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Leo Molloy talks about how he found success after bankruptcy | Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey

October 25, 202254:52
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[Music]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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Runners only with Don Harvey and this
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week an old friend of mine maybe the
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future mayor of Auckland City Leo Malloy
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maybe poor man maybe come on there's no
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maybe about it bro you know that I'm
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going to be the mayor of the city and
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running will be compulsory you're either
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running with me or running away from me
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one of the other YouTubers now that is
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there there's a that's the tie in here
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the podcast is called Runners only so
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every single guest I have on the podcast
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has running in common so I mean I
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suppose you could joke that you are
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running for Mia but all also in a
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previous life you were a runner a little
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bit of a runner my short fat legs don't
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do me a great service when it comes to
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running but yeah I just changed my
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entire lifestyle and I thought I'd try
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the running game and um I wasn't much
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good at it to be honest with you oh I
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disagree I disagree you you did a 312
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Marathon which would probably put you in
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I'm plucking this figure out of my ass
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but I'm guessing the top five percent of
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all Marathon finishes ever really no the
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312 early threes hundred percent well
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I'll tell you how that some people spend
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their entire life trying to break a
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magic number like four hours or four I
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think I think I could run One backwards
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in three and a half
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I'm serious no I did because um I'll
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tell you why um my sister Julie had a
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boyfriend named Keen I think his name
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was and he had never done one and I said
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I'd walk in the park train for three
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months and he said I've got one in mind
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in about a month's time I've been
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training for and I said I'll do it with
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you out of sympathy so without any
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training I did a 328 but when I did the
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312 some of my friends Gary Ray I
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mentioned before he could knock off a
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like a 225 228 wow um easily um because
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he's tall with long legs like you and I
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was of the other persuasion short with
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fat legs and I wasn't very good at
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running but he dragged me along and made
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me run but when I went to vet school a
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lot of people there were into things
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like running but don't forget the West
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Coast has a Heritage running too in case
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you forgot Dave um who won the Boston
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mouth and Dave McKenzie the we fellow at
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the Bandy legs week for the Greymouth
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Evening Star won the Boston Marathon
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Coleman cray was a very very good runner
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Eddie gray was a great Runner so we
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weren't the only people on the west
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coast running a lot of people around the
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Greymouth area were very athletic and
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into running so I decided that I wanted
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to do a sub three because I didn't think
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I was a runner if I couldn't do a sub
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three so I think on the in the west
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coast my first one I did 320 something
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and then I did Commonwealth Games course
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in Christchurch about his most [ __ ]
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boring can I say [ __ ] well of course
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you get us a podcast you can see what
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you want nice [ __ ] boring marathon of
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all time up and down right just flat
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yeah flat as a billion table and nothing
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to aim at you just go from Telegraph
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while to Telegraph right and then
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incredibly I flee myself in a helicopter
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from palmy to Gisborne and did Gisborne
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which was just as bad so
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excruciationally excruciatingly that's a
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big word for a little fella on a day
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like this boring boring marathons and
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then but anyway I decided I wanted to do
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a sub three before I retired after only
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about four or five attempts so I am the
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coast to coast was probably the best one
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because it was selling have you done
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that goat Pass Run yeah I have I did it
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last year it was amazing what a
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sensational run in the year I did was
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the year of the big win so we a lot of
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the time we were chest Deep in water
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they actually called the that part of
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the coast to coast race off about half
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an hour after I went through but um that
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was the most amazing run so invigorating
