job and so that was when i was the most sort of like free and all i wanted to do was just like entertain like i used to at school like class clown kind of stuff do you know i remember like i used to i i i made fran newman young a mixtape where i was naked on it yeah but that was your charm that maybe do you know i loved doing that that was the best and i never got embarrassed and i never got like um sort of like there was no ego or anything like that it was literally just like i want to have fun and make people laugh i all i want to do is make people laugh and I really enjoyed the first couple of years I mean people hated me by the way on the first year like first few years all the twitter was just like oh I hate him he's gap too far he looks like Gollum and all this kind of shit but like I loved it I the first two years that show I adored there was like because it was just there was no pressure no nothing and I could just try and entertain people and I don't know whether I did that because as I said I don't think I was very liked but yeah it was the first two years are great and then you realize there's a industry behind it yeah so for you right like it was i remember i remember when it's when main challenge started to become a job for me and i was like okay here we go right i've now chosen this career now i've actually got to make something of it there was like a turning point where it stopped being a hobby whereas hanging out with my mates and suddenly i was like right i gotta make this into like a job i've got to go what was that moment for you were you saying like okay i gotta try and make this uh probably it's probably actually weirdly the moment i i was quite late on i think where i I realized that, that's when I did Big Brother, probably.

9:26Really? Yeah, I think so. Because then I was just like, oh, wow, that's when I realized there was an industry behind it. And I was like, oh my God, like there's so much past made in Chelsea that I didn't realize. And I was like, oh my God, Big, like, dude, Big Brother, you told me not to do it. Yeah, I did. You told me not to do it. 100 % of you. And I was so wrong. But you were so... This is in 2017. You were so, as you just said, so well-versed. And you always have been. you've been like a leader in in sort of like it like i have looked up to you massively sort of like oh i'm getting deep right like in terms but genuinely in terms of like in terms of you pioneer a lot and then i go oh that's possible and i'll try and follow suit and and i'm really lucky to have you know someone like you that i could do that with because i feel like a lot of people don't have that person so mate you literally led the charge in so many sort of ways and i but i remember with big brother being like i just used to watch it as a kid all the time and um i remember like do you remember when you could watch it live yeah and you heard the birds tweeting and stuff and you just watch them hang out they should do that in the jungle by the way i think i think they should show a live feed at the camp very good idea but but i used to sit down for hours watching big brother when it was on channel four and um and then when they were like do you want to do it all i could think about was sitting in that chair and being i've watched that chair for years and i get the chance to sit in it and i remember you being like nah mate it's not the right move like career suicide because it was a little bit frowned upon and stuff and but then like when i did that show i really realized there was like way more past it and there were like so many more opportunities and things you could do in this industry which made me really excited but then you know it's like you go into any any sort of reality show and then it's a shortcut there's a long road around exactly and i feel like the problem is is that the the door that you see that you're like oh i'd like to go through there because i think i'm quite good at this industry like i think i could do quite good at radio hosting or could be quite good this or quite good that you try and walk through your door and it's steel and you're like i can't god you can't get through that bad boy 100 you can't push it open can't push it open do you know do you know what the big brother thing is so interesting because i remember this is i'm gonna be very honest with you right like so i remember used to with main chelsea was suddenly we realized that okay there's an opportunity here to get into like this world of entertainment and we and we all who were doing made in chelsea like enjoyed like the idea of filming and we enjoyed that whole idea of like doing different shows and everything and my my agency had always said to me you pick a lane and you follow that north star and you never change it yeah if anything comes in for you we say no to it and i was like okay fine all right terrifying yeah okay fine i got it let's because if you want to get credibility that's what you've got to do right that's what you've got to do and so then when you were offered big brother the part of me was like i'm listening to this north star if sam does this it's going to be career suicide because he's going to go on big brother and the other half of me was jealous that you were doing it it's big brother yeah because exposing yourself and doing a different channel would be really exciting.

12:34And I got offered the big brothers and offered the things. And my agency said, we're not doing it. You're not doing it. And part of me was going, but maybe it would be a good idea to do. I think it would be a good idea. And so when you went on to it, the reason why I was a bit like almost forward with it is partly because I was like, well, maybe this is a bad idea for him. But secondly, because I'm jealous he's taking that risk. And the great semi with you, no, but with you, what you've done so like insanely well in your career, which I admire so much, is you've never had any sort of ego or any sort of look down upon on certain shows.

13:13And you've gone, no, this show could be... I could make this show amazing. It doesn't matter what anyone else has done. If I do Big Brother, I know I could make it amazing. If I go and do Celebs Go Dating, I know I can make it amazing. You carved out your own path. You haven't looked at what anyone else has done. And from my side, I've gone like, damn, that's fucking great. scary then yeah really scary really scary I can imagine but mate do you know what that's very sweet of you mate but I promise you and I'm not lying about that because when you came out of Big Brother I remember seeing the amount of people that loved you and for people who don't know this when Sam you were doing Made in Chelsea there were so many times that you used to come to me and you used to say I think I'm going to quit yeah because I don't think there's a career for me in this every scene that I do I'm always seen as like the little brother or your friend or this or that everyone sees me as like making fun of me I'm not moving up this food chain of made in Chelsea because you had the Spencers and you had the Francis and you had the Proudlong and it weirdly it's like an age thing because we were older it's like school we had more status so you couldn't see yourself breaking through it so what you did is you went against the grain circumnavigate amazing but was that tactical yeah yeah you because i knew that at that point like i knew with like the steps go dates and stuff i was like i want other opportunities to to to experience and i wasn't feeling like i could experience much on main chelsea because it's so linear like it may it was the same thing over and over again really wasn't it and like and and i feel like but you know you have the same thing with that with like tv presenting it's an age thing what do you mean?

