Pop Off with Lewys Ball is back with all the pop culture news you could dream of! But this time he’s not alone. Joined by TikTokker and model, Isla Loba, they’ll be injecting extra flavour into the weekly rumours, trends and celebrity scandals. From DM slides to TikTok drama, nothing is off limits!

Lewys is a YouTuber, presenter and social media personality with over 700k in social followers, full of an infectious charisma loved by the GenZ generation. Previously, Lewys has tackled topics from Love Island reunions, to the end of the X-factor generation, all sprinkled with some very special guests. This season, Lewys & Isla have got even juicier content, for every pop culture moment. We put Lewys and Isla in the hot seat to tell us what they think will be poppin’ off in 2023…

HI GUYS! SO, WHAT ARE YOU EXCITED TO TALK ABOUT ON POP OFF THIS YEAR?

Lewys: Well well well! There is so much to get into. We’ve loved the red carpets of the year so far, the controversies and awkward encounters included.

Isla: As expected, there’s also been some juicy Kardashian’s antics this year so far and we’re looking forward to unexpected discussion points like Ice Spice popping up on North West’s TikTok out of nowhere.

WHAT ARE THE HOT POP CULTURE EVENTS YOU’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO?

I: We’re covering everything you would talk about in your group chat.

L: Exactly, we’ll be covering The Met Gala, Love Island, all the juicy Netflix shows… Nothing is off limits for us.

WHAT ARE YOUR 2023 TREND PREDICTIONS? FASHION? SOCIAL MEDIA? TIKTOK?

I: I really hope people are going to start developing their own styles and not feed into microtrends as much. I also would love to see people being more sustainable.

L: I’d like to see people being themselves. TikTok has made it so easy for people to be carbon copies, so let’s bring back authenticity in 2023. And men in skirts.

WHAT SHOULD PEOPLE EXPECT FROM THIS NEW ERA OF POP OFF?

I: Becoming obsessed with entertainment news that you didn’t know you cared about.

L: Lots of laughs and light relief. Escapism from the day to day, because it’s much more fun living the drama vicariously. It’s been amazing bringing Isla into the Pop Off universe.

AND FINALLY GIVE US YOUR FAVOURITE POP CULTURE MOMENT OF ALL TIME!

L: As a former Cheryl stan, anything she has done. Highlights include the Fight For This Love music video, ‘whenever you’re ready’ and when she went ghost hunting with the rest of Girls Aloud.

I: I’m a South London girl through and through so it has to be Charley Uchea on Big Brother. Every Thursday, Pop Off is going to be the hottest place to be for all your reality TV hot scoops and social media storms.

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As Season 2 is in full swing, I asked the two hosts some questions about their move to podcasting and the community they’ve built.

There is a genuine appreciation and respect for podcasting, I even remember in one episode Candice breaking down the process of getting sponsors. What’s one thing that’s surprised you about the podcasting process?

Multiple things, I think the first is how exhausting recording can be. We typically record for three hours and between the giggles and more often than not the tears, I’m ready for bed immediately afterwards.

Having been in the media space for so long I can say that this desire to now have visuals along with audio is a little grating. The reality is everything has a cost attached as we now expect great quality.

Also as a new pod we decided we wanted all our stats in one place because we knew we would need sponsorship to keep this going for how long our Closet Cousins would want to hear from us. But I can’t say that we haven’t felt the pressure to rush the process – we have.

The success of Closet Confessions was a shock all round and now it feels as though people want us to compete with podcasts that have been going for years. We simply aren’t ready yet. Slow and steady wins the race.

On more than one occasion you’ve been adamant to specifically address black women when giving out advice. Was this a choice you both made or are you just telling your lived experiences?

Funnily enough it was never an actual conversation. The reality is we are black women with very public profiles. The way in which we are treated or the standard we are held to is completely different to our white counterparts so it just feels natural for us to say that we are about to address something that is specifically for us. Whilst this is just our lived experiences we know how hard it is for women who look like us to feel like they are part of a sisterhood or community, so that’s why we are so adamant.

As we know you don’t know each other’s confessions until you sit down to record, what is the one that’s shocked you the most?

No comment! The most shocking ones have been sealed for all eternity!

Both of you have built an audience prior to this show, how important was that to building the community you’ve now?

Candice: I think super important. Stand alone our audience know what to expect from us and we’ve both worked hard for years to build communities that support our work and how authentic we are. I’m not saying it’s impossible but I know for sure it would be so much harder to build a podcast community without having worked at building an audience outside of the space beforehand.

Sarel: It was very important to build our audience prior to having Closet Confessions. The reason for that is that both myself and Candice are opinionated women who are unapologetically themselves and had created a community separate from one another of people who understood us, but had only seen us with short-form content. So by the time Closet Confessions started, our audiences were aware of how we speak, aware of the way we joke, aware of the way we think but had only ever been given advice via videos that were only 1-3 minutes long, sometimes maybe a bit longer.

But with Closet Confessions this is a new side to us where we now get to unpack a lot of things just by having a conversation and that’s why the community has come so strong because when you come into the Closet, not only are we there to have a cackle and a Kiki, we’re there to learn and challenge one another. We’re there to uplift, we’re there to edify and sometimes the conversations can be uncomfortable, sometimes they can be funny, sometimes the conversations can be raw. But at least we have a space and a place that is judgement free for these conversations to take place. And that’s why I think our community with Closet Confessions has become such a powerhouse.

What was the first podcast you listened to? Are there any other podcasts you love you think our readers should know about?

Candice: Oh my gosh The Read with Kid Fury and Crislle West – that podcast set my world alight this was way before podcasts were massive. I think they used to be on Soundcloud. It felt like sitting down with friends. Speaking of which, one of my guilty pleasures right now is the HCPod with Cuckie and Poet. Not that I do but it gives smoke weed and chat shit vibes, which is essentially what I look forward to at the end of the week. Also Pop Culture with Chanté Joseph is very educational.

Sarel: I can’t necessarily remember the first podcast I listened to because when I started the world of podcasting and listening to podcasts it was still very foreign to me but I can remember podcasts that have kept me listening. I’m obsessed with the Hey Babe! podcast with Sal Vulcano & Chris Distefano. I’m obsessed with Cancelled with Clare & Jessie Stephens and I am obsessed with ShxtsNGigs with James & Fuhad. The one common factor with all of these podcasts is that they make me laugh and make me think. But I have to say absolutely second the fact that I love Chante Joseph’s Podcast with The Guardian; the right balance of education and funny.

Listen to Closet Confessions on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>

The post Coco Sarel and Candice Brathwaite talk community, Closet Confessions and the cost of podcasting appeared first on POD BIBLE.