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to do that you know I'd go back and do
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that tomorrow probably walk at this time
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around to be frank with you but anyway
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then I decided I wanted to do a sub
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three just to prove that I could run so
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I trained hard in the local area club
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and I did over the pahi to a track a few
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times
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yeah you know you start on the hill you
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think oh I'll get a breather in five
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minutes time trust me it ain't five
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minutes I've got Wine's on forever hour
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and a half later you're still climbing
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so it's like a version of the um what's
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the bike race they have in France
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Hill Climb Zone you think when's this
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going to end you know yeah that's how I
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felt going on I did that run quite a few
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times just in training but I was
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determined to run a time if I wanted to
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run a time so so I did a half and I
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busted my gut swing at 125 Half but I
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reckon then if you can do a 125 Half you
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can break three yeah um for the marathon
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so I went up to Rotorua of all places
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and I didn't have a pacemaker and I had
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a very light support crew as in one
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person with a water bottle at the end of
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the race waiting for me but I went down
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there I went through the turn well under
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um 125 half time but I just blew my ass
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going up that hill and we you know you
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check out this long yeah it's not a very
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steep hill but it's a long grinding it
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was always going to be a hard one to get
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a hard course to do a sub three and I
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mean it's a oh it's not the easiest
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you're probably that boring Christchurch
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when you were talking about from the
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Commonwealth Games you probably needed
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that for a sub three I think you need a
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pacemaker if you're gonna if you really
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have very good runner like I'm not and
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you want to do something like that
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you're aiming fairly high right the
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lofty Heights for a five foot six inch
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you know little fat bugger so um it was
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quite tricky here but I tried to do it
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all on my own and I just got the timing
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all wrong so end up end up trudging home
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in 312 and hurt for about a week
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afterwards oh that's a good run though
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I'm guessing it's probably easier now
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I've managed to do one sub three I did a
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257 but I I had like a GPS you wouldn't
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have had to GPS watch on no yeah I mean
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it's easy to get your split taker in it
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what I should have had as a support
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person with me either on a Vespa or a
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bike or something who was saying hey
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Slow Down slow down because I do get as
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you know I can be fairly enthusiastic
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about life
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too quickly and early faded late you
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know the story of us a racehorse that'll
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be no bloody good what I'm trying to say
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um so why did you why did you give that
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running you just get bored I feel like
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you get bored of things no no that's not
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necessarily true I end up with chondro
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Malaysia in my knee because when I'm
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trained for the coast to coast I was
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doing by riding and running
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simultaneously and I pulled the patella
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do you know how your femur Works how the
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trochlear ridge works not really no it's
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like if you're eating a chicken bone
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it's a two knob bits at the end the
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patella runs up and down okay but when
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you bike a lot as well as running you
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develop the lateral quadriceps a lot
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more than you do the medial side so it
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tends to pull things slightly out of
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line and chondro Malaysia obviously
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malming bad
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um bad cartilage so it grinds down to
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the bone so my patella kept catching on
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the on the lateral trochlear Ridge and
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um that was no fun when it catches it
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literally just everything freezes and
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you've got to be really ballsy and brave
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and put it back in yourself oh I can
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just look at her shoulder back in before
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you have to take long-term conservative
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therapy right I suppose you could do
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things like stem cell transplants these
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days yeah if I've been a qualified bet
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in those days I could have done it then
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done it to yourself well we're doing a
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lot and horses and that type of thing
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but yeah you could have been no that's