14:56you know what it's like we've both gone for loads of things and it's a lot of times and I understand why because it's like this in every job not just this industry but it's the safe option isn't it? where you're like it's like well this person's hosted that before so we're going to have them and they're never going you know how hard it is to knock down that door of no I genuinely believe I can do this and I genuinely believe that I can make it a really good show and we can bond and connect with the viewer in a different way maybe than some of the hosts that you're using now. But you know, it's like, it's just an age thing.

15:35It's an age thing and it's a ladder thing and you've just got to wait and accept it is what it is. You can't circumnavigate that either. You just have to sit there and wait. But doing a show like Big Brother, right? It's very risky because people, the audience see every side of you. And on Made in Chelsea, you're edited. so you can kind of edit yourself in a certain way and so this is like complete right here i am this is for everyone to like judge and not judge were you worried about that no not at all no because i was so young i wasn't even that young actually i think it's like 24 25 so young 25 a thing that's so young i mean no it is young was i 24 i can't remember you'll know 2017 so 2017 i would have been so when's that so you would have been 24 24 like but mate you know my mental age back then was like, I've always been a late bloomer.

16:22And so, like, my mental age at 24 was probably like 20, maybe, like 19. And so, like, I went in and just loved it. I couldn't do it now. I could not do it now. Like, I was the perfect age and at the perfect time in my life to just go in there and enjoy whatever it was. Because there was nothing to lose, mate, either. I wasn't going to lose. You can't lose anything because I didn't have anything. What was the moment, do you think, in Chelsea, that you suddenly realized that you had been accepted? Because there was a turning point. Accepted by who? Well, because there was a turning point, which is where you were Louise's younger brother.

17:02That's who you were. And then suddenly, which people don't realize about me in Chelsea, there's this food chain where you kind of, you have what they would call the A stories, and then you would have the B stories. And then there's Cs. And then there were C stories. I was always the C. But you've jumped to A story, and you suddenly became a pivotal, like really big key player within Made in Chelsea. Yeah, but not through good reasons. I would become the ace story through like, through bad relationship decisions. What do you mean? Like, well, like my first ever girlfriend's hip. Like that wasn't a good, like, it's weird because you're that young.

17:40It's such an odd one, isn't it? Because, you know, that's my first ever girlfriend. I didn't. On TV. mad mad mate so you're navigating you are navigating your first ever relationship at like I think I was 22 no I was 21 I was 21 when I met Tiff while being filmed while being filmed you know I went I mean you can watch this on TV I went for a kiss I think it was our first date with me and Tiff filmed and I went I leaned in and she swerved me she went what are you doing it was I think it was like crazy and I went like this I went I lent in and she went whoa because in like in real life that probably would happen but I didn't know what I was doing I've never been I mean you know I'd never been on a date she was my first ever date get out of here I'm being deadly serious on my like my first date I dude you know how late of a bloomer I was no no no don't get me wrong like I'd go out yeah of course and like maybe I'd kiss someone on like a night out but a date I'd never taken on a date so mate my first date with what turned out to be my first girlfriend my first lean in on my first day and it's all being filmed and she swerved do you know what the wild thing is do you know what the wild thing is back then didn't care didn't care i was like this is so cool like i didn't even i didn't even think about it mate and like even back then i thought it was funny yeah now jay now if i let in someone swerving i'd probably cry but dude that's when i started and that was a lovely part because then i had my first go on and went out yeah amazing but you only ever really do sort of in any reality show it's not just main jealousy and like in any of those reality shows you ever only ever really do sort of like and you know this like become one of the main stories if something goes wrong realistically and so it's never like for a good reason is it it's always like for a bit of a bad reason for you when you were a kid right did you think fame was going to be exciting did you want to be famous no weirdly i always had this discussion with pete because pete i think thinks i do i think pete thinks that i love the fame i don't love the fame i love what comes with it explain i love the fact that i could make content for a living and like and and like make funny videos mate that's where i'm happiest that is chip i couldn't do that if i wasn't well known like i couldn't do podcasting if I wasn't well known I couldn't do radio if I wasn't well known I couldn't do that run that we did mate if I wasn't well known like all of those things I I love people so I love connecting with people dude I don't leave the house otherwise so like the fame part I don't really party I don't really go out I don't really go clubbing so like that part of the fame take it or leave it I don't really think we're all that famous either to be fair I always used to remember do you remember my main shows i won't say the name so there were some people major's who thought we were fucking hollywood a-listers do you know what i'm talking about yes i think they still do and i used to sit there like mate we are the dregs

20:48when we were doing the show together you and i became really close you were the person that i would phone every single day you're the person that i talked to every single day i'd phone you three four five times a day speak to you about anything and the things that i kind of still do We still do. And things which I slightly regret, I think, is that I leaned on you far more than you would lean on me. I would use you as a place to vent, place to say I feel this, place to say I feel that. And there were times when I felt really low and anxious, and you were the one that I leaned on. And I never really reciprocated in that way.

