Eddie Hall: World’s Strongest Man and the £50k Story He’s NEVER Told

0:00This episode is brought to you by ADT. One second, you're enjoying your day off. The next, your phone buzzes. A window's been broken at home. You're miles away. In one second, everything can change. That's why ADT security systems can monitor your home 24-7. They're backed by the most company-operated monitoring centers in the industry, so you're always supported during an emergency. When every second counts, count on ADT. Visit ADT.com to learn more.

0:30This episode is brought to you by Born in Roma fragrances by Valentino Beauty, the iconic fragrance duo. Donna Born in Roma Eau de Parfum is a feminine fragrance featuring juicy blackcurrant, central jasmine, woody cashmere, and warm vanilla. Its masculine counterpart, Womo Born in Roma Eau de Toilette, has notes of fresh violet leaf, aromatic sage, green vetiver, spicy ginger, and mineral salt. Shop at macy's.com. Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun. An army hung on her every word. My champions, I have sold my chariot on Carvana. Twas a lovely SUV, an inexplicably queenly offer. They're even coming to the castle to collect it.

1:20Tonight, we feast. An offer you can feast on. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pick up fees, man. Bye. This episode of Joe Marlow Will See You Now is brought to you by Giacomo. Style for every man made simple. What do you hope to get out of today's session? I'm here to release some anger. Do some people confuse you for the beast of the chase? No, not very often. Could you crush this can based on how tense you're feeling right now? No one saw you doing it that way round. Oh. My son is 101 kilo and he's 13. He's 13 years old? Yeah. Is he nicking the lunch money off of Six Formers? He beat the f*** out of you for your lunch money.

2:13This'll be the first time I've ever spoke about this. I want you to learn to love your weaker self. So, let's meet him.

2:27This is...

2:32Hello. You've found your way to my office. Welcome. This is Joe Marler Will See You Now with me, Dr. Joe Marler. I take my incredible ability to read people and use it to psychoanalyse some of Britain's most famous faces to try and help them through this journey we call life. Here to assist me is my ever faithful assistant, Jake. Jake, how are you? I am good I'm nervous That was quite a big inhalation Yeah You don't know what this is like for me I'm a very I'm already feeling quite like intimidated emasculated excited but we've got some men on the pod today Joe Men We've got some big juicy men on the pod today Men We've got World's Strongest Man YouTube Powerhouse He's the first person to deadlift half a ton Half of it Half a ton Half of a ton I know it doesn't sound that impressive does it Oh you did half a ton did you?

3:25500 kilos It's Eddie Hall The Beast The Beast Eddie the Beast Hall Did you ever have a nickname like that in rugby? Joe the something Mahler What was it? Can't air it Really? Yeah You can't air Can you? We can bleep it And I think we certainly should Is what I'd be doing if I was there on that whole lap Joe the mega Mahler Were you a bit of a Were you a bit of a On the rugby pitch? It's just a helmet. Do you know Eddie Hall? I do. Do I know? I'm a big fan. I'm really excited. I'm glad you led with... I'm a little bit nervous, actually. Well, you're not nervous. You're not even nervous. Are you really?

4:12I am really nervous. But you're a big, strong man too. Mate, he is a unit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm used to feeling... Well, being the sort of big guy in the room. Yeah. And then you get people like Eddie in. and you're like, oh, now I'm like, I'm like the Jake in the room. And by the way, that's fine for that to be a colloquialism for the rest of the series. Happy with that. So who's going to be the alpha? He's going to be the alpha. There's no doubt he's going to be the alpha. He'll be the beta. I'll be the delta male. As high as that. Amiga male. Amiga male. Amiga male sounds like an email service that never really got off the ground.

4:52Amiga male. I'm at jake.barwatch at amigamail.com. Yeah, it's just up and coming, actually. Have you got anything you want to find out from Eddie? Do you know what it is I'm really excited to find out about from Eddie? It's the eating. So I have tried to, and I want you to be respectful when I say this, I've tried to bulk in the past. Hold it. Hold it. Good. I've tried to bulk in the past, but I haven't. It's the corners of the mouth. Yeah, I know. It didn't obviously go very well for me, did it? What do you mean bulk? Well, I wanted to get old. Every young lad does want to get big and strong.