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why so I took a lot of time out and
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after I'd taken the time out to be frank
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you know as I said I was a struggler
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anyway yeah I wasn't a natural athlete
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so do you miss it you miss running
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um I still go to the gym three days a
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week I love the camaraderie I love the
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boxing these days yeah I know you're a
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very active guy I see it when I'm out
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running I see you out walking quite a
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bit and I I see you on social media at
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the gym with Monty batham and others you
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know I walk a lot um I find that very
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therapeutic so I look at the Blue Sky
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when I walk and I find that it's quite
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walking time is quality time I quite
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often put my heads on listen to podcasts
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and but yeah and I like the gym I like
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the boxing I like the I like the square
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office purely because you get a better
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class or person at boxing and when you
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get in there so what do you mean
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um it takes a certain type of person to
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have an appetite for that sort of sport
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it's a blood sport it's a physical
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version of politics and I love Blood
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Sport so when you get in I actually had
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a little fight the other day as part of
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a condition of doing a TV show where the
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guy fella called Guy Williams do you
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know yeah yeah yeah he's a giant
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compared to you he's a bloody good dude
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so he's 198 so he's six six or something
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yeah I'm five six so I gave him a foot
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in height I gave him 35 kilograms in
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weight and I gave him 30 years advantage
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and he did play professional sport so
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albeit in a rather gangly style if I may
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say so if you're listening guy but we
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had a whole lot of fun in the ring
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together he was very kind and gentle
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he's spent a fair bit of time cuddling
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not much time hitting each other yeah
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but I did thoroughly enjoy it I just
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find I don't know what it is about
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boxing there's some I mean do you know
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Joe Parker for example yeah I know Joe
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very well like about as good a bloke you
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should ever meet the other planets just
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a champion fellain I love the pi people
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I I love the humility people like Monty
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beat them and Kevin milama who have end
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up being friends with the humility is
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staggering because they're so good at
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what they do they have this amazing
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humble streak and this will come as a
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surprise to you ball man but I don't
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have that humble Street
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actually yeah there's a new issue of
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Metro magazine out and there's a quote
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in there from you saying I Am a Man on
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Fire I am Unstoppable did I say that
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really yeah it's in there I didn't know
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that I saw the cartoon they did of me I
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thought the cartoon yeah it's quite nice
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but it's like um I re I read then I
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laughed out loud because I've known you
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for a long long time
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um and I wonder like how much of stuff
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like that is um as you know fake it till
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you make it and how much of it is
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absolute self-belief yeah I'm on fire no
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that's that's true I mean that's what I
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am as a person and someone said to me
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the other day about I have so many
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political advisors these days and they
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do what I call pulling you out of shape
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they did it to Judith Collins and
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completely destroyed what she was as a
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politician and I refuse to be anything
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but the authentic Leo and they keep
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saying to me you've got to moderate
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you've got to modify you've got to
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change this change out said I can't
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because I can't act I'm Leo I've always
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been Leo I'll die Leo you've known me
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for how many years now yeah maybe 30 odd
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years and I've never changed um you know
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I'm just I am what I am so I know that
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I'm different but it doesn't bother me
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I'm very comfortable in my own skin and
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I know that if I start acting I'll be
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exposed immediately as a fraud and I
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know that then I'll have to like so I
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have to pretend I'm something that I'm
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not yeah and I've never had to do that
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in my life and I don't want to start
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doing it ever so now we'll go through
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everything in a progressive order about
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um we we've been where you are where
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you're going to but at this point we