21:21I just sort of leant on you in certain ways. And we had this amazing friendship. yeah but you know what man like it was it was reciprocated but maybe just in a different way like you know having someone that you know has your back i think is it goes a really really long way so it's it's give and take right and that's i think what an amazing brothership is about but we were because we had our fallout on mic we had a few mate i don't even know which one you're talking about the the biggest fallout we had was because of sophie

21:56here we go do you know what do you know what's interesting though is that i after after i did my run right yeah you called me i know it was i i was on my run by the way it's not just training for it and um i will never forget that phone call yeah i i phoned um for anyone who who's listening and doesn't know our history sam dated sophie my now wife and even that sounds mental he dated he dated that and look not for long by the way but there but there were emotions from both sides there was emotions and you guys dated you guys broke up and i think you were probably a little bit more upset than sophie was because you were you know anyway you guys just getting dumped mate you got dumped getting dumped no matter how you shake it is is just yeah it's just shit it's shit you got dumped and then what happened was is I went to South Africa on a trip and I was newly single and I then started dating her and I started dating her behind your back and I didn't tell you and I didn't tell you and you you know it was um it wasn't great it was not good it was it was bad it was it was cowardly for me I didn't talk about it with you and the reason is because I didn't firstly think it was gonna really continue the way it did continue i thought no this can't be right it's not going to continue forever and and so i lied to you and after i finished my run even though it's bygones be bygones i'm married to sophie you came to my wedding i phoned you up and what did i say to you you went mate i feel like i have never actually fully apologized to you for not being honest with you and you were like i just and i mate which is so wild because i you're right bygones years ago mate like couldn't have been happy with you for you guys four years ago five years ago however many years ago but it's so weird because you said that and it made me really emotional and and not even because i wanted it or needed it or anything if anything i don't know it's just showing that kind of emotion and that kind of like you really meant something to you to say that like it may i could tell when you called me you that really meant something to you and that made the fact that you were feeling vulnerable and you said that to me i was like mate that's just such a magical thing weirdly because when when i finished my run i was kind of i was depleted of anything and it made me look at life as like really like pure and realized the mistakes i'd make and the good things i had done and um it made me realize pretty much all the mistakes i had done and the people i hadn't said sorry to really and the things that i'd probably upset people doing and i had a real sort of change in whole character and so i phoned you up just to really say that how sorry i was that if i if i had ever hurt you and let you down which i had done that i'm really sorry for doing that but mate turned out so good it did turn out like to see see that's the sometimes sometimes Sometimes you got to do what you got to do.

25:06How upsetting was it though when that was happening? Because that was a big fallout for us. And we didn't talk. You and I did not talk. For like half a year. The thing about this, Sammy and I had gone from speaking four or five every day. Every day to you just going nothing. Yeah. Do you know what? Again, it feels like, I don't know about you, but it feels like a different life. It is. It feels like a different life. Totally. But my life goes in those kind of like stages where like I compartmentalize parts of my life. and that was like a really interesting part because I just moved into my new place and I had like housemates and JP and like all of that kind of stuff and I'd left the show at that point so I was doing build I was like trying to be a presenter so I wasn't on the show mate and I think that's why it was so weird to me because I was like dude because you feel like you're not connected at all so it's almost like it's behind your back it's not really behind your back but as I said to you before mate I think back then I was like it was just i remember being like because you had a history this is the thing you had a bit of a history for for going after people's exes and people's girlfriends and stuff like that you were just like that mate and you just you were young and we've all been there and i remember saying to you i remember saying to you after just please don't do this one i was like please and then it happened and then i think it's because you you didn't tell me and i had to see it and you know when you hear rumors and stuff you're like wait what you tell me and i was like it was just that i was like dude what the fuck why don't you fucking tell me like and and i just and i was like he's just done the one fucking because that time no i was just like that's not gonna fucking last and like is he gonna throw away this for that mate now obviously you sit there and you go and that's why i said you better goddamn get married and you goddamn got married you goddamn got married you goddamn had a kid and like it just worked out fucking perfectly and i think sometimes mate i just think sometimes things are meant to happen i don't know man like i don't want to get all like weird but like sometimes i think of the universe i do think things happen for a reason and i just think me not being on the show at that point and you having like the freedom and the space to really connect with somebody with without the pressure of like one of my best mates being there and like like what the odds no that i'm not there and that and that you can actually seed and flower this really nice thing that turns out to be like a fucking marriage do you want to get married and have kids absolutely 100 100 my time's running out what do you mean it's running i want to be i want to be like i want to be a dad so badly so badly man i just don't know if it's happen.