5:30And then as you get older, you say, actually, you know what? I don't really care about that sort of stuff, whatever. But really deep down. So you then become more intellectual. Yeah, pseudo-intellectual. Yeah, you're there. I'm more into sort of like arts and stuff. I'm not massive, but I can bamboozle you. Yeah, exactly. Literature. But really, it'd be great to be massive, wouldn't it? What do you weigh now? About 73 kilograms. So do you have like a number in mind? Do you want to get to like a tonne? Do you want to get to 100 or...? No, I think that would look weird on me. Would it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

5:59I'd love to get to about 85, 90. 90 would be good, wouldn't it? Just trying to picture what you'd look like bulked up by blurring my eyes. Look. Who's harder? You or him? Depends what your definition of hard is. I think it's a combination of being physically tough but also mentally... Resilient. Resilient as well, yeah. then 100 % no doubt in my mind it's Eddie

6:30shall we get him in? is he here? I think someone saw him deadlifting a photocopier somewhere outside in the office Janet yeah great can you send Eddie Hall in for me please? yes the beast

6:51Thank you for coming, Eddie. Eddie Hall. Jake, Eddie Hall. Unbelievable. Eddie the Beast Hall. How are you feeling? I'm good, man. How are you?

7:03Well, I thought I was all right until I met you. Why's that? And then I met you and I went, like this. You are a unit. Uh-huh. But you've retired now, haven't you? Yeah, I've been retired eight years. But you're still massive. I'm a lot smaller than I was How much smaller? Jeez, I'm 160 something kilo now and I was 190 something so 30 odd kilos smaller Jake? I'm 73 Okay Yeah My son is 101 kilo and he's 13 He's 13 years old? Yeah, yeah He's 13 years old? He's a tank Yeah, yeah Is he nicking the lunch money off his sixth form? He bit the fuck out of you for your lunch money.

7:57Jake, if you want to bring that up to HR... I'm just glad lunch is provided, otherwise I'll be fine. Anyway, we usually start off the show with an intake questionnaire. Full name? Edward Stephen Hall. Occupation. MMA fighter. An arm wrestler. an actor a few other titles probably height 6 foot 2 and a bit current bench press ooh I'm going to say 260 Jake just correct me how much do you bench including the bar

8:39can you bench press the bar definitely can do the bar and I have been able to do that for some time and then I can add you can put plates on the bar yeah well that's yeah yeah yeah that's surprising well done so I'll put a couple plates on the on the bar max deadlift 500 kilos we've got to take a moment for that haven't we that's half a ton people incredible biggest muscle oh um jeez probably quad calves Carves? Carves. Smallest muscle. Oh, it is. It's gotta be the penis, hasn't it? Could you crush this can based on how tense you are feeling right now? How I feel right now? Yeah. Okay. Probably about that much.

9:38No one saw you doing it that way round. Oh. That's made it even more impressive. Okay. that's like those things you get lost in the TikTok don't you you know when they press it and like the candle wax comes out and just comes out again that is well you play that in slow motion you might see a bit of that that's the most impressive scene I think of my scene in my fucking life Eddie my next question to you is what do you hope to get out of today's session um I guess similar things I mean I'm here to release some anger so that might it might worked quite well that much, yeah? Well, okay. You want to release some anger.

10:20Fucking this chair's about to collapse I think, Joe. Right. We've got a spare one just in case it does go. It was a concern of mine. Bit wobbly, mate. Jake. Yeah. Would you be happy to give up your chair for Eddie? Yeah, more than happy to. Anything he wants to be honest with you at this point. I don't know to end up like that can.

10:43From my perspective, your persona and your... All your achievements are based on how strong you are. But does that mean you're not overly comfortable with weakness? How do you feel about the weaknesses that you have? Or do you have any weaknesses? I think everybody has weaknesses. It doesn't matter who you are. I'd quite like to explore a little bit more. And then let's see if we can change those weaknesses into a strength moving forward. You up for it? Yeah, let's go. Let's see if we can really get you to love your weaker self. Okay. He's just staring at me. Look at him. Look at him. You got lovely blue eyes, Joe.

11:38He's just staring at me.

11:44Sierra has all the best active and outdoor brands for the super athletic stuff, like running gear for cruising up the trail. Woo! And the super athletic-ish stuff, like fishing gear for chilling by the creek. Nice cast. Fitness apparel to push for higher reps. You got this. And golf balls priced so you can afford to lose one. Or a few. Head to Sierra or Sierra.com for the brands you want at the prices that let you do it all. From athletic to athletic-ish, Sierra's got it. The Lemonati has spent decades keeping lemon on top and lime in the shadows. Their lemon agenda has infiltrated everything, even our music.

