William Hanson and Jordan North hit it off despite the odds
By Noor Nanji
Culture reporter
William Hanson and Jordan North are, by their own admission, unlikely best friends.
Hanson is an etiquette expert, who grew up thinking it was “totally normal” that his parents had a spare car for their dog. Jordan is a Burnley lad, whose mother used to bathe him in the kitchen sink.
But the pair hit it off when they met in 2010, and subsequently launched a comedy podcast, Help I Sexted My Boss, assisting listeners with modern day dilemmas.
That podcast is now coming to the big screen.
Hanson and North’s live show at the London Palladium on Tuesday night will be broadcast into 400 cinemas across the UK, Ireland and European cities. It’s thought to be the first time a British podcast has done this.
When we meet at a recording studio in central London, they are midway through rehearsals for their tour.
“I’m super nervous,” North said about the tour. “I get terrible stage fright before.”
That might seem surprising, given North is a seasoned radio presenter. But Hanson explains that in a radio studio, you can’t see your listeners, whereas during a live show, they are right in front of you. North nods in agreement.
The tour sold out in just three hours. The aim of taking it into cinemas is to ensure fans – better known as G&Divas – can “still be a part of it,” North said.
The show hasn’t been lapped up at all cinemas. North feels particularly vexed that it’s not selling well in Accrington, as it’s just down the road from where he is from.
But overall, it’s been well received in places as far apart as Burnley (“no surprise,” says Hanson) and Exeter.
The pair first met at BBC Radio 5 Live’s studio in Manchester. North was doing work experience, and Hanson had come into the studio for an interview.
Image source, Getty Images
Away from podcasting, Jordan North is also a well known radio presenter
They met again a few months later at a party.
North said his housemate warned him he wouldn’t like Hanson “as he’s a bit posh”. The housemate also gave Hanson a similar warning, telling him North was “a bit rough around the edges”.
But they found common ground, helped – they say – by a shared sense of humour.
In 2018, they launched their podcast. Both say they’ve never themselves sexted their bosses, despite the title of the podcast. “I’ve always been freelance, I would have had to sext myself,” Hanson said.
But the idea behind it was to encourage listeners to share their problems, which the duo then try and offer solutions to.
They get dilemmas such as what to do if you’ve inadvertently shared sex toys with family members, but also general questions of etiquette such as whether it’s acceptable to delete your ex from social media.
Today, the podcast has more than three million downloads a month.
Taking it into cinemas is an “interesting” step, says Joseph Evans, an analyst at media research firm Enders Analysis.
“Podcasts continue to grow, in terms of popularity, and now we’re seeing these new innovations – first you had the live streams, and now they’re coming to cinemas too,” he told BBC News.
Evans said you can see why a cinema format could work. “Podcasters are very community oriented as a medium. So with cinemas, you get the communal experience, you’re together with fans at the same time.”
But he added: “For many, the appeal of a live event is being in the same room as the podcasters, so we shall see if this new format works.”
Image source, William Hanson
William Hanson’s late dog, Dido, used to travel in style
Hanson and North think that having two hosts from very different backgrounds has helped them bring in a wider audience.
“A lot of podcasts, it’s mainly people that are middle class who listen to them, that live in metropolitan cities like London and Manchester,” North said. “What I’m proud of with Sexted is that it’s a lot of working class people listening to it as well.”
Hanson adds: “The two sides are laughing in a respectful way at the other.”
Both Hanson and North are also the first to laugh at their own experiences.
Hanson shares an anecdote about how, when he was younger, his parents bought a car for their dog, Dido.
His parents already had several cars, but wanted a separate one for Dido to travel in, to avoid the other cars getting messy, he explained.
“Growing up I thought that was totally normal, and that was what everyone does, and now I realise it’s completely ridiculous.”
Image source, Jordan North
Jordan North and his brothers as children
“And I thought it was totally normal to be bathed in the kitchen sink,” said North.
“I’d come in, and [my mum] would be getting my brothers ready for bed in the kitchen sink,” he said.
“Which, when you look back now…” he trails off, with a laugh.
‘Gen Z are into etiquette’
North recently left BBC Radio 1 to become the host of Capital Radio’s breakfast show. “I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying it,” he said. When the offer came to move, “it was too good to turn down,” he added.
Hanson, meanwhile, runs The English Manner, an etiquette training institute. In recent years, he has become a viral sensation on TikTok where he shares his etiquette tips and advice with a Gen-Z audience.
Image source, Natasha Pszenicki
His persona is exactly the same in real life. When he accidentally spills some water on me, he apologises profusely. “Oh dear, I seem to have watered your hand.”
He says etiquette used to be seen as “rules to belittle someone”. Whereas his approach is “just about being nice to someone and having self respect. And I think Gen Z are actually more into that, and are more socially liberal and relaxed than previous generations”.
The pair say working together hasn’t taken a toll on their friendship. They have also learnt a lot from each other.
“I make no secret I have learnt so much from William,” said North. “It might be when I meet new people, how to shake their hand properly, eye contact’s really important, how to remember people’s names as I’m always really terrible at them.”
Meanwhile Hanson, for his part, credits Jordan with making him more easy-going, including towards the more salacious elements of their podcast.
“I’m so much less uptight,” he said, before laughing. “I suppose that gives you a rough idea of how uptight I was in the first place.”
Help I Sexted My Boss Live will be in cinemas across the UK & Ireland, plus select European cities, on Tuesday.