27:50Kiss it is. I don't know if it will. Why? I don't know, man. I just, I don't know. I just, I just, I sometimes feel sad that I'm never going to get to, I'm never going to get to be a dad. And like, I would love to be a dad at some point. Sammy, Al Pacino had a kid. He's like, I don't want to be 80. I want to be, I want to be a youngish parent. I hope one day I really want to be a parent. More than anything, I just want Pete to be a godfather to my kid. Like, I would love that so much i'd love that so much did you find dating hard yeah get out of here really did you use the dating apps yeah yes what was on your profile come on give it to me i don't obviously don't have it anymore yeah obviously i got banned from hinge i got banned from hinge because they didn't think it was me and so and i and i didn't want to send it i didn't want to send him you're like so you basically have to send a ticket in and i'm being like i'm really like this is a hi this is what i like this is my explanation and uh they were and and i just didn't want to be like hi like i am sam thompson so like so i just left it um rea weird one no one talks to each other on there weird or just not me what was on your profile what does it say hi i'm sam thompson no it's just an emoji of a wizard it's a wizard emoji likes cats generally it's so lame it's so bad everyone's like match match match no not one I got no matches I think I performed better when I meet them in real life and it's just my chat is weak man what music did you pick oh my god what was it what music did I play fuck I do remember how long did it take you to pick as well I asked Ryan Ryan picked it for me I think it was like a cowboy themed thing Ryan picked it for me we were having an ice bath together he was like here you go mate have a bit of that he goes that will get him flooding in also when you go out there for the first time and try and flirt you're literally like hey ho I like biscuits my name's Sam and this is all about me like this is everything everything you need to know about me here you go all in one they're like I wasn't even looking at you it's a made dude trying to slide in someone's DMs what did you say when you replied to a story I don't know do you like what do you do I just I've oh god my worst ever slide in was I sent a I sent a lemon emoji nice is it I don't know what that means I sent a lemon emoji and then it was this and I couldn't find an opening line.

30:40It's not bad. Real tough out there, man. It was real tough.

30:47What do you like when it comes to heartbreak? Heartbreak? I don't really know. I remember when you broke up with Tiff, right? Yeah. Your first one. Mate, tough. It's horrendous, isn't it? horrific but that was my first girlfriend that was your first love that was so like that that's a double whammy and and and yeah that but the right thing of course like the right thing it's so hard to see at the time but i remember when that happened and i was like beside myself it feels like it honestly feels like a completely different lifetime but yeah i was beside myself and I remember being, like, lying.

31:35I remember, like, kneeling near my bed going, this pain is absolutely horrific. I need to remove the knife. I felt the knife was in my stomach. I was like, if this, and I remember being like, if this is the pain that I have ever caused, I never want, I can't feel that again. You don't even know what shoes put in the room. But I then felt so bad on Tiff because I was like, if I had ever caused her that, the pain that I'm feeling now, if I'd ever caused that, like, I just, and I learned a lot. I learned a lot from that breakup. Because, mate, we were so young and, like, we were both, not just me, we were both idiots.

32:21But, you know, I definitely played my fair share in that. and like the pain, I think anyone who's going through that at that sort of young age, but it's a great, I know it's such a weird thing to say. But again, you have to go through it. You have to do it because mate, it teaches you so much, dude. It heals that heart. It heals me, but do you know what? And you know you can get through it. You can get through it and you don't think you can at the time and you're literally like, if I can get through that, like real heartbreak, I can get through like anything. And also it teaches you, I think that you, how you should and shouldn't be in relationships moving forward like i learned a lot in terms of like who i wanted to be who i didn't want to be from from my first relationship shout out to tiff can i because you said 2025 is worst year of your life turn into the best turn into the best yeah ow why is it turning to the best it's been the most amazing year ever give it to me Mate, just, I've changed as like, that sounds so lame, but like I've grown massively, which I absolutely needed.

33:34Like I know myself so much. I feel like this is probably who I'm going to be for the foreseeable in my life. Do you know what I mean? Like I feel like I've hit another stage of who I am. I feel like I know my friends are closer than they've ever been. Man, amazing. Yeah, I've got like, I see my friends so much. I put a lot more effort into spending time with my family, which for me was a huge deal because I was... Distant. This sounds really shitty because it's so hard to... It sounds like you're moaning, but I'm not actually moaning. I'm so lucky to do what I do, but anyone can get burnout. It doesn't matter.

34:16You can do the thing that you love to do the most in the world, but you can still get burnout. And last year, I got real, really, really bad burnout. And I just, because, mate, you win the jungle, you take every opportunity that's thrown at you, right? I'll take that, I'll take that, I'll take that, I'll take that. And eventually, I thought I was Superman. I was like, you can't take me down. Anyone, everyone can get taken down. If you take too much on mentally and physically, it doesn't matter how much fun you think you're having, you can't do it all. What did it feel like? Oh, mate, it was terrible.

34:45It was like, I just, you know what, I felt ill all the time, but I wasn't actually ill. It was like my, I think it was my head. It was just, yeah, it was weird. I just was always tired. Did you feel depressed? Yeah, I felt really, really, really down. And then I, like, I didn't spend any time with my family because I just, I felt like I, if I ever got a time on my own, I would just need to sit in stasis and be like, and be like, oh my God, okay, just recharge, recharge the batteries, recharge the batteries. I think that's maybe an ADHD thing as well. like you know one minute you're tigger and the next minute you're literally on the floor yeah because you because you give energy to everyone else yeah and then you need to just give recharge you know what's quite hard on that sense is is and this isn't a woe is me thing i'm very i'm actually quite glad i've got adhd but it's um it's when you don't give what people expect you to give and then people think you're in a bad mood or they think you're like feeling off and you're I'm not trying to be off.

