A little over a month ago, I was interviewed by Osher Günsberg for his podcast. He’s the host of The Bachelor. I love his podcast – he’s podcast royalty to me, so this day was A Big Deal. In person, he’s very funny, very welcoming and a good listener. 

I turned up at his hotel feeling really awful. Sore, a bit shaky, and as I told him, if it wasn’t for how long this interview took to set up, I would have called in sick. He immediately saw I was cold and offered me a blankie. 

He is a pro interviewer, making me feel at ease from the start and asking really tough questions. There were a few minutes where I was quite uncomfortable when he probed me about my relationship with social media. I’d never been asked to think about it in that way. It was good to think about this stuff, and reflect on how I deal with people who are difficult to deal with on social media. 

Of course I talked a lot about appearance diversity and the importance of media representation, which I think he really got. I said to him that I really admire how he has taken control of his mental health story rather than the media telling it for him, and that is what I aim to do, too. 

You can listen to our chat on iTunes or via the stream from his website. 

I watched Osher (Andrew) Gunsberg on Channel V from when I was a teen. And a little of Australian Idol. Now he hosts The Bachelor, which I don’t watch (apart from three episodes). And then when he released his podcast three years ago, I started listening to him again. I’ve listened to most episodes from the start and often tell him what I think on Twitter. His guests always give me something to think about, even when I’m not into what they do or agree with their views. And he gives a lot of himself on the podcast too. As we discussed after the recording, I often wonder how he is doing week to week, because he’s so open about his mental health. 

At the end of our chat, I said I was feeling a little better, he said it was the magic hotel blankie. 

 

I pitched myself to him earlier this year. It took ten months and several emails to get to our chat for the podcast! The moral of all this is, if you like what someone is doing and want to collaborate with them, just ask. Doesn’t matter if they’re a media superstar, or if you’ve grown up watching them on tv. If you like what they do and want to work with them in some way, tell them their work means something and ask if you can be involved. They might say yes! 

We also had a little chat for my podcast – listen to that here. 

Thanks for having me, Osher!