OUTCAST WORLD - The queer group chat

A brutally honest look at grief, addiction, and finding a way back to life.

After almost four years and 130 episodes of Outcast World, the mic finally turns towards its own creator.

This week, the show takes a personal turn as The Divorce Social host Samantha Baines — known from BBC Radio London, The One Show, The Crown and Call The Midwife — interviews Outcast World’s Graeme Smith, an award-winning broadcaster and podcaster, about a story he’s never shared publicly before.

Recorded in late 2023, the conversation explores the loss of his partner after a decade together to a traumatic drugs death, and his own struggle with mental health and addiction. In 2012, Graeme ended up in rehab on a mental health ward after a total breakdown. And not the nice private rehab you see celebrities go to, but the gritty kind that usually cleans up drug users straight from prison. He had lost his job, his mind, his home and all his self worth.

But within the dark time on the rehab wards of a mental health trust specialist detox unit, The Chapman-Baker Unit, in North Manchester he felt like her was remade. His self worth realised again after putting the pieces together, with nothing, not even the laces in his shoes after a suicide attempt earlier in his rehab stay.

Then not long after, came the death of his ex fiancé, Darren Williams, to drugs at just 35 years old on a night out in London in February 2015 under circumstances that will never truly make sense. A healthy 35 year old man just died at a party with friends. Tearing apart the lives of so many people forever.

It’s a raw and honest look at grief, love, and starting over — from someone who’s spent years helping others tell their stories, now sitting on the other side of the mic.

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In this episode of OUTCAST WORLD, Graeme Smith sits down with Jaxon Feeley, author of "Fear Proof" out this week. Jax is here to flip everything you’ve ever believed about fear on its head.

Jaxon Feeley is a British TV personality, presenter, speaker and advocate known for his work around trans inclusion, authenticity and mental-health awareness.

Originally working as a prison officer, he began his transition in 2021 while still in post and has since leveraged his experience to inspire others to live their truth.

This isn’t another “feel the fear and do it anyway” chat. It’s a raw, smart, and beautifully vulnerable conversation about what it really takes to become Fear Proof — to live a life that’s honest, messy, and fully awake.

Jax opens up about rebuilding from the ground up, grieving past identities, and finding courage in the quiet moments. Together, they unpack how fear can be a compass, not a cage — and why you don’t need to be fearless… you just need to do it scared.

Get your copy of Fear Proof:

He kissed a boy. Then told the villa — and the whole country — he was living with HIV.

Adam Williams went on I Kissed a Boy looking for love — and ended up schooling the nation on HIV and therapy.

On Outcast World this week, Graeme Smith gets the goss straight from the masseria:

• Coming out (again) — this time on reality TV and ultimately the entire internet.
• Therapy, trauma, and trying not to cry on national telly.
• The truth about undetectable = untransmittable.
• Dating apps, reality TV edits, and managing a mental health.

Adam’s not here to be your poster boy — but he is here to talk about what happens when you stop hiding and start making noise about who you really are. It's impressive. Listen.

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This helps us become easier to discover. Please take time to rate the show and if you're enjoying the podcast then take time to comment about it wherever you listen. ////

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Junaid Ahmed is one of the most visible queer Muslims on British television — and he’s doing it on one of the UK’s most-watched reality shows.

As The Only Way is Essex returns to ITV2 and ITVX on Sunday nights at 9pm, Junaid sits down with Graeme Smith to talk identity, faith, fame and the reality behind the reality TV.

In this candid conversation, Junaid reflects on:

• Coming out as a British-Pakistani Muslim
• Navigating fame, faith and family
• The pressures of visibility in both the LGBTQ+ and Muslim communities
• Life behind the scenes of TOWIE
• Mental health, resilience, and staying true to yourself
• 
  

Junaid speaks with honesty and clarity about what it means to take up space as a queer person of faith — and why authentic representation on mainstream TV still matters.

Watch TOWIE every Sunday at 9pm on ITV2 or stream anytime on ITVX.

🎙️ Outcast World is the award-nominated LGBTQ+ interview podcast hosted by Graeme Smith. New episodes weekly.

Keywords: Junaid Ahmed, TOWIE, Queer Muslim, LGBTQ+ Podcast, British Pakistani, ITV2, ITVX, Reality TV, Representation, Mental Health, Graeme Smith, Outcast World

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On this week's Outcast World, Graeme Smith is asking the big question: should we finally ditch the dating apps? Author and broadcaster Daniel Harding joins the show to talk about the impact of his best-selling book Letters To My Younger Queer Self, and his new project hitting the streets to find out how queer people really feel about swiping, hookups, and love in 2025.

Then, it’s music time with UK Eurovision girlband Remember Monday, back with their summer anthem Happier and a Desperate Housewives-inspired music video.

And stick around for a teaser of next week’s exclusive with one of the breakout stars of I Kissed a Boy, opening up about HIV, mental health, and going public on national TV.

NOMINATED BEST INTERVIEW PODCAST AT THE 2025 BRITISH PODCAST AWARDS - THIS IS OUTCAST WORLD

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Like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and please leave a review.

This helps us become easier to discover. Please take time to rate the show and if you're enjoying the podcast then take time to comment about it wherever you listen. ////

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