35:44I'm just not always there. And you just don't see that because if you've ever seen me and I don't know you, you've probably seen me there because I'm doing something I really enjoy. Like I'm seeing Tony Bellew for the first time or like, you know, just fucking around with Pete, which I adore. But yeah, that's quite hard. But I didn't spend any time with my family. And this year I spent so much more time with my sister, but most importantly with Leo. Oh, you're the nephew. Mate, I spent so much more time with him. like i pick him up from school i'll literally like take him for ice cream i'll take him to the park i'll come around just hang with him now and like i feel like i don't know you've got an f you haven't you i struggled a bit at the start because you don't know what where your place is and you don't connect you know yeah because because they're so young and it's not yours and you're like and i was like oh god i don't really know where i fit into this and um and and now he's like a little extension of me and and i and i think that's so cool and i've spent it's one of the biggest triumphs of this year i think is the amount of time and the relationship that i've built with my nephew and it's one of the biggest things i'll take into next year and the year after that and i'm just gonna like just hold on to that because it it's the comfiest comfortable comfiest i ever feel with my soul with you and louise man yeah you guys you're ride or dies you know you're you're basically in a weird kind of way soulmates it's just two of you and your family it's just you and her and um and ryan obviously but like that's not always the case man like you know sometimes the brother-in-law you're cool but you're not like brothers no no no it's like my bro like i know that if i ever got in a problem that man would fight for me like physically like that you don't find that that often you know in a brother-in-law i don't think no you don't and and it's rare and and you know i had louise on the podcast and like we louise and i spoke about her time when she had with leo through birth right and what sometimes happens in these scenarios right with lots of stuff and i always say this whether it's someone going through uh depression or whatever someone going through addiction or someone going through a near-death experience like louise did the partners in the family are the ones that also really suffer that's those the ones who like and and the person like louise will sit there and go this time and go oh my god louise what's happened and sometimes we don't ask hey sammy how are you doing man like you know that that time for you must have been just horrendous yeah do you know what it's interesting ryan i actually had this chat with ryan but about ryan no one's actually asked me to be fair so that's i mean a good point but like no one had asked Ryan either and I was like mate you're right because like dude he was he saw a lot of blood and like from the person he loves the most in the world and he thought she was gonna die like as many times as I did and he's looking after an infant child who naturally is looking for their mother and he's never done anything like that before and he's like what the fuck so i he he really struggles and i can't even imagine that okay okay so sophie that happened to sophie like and and she's about to have a baby right and man and and and and and then you're just like i've got to he's got to look after like the family louise the person he loves the most might die and little leo so like mate don't get me wrong i really did struggle actually but that man like i don't think he gets the credit he deserves because like he he held you know hercules or no spider-man when spider-man's holding the two fucking trains together mate like that he was literally holding the whole fucking shit together but don't get me wrong i was i was there through the whole thing but that man like literally fucking it was tough i was working a lot but i think i think also with you sammy and i don't want to put words in your mouth as well is that you're very good at distracting yourself and getting through stuff and things hit you later because you don't you don't feel in the moment that's maybe the adhd like i have in the moment we don't feel it it's later that it hits us i don't even think i properly process it now if i'm honest with you because i haven't had the time really to sit down and talk i got a therapy quite a bit mate we haven't even hit that part and for anyone who doesn't know sam's sister louise um basically had a very tricky pregnancy and nearly died on giving birth a few times three times one one one was the given birth i hope i don't get this wrong but i'm pretty sure i'm right one was the given birth the second was she had a hemorrhage in her uterus when she was at home that was a really scary one i mean i was at the itv palooza and my mum called me.

40:39I was like, you need to get to the hospital now. Mate, I was quite pissed, actually. You know what those things are like. And I was just like, fuck, it's like 11 p.m. So I got in a cab, went to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. It was just post-COVID, mate. As in, like, you know, hospitals still lock down more so than thinking. Mate, I snuck in and managed to get into the room where Ryan was and he was like on the floor. And I was like, that was one of the worst experiences of my entire life. I mean, we're not even like, Louise has to go through it. I mean, fuck me. I've never seen anyone as strong as she is, but like that was one of the hardest times in my life by an absolute fucking mile.

41:22Cause I remember the doctor came in twice and when we can't stop the bleeding. And I was like, oh my fucking God. Like what? This is a nightmare. What do you mean? Stop it. Stop it. You're a doctor. Stop it. Yeah, just stop it. Just stop it. What are you doing? Stop it. He was amazing. Like he was fucking great. but that was I will never ever ever forget that and I always think whenever Louise is pissing me off because I swear to god she pisses me off a lot but like whenever she's fucking me off I think about that moment a lot because we are so lucky to still have her and mate then that's not even, that's the birth then like two years on she's, was it three she's two and a half she has colitis and she has sepsis in her fucking stomach because how bad it is she has to get her kynoma removed it's a completely different entity to the birth trauma she had to go through that mate again the doctors I'm there in the hospital talking to her I'm dying and I was like oh my fucking god and then she's like the doctor comes in and goes you you have to get your kynoma removed otherwise you're going to die like in the not too distant future like as in like I can't even say the exact times I don't know the exact times you gotta go yeah mate that girl turned around I'm like get it out do you know the bravery you've gotta have to be like fucking whip it out mate she mate she was just like do it like I feel so shit and like there was just I'm not leaving my son without like whatever she went get it out give me the bag like mate the bravery to have to do that is just fucking out of this world what's the best thing about Louise best thing about Louise is that she is the most she's the kindest most empathetic she's almost overly empathetic she feels everything like everything and and and so if you come into and you go i've had a really bad day she will literally feel that bad that bad day with you and i don't think there are many people like that in the world like my sister and she will like she will work her ass off to give other people things not herself like she doesn't need or want anything my sister like at all she just wants to help people