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should probably say how we know each
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other I was like a rising Radio Star I
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was a local celebrity in Palmerston
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North I had the radio name you're not a
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celebrity board man you're a little too
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I just go to school you hadn't had a
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shave you had a pimply for the face and
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we used to Pat you other head and say
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get us a coffee long black half a
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teaspoon of honey everyone's run around
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Mr wish used to treat you like [ __ ] your
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whole life you're a subspecies let's
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make an absolutely clear
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I was a big deal I was a rising star of
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New Zealand radio it was the Mike Weston
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baldwick show it's called Baldrick
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because uh there was a TV show with
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Rowan Atkinson Blackadder that was on at
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the time and that's exactly what you
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were you were you're a craven little
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wimp who was in the trenches he wasn't
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brave enough to [ __ ] and we treated
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you accordingly
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so that's how I got to meet Leo because
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uh Leo I think that's shortly after you
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made the transition from vet to okay so
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I'll talk you through Hospitality let me
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make one thing clear though we had very
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low aspirations and we aimed very low
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with you bald man we saw you going
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absolutely now we're in life and I was
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staggered and amazed and gobsmacked when
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I got to walk on the phone at the year
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of celebrity
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that's why I've always called you
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Baldrick when I see you out running or
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walking or whatever and people go oh no
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that's Dominic Harvey that's baldwick
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all right yeah Leo has always always
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could be there so there's aspects like
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that you just never you never change but
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you I don't know if you remember this it
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was probably nothing to you but it was
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um it was a very very kind gesture to me
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so I was probably 18 19 maybe 20 at the
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time I think I was still living at home
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with my parents my dad wouldn't even
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lend me his brown Subaru Legacy and you
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and I had become like reasonably good
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friends quite good friends and uh I
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think I am
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forget how it came about but it was like
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boxing day or something and I gave you
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and your wife and Maria ride to the
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airport Marianne yeah she's still my
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good mate now she's part of my political
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campaign is she yeah it sounds great
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yeah and you you when I dropped you off
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at the airport you tossed me the keys to
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this um BMW it was like a convertible
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thing with three two five eight Cream
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leather seats probably with mustard
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colored seats yeah and charcoal black
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charcoal black with mustard mustard yeah
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probably worth more than my parents
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house and you you checked me the keys
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and sit here have this just pick us up
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when we get back and I was driving
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around in this car for like a week yeah
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that's not a big problem though I said
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what's wrong with that oh well it was an
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outstanding level of trust and uh I was
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humbled by it it's one of those things
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I've never ran the insurance company
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there's a weirdo driving my car around
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don't have him arrested no I don't think
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that's a big thing there's nothing in
00:11:43
there it's just a gesture in it yeah
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well no well it means a lot to me at the
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time and it's not one of those things
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I'll never forget I was doing a Monty
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beat them about you and I said you know
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we were saying Leo is one of the most
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loyal people you'll ever meet uh did you
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pull any birds with that car that
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weekend
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because I have to worry I sent it to the
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car cleaner they couldn't get that map
00:12:00
of Australia if if there was if there
00:12:02
was if there was a like a white colored
00:12:04
stain on the seat it was probably aioli
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from the KFC because I did not even get
00:12:08
lucky in that 150 000 car it wasn't 150
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Grand I can tell you that exactly um but
00:12:12
you at that time you you were you had
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the most successful bar in Palmerston
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North you were a big deal like you heard
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it back with the fat lady's arms which
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um I think if you go back in the history
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of Palmer's North which is a student
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town I think most people would probably
00:12:24
agree the Fitz is the most iconic bar
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ever but I'd say the second most iconic
00:12:29
student barrier is your one okay so we
00:12:31
got lucky let's make that clear I spend
00:12:33
hardly any money but I came up with that
