LGBTQ+ video podcast Proudly Said celebrates its first birthday on 5 June 2026, and is marking the occasion with a growing presence across the North West, with a string of Manchester-based guests featuring in upcoming episodes.
Launched in June 2025 by Liverpool activist and advocate John Hyland, Proudly Said was built around a simple but urgent idea: giving everyday LGBTQ+ people a platform to share their stories in their own words. In its first year, the show has released 53 episodes, accumulated over two million views across Instagram and TikTok, and built a content pipeline scheduled through to August, all as a one-person operation.
As the show enters its second year, Manchester is becoming an increasingly natural part of that story. Upcoming episodes feature Manchester-based guests filmed on location in the city, continuing the show’s commitment to letting guests choose where their story is told. That approach has already brought the show to Manchester for conversations with local drag queen and community figure Shania Pain, as well as nationally recognised performer Divina De Campo, reflecting both the local roots and broader reach the show has developed in its first twelve months.
That reach is not hard to explain. The BBC recently cancelled I Kissed a Boy and I Kissed a Girl, the UK’s first LGBTQ+ dating shows, citing funding challenges, leaving mainstream television without its only dedicated queer franchise. Across the North West, Home Office figures show more than 18,000 hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation and over 3,000 trans-related hate crimes were recorded between March 2024 and March 2025, with hate crimes based on sexual orientation up 20% over the last five years, and those based on trans identity up 50%.
Independent community platforms are stepping into the gap that mainstream media is leaving. Proudly Said is one of them, and it is doing it without a broadcaster, a budget, or a production team behind it.
The show’s first year has not gone unnoticed, with Proudly Said picking up a nomination for LGBTQ+ Podcast of the Year at the 2026 Gaydio Awards. The recognition has extended to John personally too, named Diversity Champion at the 2025 LGBTQ+ Flowers Awards and nominated for a BBC Radio Merseyside Make a Difference Award 2026, with finalists to be announced later this summer.
John Hyland, founder and host, said:
“Back when I made the decision to pursue a new podcast, I wasn’t sure how it would go, as it had been ten years since I dipped my toe in that world. But I’ve been so appreciative of the interest, both from audiences and guests alike. Which absolutely demonstrates why queer storytelling is incredibly important in this day and age, when the world feels so dark and bleak for the LGBTQ+ community.
This is my passion, and no story will go untold if I have anything to say about it.”
Proudly Said releases new episodes weekly at proudlysaid.co.uk and across all major podcast platforms, and is always looking out for new guests to tell their story.