William Hanson and Jordan North, an etiquette expert and a radio presenter respectively, have transformed their popular comedy podcast "Help I Sexted My Boss" into a live cinema event. The show was broadcast from the London Palladium into 400 cinemas across the UK, Ireland, and some European cities on a recent Tuesday night. This marks the first instance of a British podcast being adapted for such a large cinema release.
The podcast, which began in 2018, addresses modern-day dilemmas and has garnered a significant following, with over three million downloads a month. Despite their contrasting backgrounds—Hanson from a more privileged upbringing and North from a working-class family in Burnley—they have leveraged their differences to appeal to a diverse audience. Their live show rapidly sold out, and the cinema broadcast was intended to include fans who could not attend in person.
Both Hanson and North have also achieved individual successes; Hanson runs an etiquette training institute and has become popular on TikTok, while North recently left BBC Radio 1 to host the breakfast show on Capital Radio.