00:12:35
name which was pretty edgy at the time
00:12:36
and not even sure it was schematically
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correct but it attracted a lot of
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interest and as you know I developed an
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advertising style where I decided that I
00:12:43
would say the opposite of what I wanted
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and see how the market reacted to it so
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my standard line was um if you've got
00:12:49
Homespun juices your names Hamish or
00:12:51
Sarah or Victoria or Charlotte don't
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come to in fact ladies we don't want you
00:12:54
there no more hours
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and then I developed the Fine Art of um
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saying exactly the opposite of what you
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meant knowing that people would react
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accordingly so and I haven't changed in
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case right right um but the um and there
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was um this famous campaign you used to
00:13:15
run all the time with tencent points
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I ran it for a while because I've always
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been a believer in Lost leaders I watch
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how the supermarkets operate and all the
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big supermarkets run lost leaders so I
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wouldn't be able to do a 10 cent pipe
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nowadays because the alcohol act has
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changed considerably so you've got to be
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compliant but in those days you're
00:13:31
allowed to do it but once again that
00:13:32
comes with responsibility you couldn't
00:13:34
sell 10 10 pints to one person because
00:13:36
if they got pissed it's your problem yes
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it was I mean it was kind of misleading
00:13:39
so that was served out of this little
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window at the front so yeah
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30 people or several times
00:13:46
but your ads were a gimmick as well like
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you you they stood out on the radio like
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it was yeah fat ladies Arms This is in
00:13:53
your voice best bar and garden bar in
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the world and that's a fact no
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get your pitching timing right the best
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bar in the world and that is a fact I'm
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gonna say and that cause is a fact they
00:14:05
were not that mellow and people are
00:14:08
still repeating to me now it's stood Us
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in good stead in terms of
00:14:11
um where I've ended up in life and the
00:14:13
rich history the rich tapestry that I
00:14:15
had behind me yeah I don't think fat
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ladies have changed the rules but it
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didn't do any harm you know there was it
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was never a place we thought it was
00:14:21
iconic yeah but how many how many did
00:14:23
you end up with it it didn't look like a
00:14:24
bit of nine of them there was nine right
00:14:25
yes it's strange enough every University
00:14:27
we decided um deserved one warranted one
00:14:30
and then some weird places come out of
00:14:31
the woodwork and wanted them like
00:14:32
waikanae of all places like it's like
00:14:34
God's waiting room like and I've ever
00:14:36
aged 112. it's like yeah you just go
00:14:39
ahead and wait to die but anyway um yeah
00:14:42
we did one in waikana which I could
00:14:43
never understand but when Marion and I
00:14:45
split up we split up in about 97
00:14:47
um she got all those assets so I largely
00:14:49
detached from them and went into
00:14:50
different
00:14:51
um sphere of hospitality yeah what
00:14:53
happened there what happened with your
00:14:54
first marriage you don't want to talk
00:14:55
about that or not really yeah I'm happy
00:14:56
to talk about oh well I own everything
00:14:58
that I do wrong in life so I had a fling
00:15:00
and don't know what came over me you
00:15:02
know it was lasted for about a week and
00:15:03
then obviously it ruined our trust and
00:15:06
ruined our relationship and I saw the
00:15:08
girl I had a fling with about five years
00:15:09
later and there was no chemistry at all
00:15:11
it was quite bizarre at the time for
00:15:13
some strange reason it just wasn't like
00:15:15
that you know and you just look at each
00:15:16
other in the eye and you just knew so it
00:15:19
was just going to end the second end
00:15:20
well so yeah do you think the marriage
00:15:22
would have lasted otherwise or do you
00:15:23
think you're still really good mates of
00:15:24
Marion she's great and um the kids are
00:15:27
great too Donna and Nikki they both live
00:15:28
in Melbourne now so no I it would should
00:15:31
have lasted it's all my fault so having
00:15:33
said that you know I got married again I
00:15:34
had five beautiful kids with my second
00:15:36
wife so so I can't complain you know
00:15:38
everything in life is meant for a reason
00:15:39
really so you just got to roll with it
00:15:41
what happened with the second one very
00:15:43
good point at the same age 41 she
00:15:45
decided to leave at two o'clock in the
00:15:46
morning we've been to toddy Brent Todd's
00:15:48
birthday party and um I just felt
00:15:50
something wasn't quite right when we got
00:15:51
home we were living up an Arnie Road and
00:15:53
remuer and she just said to me about 1
00:15:55
32 in the morning as I got home I said
00:15:57
and brush your teeth mode and jump into
00:15:58
bed and she said I'm going I thought oh
00:16:00
she's going to go and get a pie down the
00:16:01
gas station or something I said we're
00:16:03
going from going I'm taking the kids and
00:16:04
I'm going and I just thought I was a
00:16:06
joke but sure enough she got all the
00:16:07
kids out of bed and she went and never
00:16:08
come back so so that's why I remember
00:16:10
seeing you after that you were you were
00:16:12
devastated for a while you're
00:16:13
heartbroken you were trying to trying to
00:16:14
win her back trying that really really
00:16:16
really just did destroy me I had to go
00:16:18
through a lot of deep intensive sort of
00:16:20
therapy to deal with it yeah and I don't
00:16:22
think I've ever really recovered from it
00:16:23
to be honest with you you know it's um
00:16:25
I've tried to put up a smoke screen in
00:16:27
life and tried to pretend but the
00:16:29
reality is that was um that was the one
00:16:31
that cut your dick really hurt me yeah
00:16:33
would you say you were depressed at the
00:16:34
time was I depressed if I was I didn't
00:16:37
know about it but I went to therapy
00:16:39
anything I mean hey it's for fun times
00:16:40
at therapy I mean the problem with I go
00:16:42
to therapy
00:16:44
there's a lot of therapists to say and
00:16:47
the audience member and you're a
00:16:48
comedian yeah well that's that's exactly
00:16:49
what happened so this is quite funny so
00:16:51
I rang up my mate I want his mentor's
00:16:52
name and I knew it he had a few problems
00:16:54
and I said listen um I need the best
00:16:56
therapist in town I'm pretty [ __ ] up
00:16:58
so I need to get sorted out he said
00:16:59
there's only one bloke to go to go to
00:17:00
this fellas I went to this place
00:17:02
um a beautiful building and looked
00:17:04
expensive and was expensive so I've gone
00:17:06
and went into the waiting room he's
00:17:07
called me and it's like going into the
00:17:09
library of a sort of a professor you
00:17:11
know so you sit down on the couch and he
00:17:13
starts talking asks you a couple of
00:17:14
questions and as I'm sure you know
00:17:16
better than anyone you ask me a question
00:17:17
about 20 minutes later you're still you
00:17:19
know I'm still talking away blah blah
00:17:20
blah blah so talk about something
00:17:22
completely yeah yeah a little off on a
00:17:24
tension so on at the end of the fourth
00:17:26
my fourth session and I've got a feeling
00:17:28
it was turned a good session but it
00:17:30
could be long I might have been 150 but
00:17:31
it was expensive anyway yeah so at the
00:17:33