12:25That hit song named after the color of lemons? Not a coincidence. Big Lemon has been pulling strings in the industry for years. Think about it. But now, 7up is fighting back with their new lime lemon soda. Now lime comes first. 7up. Flip the sip. Fall never arrives all at once. First the air, then the light. And slowly the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress. A hoodie slips beneath a blazer. An old cap finds a new scarf. Because you don't simply step into the season. You create it layer by layer until it finally feels like fall. Find fall your way at Ross.

13:14All right, let's start then. Let's start with the beast. Is that a persona? Is it just a nickname or is it a persona that you lean into sometimes? It's both. You know, it's a nickname. you know when I walk down the street it's not very often I hear there's Eddie Hall it's more likely I hear there's the beast you know it so it's it's a it's a brand that's grown stemmed from actually a man called Colin Bryce called me the beast when I was doing a deadlift in front of a man called Arnold Schwarzenegger and it went global around the world I did this world record deadlift and you You got it tattooed on your biceps, haven't you?

13:58I did, yeah. That was the first thing I did. That was straight after that weekend with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I had that tattooed on. Do some people confuse you for the beast off the chase? No, not very often. You never get that comparison? Never. No? No, no. I mean, if you were to say the beast to anyone in the public, they would say Eddie Hall. They wouldn't say... The beast off the chase? Yeah, they wouldn't say the beast off the chase. Jake, what's beast's real name? Mark Lebet. They'd never say Mark Lebet. No. No, no, no, no. Oh, you look a little bit like Mark LeBet. No, never, never. You know, the beast off the chase.

14:31Now and again say you look like Joe Marlow. What? You do look similar, you two. We're all a bit of a doppelganger here, aren't we? What do you mean people say, do you look like Joe Marlow? Now and again. Have you had it the other way around, Joe? People say, you look a bit like the beast, Eddie Hall. No, well, to begin with, like the back of my head, and then I'll turn around and then they'll see, like, a melted wheelie bin and go, definitely not Eddie Hall. Melted wheelie bin? I'm melting really, but not so good. I like that.

15:03There's a source. It's quite a reliable source. Isn't there, Jake? Go on. About a particular story where... You're going to have to tell me whether this is true or not. Okay, go on. Where you ended up at a hotel. Oh, fuck, mate. You c***.

15:25And you know what? This story, I've never told this story. Ever. Okay, so the story is, we're looking like 2014, 2015. I'm still working full-time. I'm still an amateur strongman, so to say. And money was a real tough subject for me back then. I was spending every single pound I had, I was spending it on strongman food, recovery, travel, etc. And you'd always get odd and weird requests online, you know, can I buy you dirty socks, can I buy you used underwear, all that kind of shit. I'm sure you've had all that. You get good money for that. Yeah. Just so you know. It's just good. Yeah, I know you do.

16:11Well, this was good money, okay. So, and it was quite common that you get people that like, right, can you come and beat me up and I'll pay you like$1 ,000 if you just come and stamp on me ribcage and all that shit, you know? So I start talking to this guy and he's getting a bit serious. So a bit of money comes my way through. I'm like, right, I'm not talking to you unless you send me some money. So he sends me, I don't know, a few hundred dollars through PayPal. And I'm like, right, I'll talk to you now. And it starts off like that. So can we meet? I'll fly over from Florida. You come and beat me up and, you know, I'll pay you 10 grand and whatever.

16:48And then it just escalates. It just, every week, like, we're going to meet, say this is, like, January, and we're meeting in, like, July. Every week it gets a bit creepier. Like, how can we do this? Anyway, it eventually escalates to, can you come and shit on me chest?

17:08So. Oh, yeah. We've all been there. As you do. We've all been there, yeah. So I set a price, you know? It was all...

17:24I love the way he went back. So I set a price. Right, we'll come to this in a second though, but everyone has a price, right? Everyone has a price for this kind of shit. And my price at that time was 50 grand, okay? That's a fucking lot of money. It's a lot of money, cash. 50 grand cash. That's fair. In a suitcase. So just to clarify the details, are you the one doing the shitting or are they shitting on you? I'm the one doing the shitting. So 50 grand to take a shit on someone. 50 grand to go and take a shit on his chest. Great. And then get out of there. Okay. Okay? So, and bear in mind, this is orchestrated over a number of months.

