Breakfast's Matty McLean often wears his heart on his sleeve on his daily TV show, but in his new podcast, he pushes the boundaries a lot further.
McLean is part of a trio in new podcast series Out the Gayte, starring fellow gay men, PR and talent guru Chris Henry, 36, and their good mate Brad Christensen, 39.
Henry and Christensen are part of the NZ Falcons, an Auckland gay and inclusive rugby club. Christensen is the club president and Henry plays in the Falcons' touch team under the Ponsonby Rugby Club that plays at Victoria Park on Monday nights.
Henry is the "single and ready to mingle" member of the panel. Christensen lives with his partner, Falcons' player Karl Wilshier and McLean is recently engaged to real estate professional Ryan Teece.
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Advertise with NZME.The men's first podcast went to number one last weekend.
There is some eye-opening, gay-style locker room talk, balanced nicely with general topics, that the trio hopes brings an inclusiveness to young LGTBQ people but also opens their world to straight people.
"The three of us get on so well, so it just feels like three mates getting together at a pub and spinning yarns," says Henry. "We hope that the podcast will be a nice escape from everyday life."
On the show, McLean, 35, opens up on his engagement and the fact that Teece is keeping a very detailed wedding Excel spreadsheet.
"I think you can expect wedding chat to feature quite heavily as content this year - I already love keeping the guys up to speed, so hopefully the listeners like it too. We're making headway with our wedding plans but also just taking it slow until we know how things pan out over the next couple of months. However, we have started looking at venues."
Rugby talk features in the podcast too and it in many ways breaks down the walls to the straight world. Christensen says the sportsmanship and manaakitanga shown at his rugby community and club is incredible.
"Rugby has become a really supportive and encouraging sport to be part of. Rugby is a vehicle for anyone no matter experience, sexual orientation, or body shape. We've educated our wider community, which in a sense is smashing the glass ceiling. But there is always still work to do."
Their producer, Brodie Kane, couldn't be prouder of the podcast's success.
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Advertise with NZME."It's amazing, you know. Three guys who have never done a podcast, let alone have never worked together in a broadcasting sense, came on board and the chemistry was instant - which is insane," she said. "You can't buy or manufacture that stuff. So, for the guys to have a genuine connection that you can hear in your ear holes immediately is pretty amazing, I'm like a really proud dance mum."