end of the fourth one he said um are you
00:17:34
enjoying the whole experience and I said
00:17:36
well I am but I just wonder whether I'm
00:17:37
getting fair value out of it he said
00:17:39
what do you mean getting fair value I
00:17:40
said well I was hoping that you'd give
00:17:42
me something by way of a mantra
00:17:43
something to chant inside my head so if
00:17:45
I'm having a dark moment laying in bed
00:17:46
at night staring at the ceiling
00:17:49
um you know wondering what Ingrid's
00:17:50
doing and blah blah blah I need to have
00:17:52
something that I can default to just
00:17:53
kind of
00:17:54
um tune myself out and just relax and he
00:17:57
says you know I'd absolutely love to
00:17:58
help you with that and I said well why
00:18:00
haven't you he said because you haven't
00:18:00
stopped talking for four hours
00:18:03
and he said to me this is what he said
00:18:05
to me he said I went to become a what do
00:18:07
you call him counselor I'll call him
00:18:08
that'll do yeah okay but he went to the
00:18:10
state 20 and 20 in the intake each year
00:18:12
and he was the only male of his intake
00:18:13
right and he said he didn't speak for a
00:18:15
year he just listened well when he got
00:18:16
19 woman on one plate you would have
00:18:17
much choice
00:18:19
you wonder why all your wives
00:18:22
so he said that he just listened for you
00:18:24
and he said it was a magnificent art to
00:18:25
learn how to listen and I've got to say
00:18:26
I haven't perfected that up but but yeah
00:18:28
I do talk a lot and even at dinner
00:18:30
parties people say that I do like the
00:18:32
room up when I walk in and I'm there's
00:18:33
never a pregnant pause and I'm around if
00:18:35
you stop to you know take a breath or
00:18:37
something you're talking to me I just
00:18:38
pick up where you were and just carry on
00:18:39
so but that's one of my weird little
00:18:41
characteristics it's just what I am as a
00:18:43
person I suppose you'd argue it still be
00:18:44
in good stead for Hospitality it's quite
00:18:46
a useful tool to have what tools have
00:18:48
you done or what what have you done over
00:18:49
the years to like to make sure you've
00:18:51
stayed in mentally good shape I suppose
00:18:52
it sounds like that relationship breakup
00:18:54
with Ingrid was probably the low point
00:18:55
of your life yeah uh no no no no no no
00:18:58
no dad died when I was 11. okay nothing
00:19:00
can ever match that so Jesus and even
00:19:02
now if I start I think about Dad for too
00:19:04
long I'll develop tears in my eyes mum
00:19:06
wasn't so bad because I was a lot older
00:19:07
when mum died and I kind of accepted it
00:19:09
you know like mum was old too yeah back
00:19:11
to your dad during a living because I
00:19:13
had um Hayden wild the um the Olympian
00:19:16
triathlete on the podcast a couple of
00:19:17
weeks ago he got a bronze medal last
00:19:19
year uh his dad died in a uh like a crop
00:19:22
dusting accident when he was like 10
00:19:23
years old and we talked about that a
00:19:25
little bit and he said he understands
00:19:27
the magnitude of it now but at the time
00:19:29
he was sort of too young to understand
00:19:30
it did you sort of understand it at the
00:19:32
time at 11 what a big deal it was or no
00:19:34
I don't even look back now that you go
00:19:35
it's to me it was um all handled wrongly
00:19:38
but it was the way it was in those days
00:19:39
it's like in those days your parents
00:19:41
used to smack it so you just accept you
00:19:42
got smacked no one would do it nowadays
00:19:44
but back in those days
00:19:46
um unlike now when someone dies like my
00:19:48
grandmother died and then my mum died
00:19:50
you have an open coffin in the lounge
00:19:52
and you it's part of the Detachment
00:19:54
process you accept the spiritual part of
00:19:56
the person is gone right only looking at
00:19:58
a piece of I don't want to sound crude
00:19:59
here but a piece of fish just flesh yeah
00:20:01
the person's not there anymore and when
00:20:03
you realize that after a few days you're
00:20:05
detach and you're ready to put the top
00:20:06
on the box and say goodbye and give them
00:20:09
one last kiss on the forehead but with
00:20:10
Dad we went in about to go to the
00:20:12
funeral so there were seven kids I was
00:20:13
11. I was the second oldest we went
00:20:15
allowed to see him in hospital
00:20:17
um mum just handled it all on her own
00:20:18
and Mum was only young mum was only 33
00:20:20
but she handled it he had a stroke four
00:20:23
years before and um he called me his
00:20:25
right hand man I was the second eldest a
00:20:27
second boy but he could call me Leo
00:20:29
Johnny my right hand man so there's
00:20:31
still obviously a real there's an issue
00:20:33
there which I've never had dealt with
00:20:34
them I don't know how I would deal with
00:20:36
it I don't know whether some sort of
00:20:37
psychotherapy would help me deal with it
00:20:39
but I often want used to for years
00:20:41
afterwards lay in bed at night picking
00:20:42
it was a joke that it didn't happen that
00:20:43
he would just walk in the door one day
00:20:45
and give me a big hug and say ah I
00:20:46
tricked you but never happens do you
00:20:49
think do you think that's where some of
00:20:50
the because you're um you're like a
00:20:51
brawler like you uh you mentioned before
00:20:53
you like you like being in the the
00:20:55
boxing ring um and you are you are quite
00:20:57
Brash and confrontational do you think
00:20:59
like some of that sort of anger comes
00:21:00
from just the things that you've been I
00:21:02
don't even think it's anger yeah I think
00:21:04
I have um I have a huge amount of
00:21:06
confidence but I I do have the unique
00:21:08
ability to talk to everyone and
00:21:10
sometimes talking to people doesn't
00:21:11
always evolve and um yeah you might
00:21:14
think it's Brash and confrontational
00:21:15
it's probably confrontation with the
00:21:17
media and the reason that is it's a
00:21:19
fairly simple explanation is that when I
00:21:21
came here in the late 90s um Julie had
00:21:23
carved The Blaze trailer ahead of me oh
00:21:25
so this is your sister Julie Christie
00:21:27
who made uh made a lot of money as the
00:21:29
boss of touchdown TV made a lot of
00:21:31
reality TV she worked for mainstream
00:21:32
television for Neil Roberts and stuff
00:21:34
and she's a Dame now she's a Dame yeah
00:21:36
and she's she didn't say she's done the
00:21:38
best out of anyone in the family uh
00:21:40
that's a subject of considerable debate
00:21:42
okay I remains to be seen who goes to
00:21:45
the Grave with the most letters in front
00:21:46
or behind their name okay I'm pretty
00:21:48
sure I'm still in front as we're
00:21:49
speaking but anyway so Julie had blazed
00:21:51
the trail but I think she may have made
00:21:53
a few enemies along the way because
00:21:54
Julie's feelings um I wouldn't say
00:21:57
ruthless but she's Julie does things
00:21:58
Julie's way and oh she's a tough boss as
00:22:01
well and uh uncompromising you know yeah
00:22:03
so but the media came to me with a toxic
00:22:05
approach so from day one when I arrived
00:22:07
in town when I did Euro was the first
00:22:09
significant impression I made in this
00:22:10
city so Euro there's a big restaurant on
00:22:12
Queen's Wharf and uh like the Auckland
00:22:14
princess so that was in the top 50 in
00:22:17
the world the first year so it did
00:22:18
change the completion of Auckland
00:22:19
Hospitality but the media were never Leo
00:22:22
friendly they never came to me on the
00:22:23
basis of hey Leo can you tell us a story
00:22:25
it was always so and so said this about
00:22:27
you or what have you got to say about
00:22:28
this or it was always a trap they'd
00:22:30
reach out to you and they'd ask you a
00:22:31
rhetorical question oh no because they
00:22:32
knew you gave good sound bites yeah that
00:22:34
is true if someone comes to me with a
00:22:36
with a question that's loaded rhetorical
00:22:38
toxic they're looking for it they get
00:22:40
what they come looking for yeah and
00:22:41
that's how I've always been and as I
00:22:43
said before I can't act so for the last
00:22:45
sort of since I've had mural aspirations
00:22:47
since about July last year I've tried to
00:22:49
be more calm and controlled with the
00:22:50
media more tolerant
00:22:52
um covert's been great for me because
00:22:53
it's given me the opportunity and the
00:22:55
media have seemed to have accepted this
00:22:56
that there's a lot more to Leo Miller
00:22:58
than being some badass party boy which
00:23:00
I'm not anyway as you know but that's a
00:23:01
picture I've always painted you know the
00:23:03
the infant turbo is that how you say I
00:23:06
don't know what is that I've never heard
00:23:07
that that's a French saying from a
00:23:08
little badass you know Troublemaker but
00:23:11
they say that about me but they're all
00:23:12
the Aging bad boy of hospitality the
00:23:15
other day Russell Brown said what I say