43:44this year has been big for you man it's been a chance it's been a wild year you did a 260 mile endurance challenge turned into 270 270 baby yeah you you went from london to manchester carrying the soccer ball all the way to old trafford to go and deliver the football a mixture of like running and cycling brutal brutal how how insanely hard is it so can i just say this i obviously did my challenge which was which was 150 miles right um and i ran it and i was talking to you quite a lot during it and sam was like man how are the shin splints are the shin splints alright like because my shin splints are really freaking bad at the moment and I was like and I said to you I was like Sammy just to warn you I'm not going to sugarcoat it it's going to be fucking horrendous and you just don't know until you do it because even those words I said I couldn't I can't tell you it's going to be horrendous but you'll get through it and do you know what I remember you're going to know this anyone who does these kind of things like us I think the reason that they pick people like us is because we're not that way inclined.

44:56Like, we're not, we don't have, we don't really have that in our locker. No, but we're resilient. We're resilient, like little Jack Russells, maybe. Just keep going. And, you know, you've got the more sort of like athletic people who could do it and probably wouldn't struggle as much as we did. But I, I remember seeing so many people, just, you included, just complete it. Yeah, you went through hell, but I only saw that on Instagram. Like, I didn't feel it. and I just saw you go through hell, and I saw Paddy McGuinness go through hell on his bike ride, and I saw JP, who did 76 months, 76 days, and I went, you've all completed it.

45:34And I was like, I did my first marathon. I did a mock marathon three weeks, worst season I'd ever done, by the way, three weeks before, because I never recovered from that marathon. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Three weeks. I can't believe you did it. I only did a 25-climber one. I couldn't do it. No, but that's, I got cocky, and went, I'm just going to try a marathon, mate. How hard was that marathon? I died. my shin splints like split so I was like oh fuck I didn't even speak about that because the cough happened after that but I remember doing that and going oh no oh I can't do this oh I can't there's no way I can do this and I went how has everyone else just done it I don't understand is there like a magical formula is there a cheat code or are people like cheating is there a way that this isn't how it looks and I was like you can't and what I didn't realise until you do it is you just do because there's no other option and we are so much more powerful than we think we are and actually you can fucking get through anything it just fucking sucks like that you can genuinely duet me I did it with a torn gun some people don't believe this by the way I'm being deadly serious so day one who doesn't believe it?

