I’ve made questionable career moves but want to leave reality TV behind with game-changing role, says Spencer Matthews

HE spent his 20s boozing heavily and larking around on reality TV shows - now Spencer Matthews is a record-breaking endurance athlete with an ambitious new podcast.

Kicking on from his superhuman 30 marathons in 30 days on the sands of the Jordanian desert, Spencer is hoping to inspire people to harness their own potential.

The former Made In Chelsea man, 36, has partnered with Jake Quickenden, 36, to host Untapped - a fun, inspiring podcast with good intentions at its heart.

Starting big and bold, the first guest was rock climbing king Alex Honnold, whose death-defying documentary Free Solo, in which he became the first person to scale the 2,900ft El Capitan rock face with no ropes, won an Oscar in 2019.

While Sir Mo Farah is the star guest of episode two, choosing to talk with Spencer and Jake over the more established High Performance podcast by Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Spencer said: "Our work environment is unlike anything I've ever had before in my life. We have the time of our lives creating this show. And I couldn't be more thankful for the team that we've created for it.

"'Cause it is just awesome. I sometimes get there at nine in the morning, I'll leave at seven. You know, having been recording for hours and hours and having meetings about who we should get on and chatting to potential partners and sponsors. It's so exciting.

"I love it. I'm already getting sick for loving it too much."

Spencer made a calculated gamble to make his dream podcast a reality.

He stepped down from his very successful show with wife Vogue Williams with her sister Amber replacing him.

In a surprise move, he offered his old pal Jake the co-host position eight years after they hit it off on high octane Channel 4 reality show The Jump.

It makes sense though, as Jake has excelled in whatever he's put his mind to from The X Factor and Dancing on Ice to the theatre stage and even an MMA bout.

"Jake is a remarkable athlete," said Spencer. "And by that, I mean you'd want to watch out if you're competing against him in anything.

"He's a hundred kilos. He's incredibly strong. He can roundhouse kick an apple off your head, you know, with insane accuracy, phenomenal fighter, very competitive.

"His sense of humor is incredible. He's a very beautiful soul. Jake's energy is incredibly palpable, very positive, but he's also been dealt terrible cards in life. Lost his father, lost his brother.

"So he has a real depth to him, but he's also able to be light-hearted. If I'm being completely honest, he's the perfect co-host because there's no one mold that fits him."

Like Spencer before him, Jake is also taking on a huge physical challenge this year when he will attempt to kayak 1,200km in the Yukon for charity.

And Spencer believes Untapped could end up removing them both from the reality sphere altogether.

"I think Jake isn't delighted with some of the career moves he's made in his life," he said. "It's very similar to me. And I think I really want us to grow out of it all together."

STANDING OUT

The podcast market is as saturated as its ever been, with new shows cropping up weekly and celebs favouring it as an outlet to get their voices heard.

But Spencer believes it's ultimately the concept and high quality content that will elevate Untapped above the competition.

"I'm not going to say here and say that I'm not interested in being one of the largest podcasts in the country," he said.

"Because we absolutely are interested in having as large a listenership as we could possibly have. I believe this podcast can really help people. We're trying to draw out potential from our listeners.

"Social media is a really dangerous place. And I want to make sure that every single thing we put out is of a really high standard and created artistically and creatively in ways that is superior to our competition. And I'm loving that process.

"Of course, if I can earn good money from building Untapped, that's fantastic. And essential. I have three kids, I need to support my lifestyle, but I think they kind of go hand in hand."

They've got off to a roaring start.

Spencer's success in Jordan has helped get the attention of athletes that might not have made themselves available otherwise.

He'd tried to book Farah for a previous podcast but had always been unable to... until now.

Spencer said: "I really didn't know what to expect with Mo, very funny, very honest. There's all kinds of stuff in the episode that I don't think you would have heard before from Mo."

RECORD ATTEMPT

Later in the year Spencer will tackle another record-breaking feat when he takes on seven Ironman triathlons in seven continents back to back.

Each event will see him swim 3.8km, bike 180km and run a marathon distance of 42.2km.

He insists his body will break before his mind, but is doing everything he can to ready himself for the ridiculously tough undertaking.

That includes learning to swim properly, a discipline he is yet master.

He said: "If I jumped in a calm lake now with a wetsuit, so like perfect conditions, I'm not sure I'm swimming 3.8km safely, seriously.

"It's going to be incredibly difficult again, like the 30 and 30, there's no guarantee that I'll be able to achieve this. I like the unknown element of it. If it was easy, it wouldn't feel fun to me."

"I'm not going to worry about anything until something goes wrong, which will probably be during the events or in an accident and training or hopefully not, touch wood. It's all just exciting to me.

"I'm not going to be filled with dread at any point. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. I'm just going to get on with it and crack on."

Untapped, Spencer Matthews’ new weekly podcast launches today on all platforms. Produced by the team at High Performance and co-hosted by Jake Quickenden.