00:23:17
to make it Knocking need a certain
00:23:19
amount of anchorages and no better
00:23:20
example of a wanker in this town than
00:23:21
Liam which I wasn't offended I get the
00:23:25
feeling you quite enjoy the notoriety it
00:23:26
doesn't bother me yeah I mean at the end
00:23:28
of the day ball man you are what you
00:23:31
choose to show people so people who know
00:23:33
me well like you you know me and you
00:23:35
know that I'm not what the media painted
00:23:37
me but I choose to show the media inside
00:23:39
yeah there's there's so much more I want
00:23:42
to get into with the um the murality
00:23:43
thing including the why but first of all
00:23:45
let's get back so you you leave
00:23:47
Palmerston North you go to Auckland
00:23:48
you're running Euro you're like the king
00:23:50
of Auckland right that that restaurant
00:23:52
was kicking ass oh you're being a bit
00:23:54
Grand there I wouldn't say king of
00:23:55
Auckland I was new in town and there's a
00:23:57
degree of Fascination but never king of
00:23:59
Auckland I mean there's a lot of people
00:24:00
who were um oh no that restaurant went
00:24:02
off though like it was hard to get a
00:24:03
table at Euro yeah well that's all true
00:24:05
but don't you don't you don't feel like
00:24:06
you're the king you still have to work
00:24:07
you have to you know I not long after I
00:24:10
got married again on May the 20th oddly
00:24:12
enough um it opened on August the 3rd so
00:24:14
simple months later I got married again
00:24:15
nine months later and when we had five
00:24:18
kids in quick secession so my hands are
00:24:20
full I never had any Illusions about
00:24:21
being the king of anything right and
00:24:23
just your hands were fault geez sounds
00:24:25
like a lot of things were full yeah
00:24:28
so okay so you're running Euro then you
00:24:31
ended up um I think I came to visit you
00:24:33
at that time from Palmerston North and
00:24:34
you you were living in the sick pad and
00:24:36
the Key West apartment building and once
00:24:39
again I think you do have a way of um
00:24:40
being very grandiose in the way you
00:24:42
describe things but I only rented that
00:24:44
place right in Key West so I've owned a
00:24:46
few places around here and I bought a
00:24:48
place up in remuera Road at one stage
00:24:49
but
00:24:50
um yeah no I don't think you want to get
00:24:52
too carried away with that part of your
00:24:53
life I mean I went broke not long after
00:24:54
don't forget I did a nightclub called
00:24:56
cardiac and it's been a ridiculous
00:24:57
amount of money thinking that I could do
00:24:59
anything so I did Danny Dolan's first
00:25:01
and I thought wow what can't I do I did
00:25:02
student bars and they worked I did a
00:25:04
restaurant that worked I did Danny
00:25:06
doolins that worked and I thought I
00:25:07
could just do anything so I um I tried
00:25:09
to be clever and do the best nightclub
00:25:12
ever and full of beautiful marble and
00:25:14
toilets where you could do lines of [ __ ]
00:25:15
in and and oh you could I remember the
00:25:18
toilets there yeah it was um they were
00:25:20
completely individual and they even had
00:25:21
a little Shelf at the back they had
00:25:22
bonking rails right you know League each
00:25:24
other up and Fiddle with each other and
00:25:25
do whatever you do but but as someone
00:25:27
who's making their money from alcohol
00:25:28
why is it a good idea to have a line
00:25:30
friendly toilets I wish I'd had you as
00:25:31
my business manager because I don't know
00:25:33
why but I suddenly thought that the key
00:25:34
to it was just to show everyone that you
00:25:36
could do anything and I took I mean I'm
00:25:38
not a very big drinker you know we've
00:25:40
been sitting here for half an hour and
00:25:41
I'm halfway through my first beer and
00:25:42
I'll probably yeah I've been chatting a
00:25:44
lot so two or three this has made me
00:25:46
being normal you know that but when we
00:25:47
did cardiac so I had this Vision that I
00:25:49
could create something absolutely
00:25:50
amazing that would change the town
00:25:51
forever but I'd never gone did any
00:25:53
research on nightclubs I've been to
00:25:55
Vegas and looked at all their nightclubs
00:25:56
and they had pretty good lighting they
00:25:58
had [ __ ] technology with cameras and
00:26:00
stuff but it was kind of more about the
00:26:01
DJ and pump pump and not my music scene
00:26:04
at all as you know I'm still doing sort
00:26:06
of palming type music a bit of Johnny
00:26:08
Cash but a Neil Diamond a wagon wheel
00:26:12
but you know I still I like my um Motown
00:26:15
in Seoul on a Sunday and stuff but my my
00:26:17
music roots are fairly um 70s 80s so and
00:26:20
I don't know what I what I was thinking
00:26:22
out there but um it didn't work from day
00:26:24
one the first how long did it take
00:26:25
before you realized oh [ __ ] we're in
00:26:27
trouble one weekend really on the first
00:26:29
weekend I watched the cameras from home
00:26:30
because as you know I don't go out at
00:26:31
night I'm always home early and I watch
00:26:33
the cameras and I rang I had two Junior
00:26:35
partners and I rang them and said we've
00:26:36
made it big time boys and this is a
00:26:39
phenomena so um when I went to look at
00:26:41
the till data and I thought no that must
00:26:43
be a mistake clearly they haven't um
00:26:44
cashed it off correctly so I went back
00:26:46
and checked again it was accurate I knew
00:26:48
then they they didn't come to spend
00:26:50
money on alcohol well so then how long
00:26:51
did it remain open for like how long how
00:26:53
long do you average money before we
00:26:54
didn't try and fix it before I put
00:26:56
another million in I know that and I
00:26:58
kept putting it in it was like a
00:26:59
bleeding archery and you keep thinking
00:27:01
will it ever turn around and a couple of
00:27:02
people who knew us and a bit of bother
00:27:03
reached out and tried to help me but um
00:27:06
it was just a hopeless case it was like
00:27:08
a it's like a soldier laying in the
00:27:10
battlefield and you're bleeding from
00:27:10
every orifice and at the end of the day
00:27:12
you may actually turn and walk away yeah
00:27:14
geez so no matter when you bleed out so
00:27:16
so did you end up bankrupt after that
00:27:18
yes I did yeah so um I lost everything I
00:27:20
had to make give me a car eight thousand
00:27:22
dollar Toyota ipsum we called it the
00:27:24
lizard it was a green card
00:27:26
oh my God so that's good for humiliation
00:27:29
I actually sought the advice of a very
00:27:31
wealthy man in town when it happened and
00:27:32
I said how do you see this unfolding
00:27:34
from here he said Auckland has got one
00:27:36
redeeming feature he said they will
00:27:38
forgive you but they want to see
00:27:40
humility he said you've got to drive a
00:27:42
really bad car around and you've got to
00:27:43
work and you people need to see you
00:27:45
taking your punishment eat a bag of
00:27:47
ducks say We'll forgive you and sure
00:27:49
enough that's what I did and they did
00:27:50
what didn't take very long a very very
00:27:53
very good man there's no chance you'll
00:27:55
listen to this podcast unless someone
00:27:56
refers them to it but a chat called Matt
00:27:57
wybourne who's been a friend for life
00:27:59
I'd met him not long before and he came
00:28:01
to me in the street one day and he said
00:28:03
um Orca needs you big time what do you
00:28:06
need to get started again and I said
00:28:08
well I'm in
00:28:09
a bit of bother if you haven't read the
00:28:10
herald you said that wasn't the answer
00:28:12
to the question he said I want to know
00:28:13
what you need to get started again and I
00:28:15
said I probably need an opportunity he
00:28:17
said if you've got one in mind I said
00:28:18
well I know a little sushi shop that's
00:28:20
for sale and if I could buy that it
00:28:22
might cost me this much to fix it and
00:28:24
I'll be away again and he said where do
00:28:26
I send the money to and I said where do
00:28:28
I sign he said you don't sign you just
00:28:29
shake my hand and we do business so he
00:28:31
sent 165 000 to my lawyers that day and
00:28:34
I bought the bar that became Cowboys
00:28:36
yeah right which is actually not far
00:28:38
from where we're sitting around this
00:28:39
building so I ended up owning two titles
00:28:40
there uh so that was an interesting
00:28:42
experience because they cut me back on
00:28:43
my feet and I learned my lesson I never
00:28:45
ever made another mistake I was just so
00:28:47
focused
00:28:48
and um within about a year of opening
00:28:49
that I did it all while I was bankrupt
00:28:51
but under the the model was given to me
00:28:53
by the official SLE they said if you do
00:28:55
it all this way here we'll support you
00:28:56
100 and the deal was Christianity is
00:28:59
that a bankruptcy is the government
00:29:00
agency that manages bankruptcy okay so
00:29:02
they said to me like this is how you're
00:29:04