46:46there's a few people like there's no way he could have done it on a grade 2 tear it was a grade two tear I will never forget it haunts me to this day I was 2k away from the end of the first marathon and I knew something was wrong probably halfway through because my just above my ankle was like really swollen it was the back the back of just above my ankle really swollen up and it felt really tight and hot and I'd never had anything it was always in my shins or my ITB the mighty bad they're painful the knees oh my god so bad so I was like I don't know what this is so I was like maybe it's just where and tell I don't know because I didn't know what was happening I just carried on running so the rest I should have just walked for a lot of it and I just carried on fucking running and and I was I was 2k away from the end of the first marathon I felt like a gunshot had taken my fucking calf out I generally thought someone had come and kicked me from behind I hadn't noticed and I was like what the fuck and I turn around there's no one there and I was like oh my god and we were being filmed you know something's weird when you tear a muscle or do something you know it it's like what is that and the worst thing is there's a documentary team filming the entire thing it's day one and I've literally gone like that and I've gone oh my god and Chris Taylor one of the nicest guys in the world you know Chris Taylor he's fucking phenomenal wouldn't have got through it without him by the way and Tracy to be filmed I've got a second coach fucking amazing people and i turned around to him and went this is really bad and i went i can't speak really loudly because obviously they're and then i can see them climbing out of the van with the cameras around the cameras and i'm like near tears i'm like i i think i know what's happened and i'm like oh fuck and i'm like tris i'm in a really really bad spot here man and he went with two k away just fucking hobble i was like okay hobble got in at the end still what the bike rides do by the way got in into the pub that we were fucking stopping at physio goes to me he goes mate you've torn your calf and i went what do you mean he went you're not running on that and i went well he goes if you run on that one your body won't allow you still just collapse anyway but if you did you'll rupture it and then you're really fucked like forever for life and i was like oh my god he goes if you're an athlete you wouldn't be running for like two months i'm like this day one man that's why i burst into tears because you think like i'm gonna fail dude and also and also letting people down and also just for yourself right you you like to achieve things i had built myself up for this for months and i was like this is the thing and as you know i've gone for a tough time at the start of year and i'm like this is the thing that's going to clear my head and make me i'm going to come through the other side like a new man and like i need this not just for the charity selfishly actually for me and then the guilt from the charity came in because I was like, fuck, they've picked, mate, UNICEF, it's UNICEF, David Beckham's a fucking ambassador, mate, they could have picked anyone to do that challenge and they asked me, anyone, and they asked little old me and I went, thank you, thank you for the opportunity, I won't let you down and I was like, I've let them down on the fucking first day, I was, I was going to flee the country, I was so sad, embarrassed and, and, and feel like I let everyone down and I remember the lady came up to me, she went, look you've already raised like 100 grand like we can and i went there's just no way i'm really sorry get me on that fucking bike and i got on the bike and the rest is history we just did it but like mate i'll tell you how much did you raise two mil mate two mil and and and you know what there's a story that i i will always remember is that a woman we invited her to the o2 actually she gave because people are fucking struggling out there yeah i mean you don't need me to tell you but they really are and there was a lady who goes i've just given you the money that i treat myself to a costa once a week with to donate and i just wept i was like that it's like you know people come together and like the con not i don't want to make sense i don't know countrywide but like the people who knew in the country about this run coming together for a cause that is like I really do believe that people are inherently good when they're born I think there are very very few evil people in this world like very few a lot fewer than social media will lead us to believe and I think that people just need a reason to be good just need a reason man and whether that's like giving that cost of money or like being there the wind and the sleet and rain and the people there for you mate who are there like clapping you in like people want to be part of a good feeling that's what connects us as human beings mate i've never wanted to do something like that more because not a run but like something that can unite people i've never felt love around and an energy like that in my entire life you say i had exactly the same thing yours was that moment right that sort of kept you going and and what i realized on my run is that like people are awesome that's what i really realized that people are incredible and we connect through being amazing it's unbelievable i will now yeah i i i attribute so much and i think you do too to that to that run yeah like it was amazing we are so lucky to being able to do that run by the way like so many people would want to do something like that what are you most proud of uh i'm really proud of of where life's ended up and and and i don't think it could have not ended up where it is now and and i'm eternally grateful to the pizza this world as well for like he'd been in the trenches what what would you say to someone who's maybe in that position now like you said your last year maybe in this year you're depressed you're just feeling like oh my god you feel like you've hit this ceiling and you're just like this is it i'm gonna feel like this forever what would you say someone listening he's maybe stuck at that place i'm a moaner i moan a lot um i'm lucky enough to have people around me that that listen to my moans so like marvin tony i know you wouldn't really maybe expect that but like i marvin he's a real one really tony real one like there were times throughout this year where it's been pretty tough this is marvin hunes and tony bellew yeah mate they pete is a given of course like i mean and that's by the way that shouldn't just be glossed over like he's a given because he's just such an amazing guy yeah marvin was calling my sister being like i need you to tell me sounds okay wow yeah he was i need you to go around there right now i need you to put the phone against his ear wow and like tony was like i'm getting you because it was that bad no just because he was wanted to be there for me like Like, he's just that guy.

53:55And Tony was, like, buying me fucking... Tony was just like, you're coming up to stay with me, champ. And I was like, what, in Liverpool? He's like, you're coming up to stay with me, champ. And I was like, we're going to live with my family. And I was like, Tony, I can't do that. He was, like, such... He's just... Makes you realise in those moments how important friends are. How important friends are, man. 100%, man. Like, if you're going through anything in life. Yeah. Like, you need to be able to lean on your friends. lean on dude lean on that's why friends are important and if you don't have friends lean on a community lean on someone lean on neighbors i don't know anyone the person who's in the shop whatever it is lean on someone yeah speak to someone it's it's hard i it's so easy to say like it's so easy to be like lean on someone like speak to someone if you've got no one to speak to i get i get it that's why these talk club things are great but yeah i i would i would say it always um sorry lame time time always i i know that sounds so stupid but time will get you through most things 2026 what do you want to choose 2026 i want to spend more time with my family again mate yeah like i know it's such a broken record but like love that mate there i think i got lost a few times in my years and work and i don't think i've spent enough time living life actually living it and like how much happier do you feel oh mate insane dude it's the secret sauce which just so simple and i realized that actually like life is actually as it sounds god i sound like one of those awful podcast people but like but like life is genuinely just about being surrounded by the people you love like it buddy it's we i chatted to a guy called robert wallingford who did the happiness test right he said at the end of people's lives what they always say is it's not the things they've achieved not the ferrari they drove not the yacht they had none of that people only talk about the connections they had that's what they say i was a great friend i was a great husband, wife, dad, mum, aunt, whatever it is, has a great cousin.

55:49That's what they talk about at the end of their lives. The only thing I care about now is being able to be in a place where I'm genuinely happy. Like, genuinely happy. Like, not like what I think will make me happy. Like, what actually makes me happy. I think that's the way to do it. Let's go, Sammy. Let's go, baby! Sammy, this has been insane, brother. Honestly, this has been insane. Thanks, man. Pleasure. we love you Sammy listen we'd like to end the conversation with eight questions are you ready for this oh my god here we go what we got what's the saying or phrase that makes you smile or cheers you up uh it's like this is probably meant to be fast paced isn't it no it doesn't have to be saying or phrase that makes you smile or cheers you up it can be anything from let's have a chat or it can be like something your nephew says or something Louise says or something your parents say or something you say in your podcast love you yeah I really like it I really like that word.