18:02Okay? He sent me a bit of money, so I know he's real. So it's real. So the time comes. So I'll send him this detail. Right, you boot the hotel, blah, blah, blah. we'll do it on this date this time and I messaged I was like mate I'm going to have to bring a security guy with me we're going to bring a pal with me he's like because this is just fucking weird yeah because you need security that was the issue but just in case something goes wrong he's like I'm bringing a pal with me just so you know he's like yeah yeah fine so we arranged this hotel the room numbers everything so I'm driving to this fucking hotel right me and my pal are talking about how we're going to fucking spend this money so I'm paying him a bit for coming you know and I'm like right I'm just going to buy this fucking car well you've got to compensate him he's going to watch you shit on someone's chest exactly so I'd already planned you know I'd already put a deposit down on a car so I already planned I was going to spend this money just get rid of it quick and I'm driving to this hotel and my fucking phone goes it's my brother James and I'm like hey James you're right mate he's like how are you up to I'm just busy mate I'm just in the middle of something here and he's like oh right okay It's just that I've got something on I could really do with some security.

19:15And I just knew straight away. I was like, you mother... You bastard. It was my fucking brother. The whole fucking time, my fucking brother orchestrated the whole lot. And I know for a fact he did it with all his rugby mates. They must have been all chirping in, like, say this, say this. Honestly, and every time I bump into a rugby guy now, and they're like, I've heard this fucking story about you. And every time I have to just be like, shut the fuck up, man. So this will be the first time I've ever spoke about this. But there you go. But everyone's got a price. What would your price be for that?

19:57Right now, 10 grand. There we go. And actually, Jake, what about you? Five. Five grand? Towns. Right. No, no, about five grand. No, no, ten. But the thing is, you're going to take the shit anyway. You know what I mean? Yeah. The next shit you did that day in just a normal toilet, you've just been doing it, just been thinking, what could have been? Yeah, 100%. And I think I remember I had a fucking good curry the night before as well. You were prepping. I think he asked me to have a curry the night before, so I did.

20:35We are just going to take a break to thank the sponsors of the show, Giacomo. Giacomo have every size from small all the way up to 5XL. Everyone is included. Whether you're a big unit like me or a tiny wee specimen like Jake. I'm in my sort of specimen corner, feeling tiny, cute and very excited about Giacomo. Excited also to ask you about your fashion look. I'm looking at you right now. Your gorgeous legs out as usual, but with the sort of tweed jacket on. Real tweed. Real tweed? Yeah, genuine tweed. I didn't know there was an epidemic of fake tweed about. I don't know what tweed is. That checks out.

21:17It feels like tweed. I feel like tweed is just a sort of weave of a material. I don't think like... That to me is like you saying, oh, this is real denim, by the way. Like, oh, by the way, this is actual polyester. Giacomo. Giacomo? A heck of a selection of brands. You make the noise that you feel when I say the brands. Okay. You'll see what floats your boat. Lacoste. Ooh. New Balance. Under Armour. Cha-ching, cha-ching. That was knife. Those were swords. Oh, yeah, because the armour and rice. Crossing swords. Calvin Klein. Nice. They've got so many brands, which is why you're able to produce so many noises, that there's something for every single person.

22:02A guy like you and a guy like me. Giacomo, I love you so. Giacomo, style and brands for every man. Right, I just want to try something, Eddie, if you could humor me a little bit. I'd quite like to see if you're happy to embrace your weakness and maybe me and you could do an arm wrestle. Have you arm wrestled before? I'm going to assume you have no I haven't I haven't arm wrestled I know the rules there's no twisting of is there why don't you explain to me the rules of arm wrestling well basically you meet in the middle yeah and you cut you have your arm your arm can't leave the table you're meant to be in a square box here yeah and it's basically just pin them to the other pad so there are essentially no rules other than you start both with straight hands but it's such a dangerous sport.

23:00Yeah. But it's more of a test of you and whether you have the ability to embrace your weakness. And let somebody beat me. And let someone beat you.

23:12I would, but I just know you'd never let anyone ever forget that. It'd be all over your social media every day, forever and ever and ever. So you don't think you have the ability inside you? You don't think you've got the strength inside you to let a weaker man win against you, even though you're letting me win. You're going to let me win. I can let you win. So let's pretend I'm your child. As long as this edit goes into the video that you're going to show, which I don't think it will.

23:50He is not just a pretty face. I'll give you my word that the whole edit will stay in for this section. Okay. So you're happy to let me win. I'm happy. Ooh, I can't believe it. Okay, so... The city's got such big hands. This isn't a test of me. This is a test of you. Okay. And whether you're happy to embrace your weaker self. Okay. I'll try. Okay.