56:45Yes. I really like that saying. Yes. What would you want people to remember about you if they only met you once? Not just he's, like, really excitable, energetic, and fun. Like, probably he's a nice person. 100%. It's always the one. Yeah. What scares you most about yourself? That my masking of, in certain situations, sometimes overrides me. and that I'm like, not be, and I don't be me because I'm scared that people sit there and go, oh, but you're not bringing the energy that you always bring. And you're like, that scares me because then I'm like, what if that takes, the masking takes over? That scares me a lot.

57:30That's your 2026 thing. Yeah. That is 2026 is to like, because I had that for so long. And then I realized actually being in your state of like just being comfortable with who you are. That's the moment of freedom. We always try and be the loudest or the funniest or this or that. and actually when we start to just be us, that's when people almost connect with us more. What would your death row meal be? Oh, mate, death row meal's got to be, this is so boring. I'd probably say spaghetti with clams. Delicious, delicious. Oh, that's weird. Maybe it's not boring, actually. I like that. Where are you having it?

58:04Where am I having it? At a beach bar in Marbella. Yeah, I go there with my dad. Me and him always been going, I've been going to that same beach bar with my dad since I was literally like five years old. What's something you can't let go of? My cats. What's your guilty pleasure? Guilty pleasure? Gaming. Yeah. Gaming. I love to go. Which one? Oh, God. All like, this sounds Hogwarts legacy I love. 33 years old. The girl I'm dating doesn't know I do this, by the way. I still sort of like, still pretend. Yeah, she hasn't seen that part of me. Yeah, I love getting stuck into fantasy. Lord of the Rings yeah yeah like I love Lord of the Rings I'll sit down and watch Lord of the Rings like most weekends it's the best it's the best and the extended edition has to be the extended one what's your biggest turn off?

58:54rudeness mmm I just I'm sure loads of people say that yeah that's exactly what I was saying I just can't understand why people are rude sometimes and I it baffles me because it normally comes from the people you wouldn't expect to come from yeah and I'm like what there's no need to act like that how could you ever I don't know what turns you on? ambition from the other person. Great shout. What do you like most about yourself?

59:21God, that's depressing. The fact that it just doesn't spring to mind. Yeah, but it's hard. We're Brits. I think I'm like nice to be around. You're great to be. You're great energy. I think people like to be in my company, I think. You're 100%. And also, for most of us, I see you're one of the hardest working people. Like, that's, you are, you truly are. And that's something we didn't even mention in the podcast. The fact where, like, how hard you work is, like, insane. Bonus one, Shag Marry Kill, Pete Wicks, Tony Bellew, Marvin Humes. Oh, you're a cat, or you're a bad person. You're a bad bloke.

1:00:04Shag Marry Kill. Who are you shagging? Oh, I don't think I could take it off tone. Pete always says he goes why are you always taking it I don't have to why are you always taking it I don't know could I clap Tony's cheeks I don't know it's missionary

1:00:25I level would you shag Tony I don't think I could I think I'd marry Marv marry Marv because he's just he'd be the best husband to me because I know he's the best I mean as is Tony to be fair but I'm around Marvin a little bit more and the way he treats his wife and kid, I just, he'd treat me, he'd, oh, he'd treat me well. Marvin, I'm shagging Marvin. You're shagging Marvin, you're marrying Pete. I'm probably killing Pete and I'm shagging, and I'm shagging Tone and I'll tell you for why. Because I'd, because I'd kill Pete and then do a doc about it. We'd do a Netflix doc called Killing Peter and it'd be like, He'd be like, how did he do it?

1:01:10And I know Pete would be looking down and be like, you fucking prick, you've turned that into content. Sammy, boy, you're the greatest. I want everyone to go and check out your podcast, everything you've done as well. Leave it all in the show description. You're the best, Sammy. We love you so much. Thank you for having me. Pleasure.

1:01:29Guys, I hope you enjoyed that episode. I mean, so many things kind of stood out for me. One of the things, I don't know if you had this, but I interviewed so many people on the show, but when Sam is a really, really old friend of mine, And you can kind of feel that in the interview. So many things that we kind of related on back in the past. And, you know, as we get older, we don't kind of see our friends as much as we want to. And so when you get to sit down with someone and have a great chat like that, it's just incredible. I mean, Sam went through a lot last year. And I know so many people will be listening to this episode.

1:01:56And perhaps you're going through similar things to Sam, or you've gone through a breakup, or you're having a hard time at work. But actually, when you're in the thick of it, it feels really tough. But actually, there's always a blue sky. You just have to find a way back to it. I always say that. And also when we talked about how after my run, I phoned Sam up and kind of apologized or said that I'm sorry if I've never really spoken to you about the things that happened between us. Kind of always important to remember to always say sorry to people, even if you feel like you've done it, maybe repeating it is a good thing.

1:02:25I really hope you enjoyed the episode. Remember to subscribe and follow us so we can keep making the show you love. Comment in the description what you like and dislike about the show, what guests we want, all those kinds of things. and we can't wait to see you next week for another episode of Great Company.