going to do it this is exactly what
00:29:05
you're going to do and we'll support you
00:29:06
100 so I did exactly what they told me
00:29:07
and um I got it going and it was
00:29:10
absolutely flying and about a year after
00:29:11
I opened it
00:29:13
um it kind of changed Auckland um in
00:29:15
case you don't remember it was very
00:29:16
significant player in the hospital
00:29:18
sector yeah very small very small bar as
00:29:20
well 60 square meters yeah so anyway the
00:29:22
bank ran me up and they said why don't
00:29:24
you buy that building and it was the ANZ
00:29:25
to RBM for 40 years or 45 years now and
00:29:28
I said um
00:29:29
do not read The Herald I'm bankrupt they
00:29:31
said we don't care we watch your daily
00:29:32
receipts we know how much money you're
00:29:34
making so go and buy the building so I
00:29:36
bought that title and then I bought the
00:29:37
one next door and then
00:29:39
um Ingrid and I or Ingram to give her
00:29:42
credit this was all her initiative she
00:29:43
bought a half acre out into the ring and
00:29:46
we subdivide that and build a new house
00:29:47
and
00:29:48
before you're not we're back on our feet
00:29:50
and I went to Mark Weibel and I said
00:29:51
Mark um you know you've done me the
00:29:53
greatest favor of all time you are my
00:29:55
knight in shining armor but now it's
00:29:56
time to pay you back and he wouldn't
00:29:57
take the money the 165 wouldn't take it
00:30:00
back so I what wasn't it for him he
00:30:02
didn't even want his initial I think
00:30:04
because they were so strong and divide
00:30:05
up Violet Harbor Holdings and I'm still
00:30:06
up oh okay I think he thought you know
00:30:09
what Leo has this is what I'm thinking
00:30:11
he's never told me this but this is what
00:30:12
I'm thinking he thought that he said I
00:30:15
remember he said clearly Auckland needs
00:30:16
you we need people like you in Auckland
00:30:18
so
00:30:19
um he probably thought that I had
00:30:21
something to offer I don't know whether
00:30:22
he thought were it was fired up Centric
00:30:23
or whether it was just Auckland in
00:30:24
general but I'd like to think that I
00:30:26
helped enhance the footprint of the
00:30:28
viaduct the impression the viaducts made
00:30:30
from in in Hospitality but anyway I want
00:30:33
to tell you the story about Mark wyborn
00:30:34
saying I kept going back to him and
00:30:36
saying I have to give you this money
00:30:37
back because by that stage I was saving
00:30:39
hard and we'd already managed to do
00:30:40
something in Queenstown we're about to
00:30:42
do something in Queenstown yeah another
00:30:43
Cowboys we're rapidly expanding and
00:30:45
things are going so well for us and he
00:30:46
wouldn't take the money back and so I
00:30:47
had to trick him so I took him over the
00:30:49
road over here to that Industries in the
00:30:51
Japanese place and I took an envelope
00:30:53
and this is going so far back with some
00:30:55
bad checks I haven't seen a check for a
00:30:56
long long time and I wrote a check out
00:30:58
for the full amount and I think I had a
00:30:59
wee bit of interest but not much just to
00:31:00
barely cover the whatever it was
00:31:02
appropriate and I said to him please
00:31:04
take this it's just a letter it's just a
00:31:06
thank you but I don't want you to open
00:31:07
it until I leave so as I left he opened
00:31:10
it and he called out to me come back
00:31:11
here so I went back and he said I'll
00:31:13
take it but he said I want you to know
00:31:15
one thing I said what's that Mark he
00:31:17
said I've done what I did for you at
00:31:18
least a dozen maybe 15 times he said I
00:31:20
went through it to an 87 after the crash
00:31:22
yeah but he didn't go he said the banks
00:31:25
called him in and said we could roll you
00:31:26
if we wanted to but we won't there's
00:31:28
enough Blood on the streets already so
00:31:29
he said you're only the second person
00:31:31
ever paid me back but he said most
00:31:33
people don't not only don't pay me back
00:31:34
they never even acknowledge the fact
00:31:36
that I gave him the money which I
00:31:37
thought was Bloody interesting because
00:31:38
an incredibly rude yeah that's
00:31:40
remarkable well see this is my Irish
00:31:42
Catholic value so you know I mean when
00:31:44
mum bought us up with such storage
00:31:46
values and it goes to your bone quite
00:31:48
often you think to yourself now what
00:31:50
would I do oh no better still what would
00:31:52
mum do you know what would mum say mum
00:31:54
had sayings you know never leave food on
00:31:56
the table poor as we are don't waste
00:31:58
food
00:31:59
um mum would say things along the lines
00:32:01
of um what was it a judge a society by
00:32:04
how you treat your most vulnerable it's
00:32:06
just simple stuff but they're good
00:32:07
mantras by which you should probably
00:32:09
live your life and I'd like to think
00:32:11
that I haven't departed too far from
00:32:12
those value systems in a strange way
00:32:15
um I've always been of the view that
00:32:16
whatever happens in my life something
00:32:17
great comes of it so if I'm going
00:32:19
through like when Ingrid left with the
00:32:21
kids it's as you quite quickly observed
00:32:23
I went through a very difficult period
00:32:24
but I just knew somewhere on the horizon
00:32:27
something great would happen for me
00:32:28
again how could you be because I think
00:32:30
that's the thing with people that suffer
00:32:32
real mental illness or depression they
00:32:34
just can't can't see the end of that
00:32:35
[ __ ] storm well I've never doubted that
00:32:37
it's going to happen it's amazing how um
00:32:39
do you call it Serendipity how it comes
00:32:40
into your life it's just extraordinary
00:32:42
like I wanted to talk about JJ today and
00:32:44
lo and behold I opened my diary and I'd
00:32:46
forgotten and you're meeting with a
00:32:48
podcast it's weird how my life works
00:32:49
right it's always been that way so after
00:32:51
Ingrid and I split we went through quite
00:32:53
a protracted separation process through
00:32:55
the high court with a couple of lawyers
00:32:56
one of whom did neither of us any favors
00:32:58
but she was just doing a good job but
00:33:00
she drew it out and cost us all a lot of
00:33:01
money and a lot of fees and in the end I
00:33:03
was the one who said a lot I got an A4
00:33:05
bit of paper
00:33:06
put our assets on the left-hand side of
00:33:07
the paper I put the value on the right
00:33:10
that I would pay for them and I said
00:33:12
Ingrid and her flash lawyer take this
00:33:14
away for lunch and bring it back and if
00:33:15
you don't think I'm being fair you
00:33:17
decide what you want to buy and what you
00:33:18
want to sell what your seller will buy
00:33:19
at the price I've listed what you want
00:33:21
to take you take that so Ingrid took
00:33:22
Cowboys and cowboys alone debt free 250k
00:33:25
in the bank took the business great
00:33:27
business great great business so she's
00:33:29
set up for life forever but she had the
00:33:31
five kids and I was happy to do it so I
00:33:32
was back on the street effectively and I
00:33:34
had nothing and I had no opportunity but
00:33:36
guess what happened about a month later
00:33:37
I get a phone call from October holidays
00:33:40
can you come and talk to us
00:33:41
so I got the opportunity again and here
00:33:43
I am still here five years later who
00:33:45
knows where that's going to end but
00:33:46
that's a bizarre thing because I had
00:33:47
nothing and suddenly I've got everything
00:33:49
again has that been a good business for
00:33:51
you even in spite of the challenges with
00:33:53
um the pandemic over the last couple of
00:33:54
it has been yeah David you know that
00:33:57
cover is a nightmare for everybody but
00:33:59
of course it's been a great business for
00:34:01
me you know I mean I've done some things
00:34:02
there that uh if I'd it's easy to have
00:34:05
you know with the wisdom of hindsight is
00:34:08
easy but I'm not really a real Vision
00:34:10
mirror person I'm a front windscreen
00:34:11
person so it's organic the way it's
00:34:14
grown the way it's changed what it's
00:34:15
achieved but it's definitely changed the
00:34:17
landscape of New Zealand Hospitality
00:34:18
some of the figures that it does are
00:34:20
staggery it comes at a high cost though
00:34:21
because there's 80 odd staff over there
00:34:23
full time and even more in summer and
00:34:26
that is quite taxing you're effectively
00:34:27
running five businesses simultaneously
00:34:29
and I run my business as very pyramid
00:34:31
shape you know when I go to war there's
00:34:32
only one person in command it's not not
00:34:34
a group of 10 to pick from or share the
00:34:36
responsibility with I'm in the trenches
00:34:38
on my own so yeah I take a lot on but
00:34:40
yes it's been great for me and I've
00:34:42
enjoyed that at the moment I've enjoyed
00:34:43
the ride I'm 66 next week and um well
00:34:46
what are you spending your pension on
00:34:48
each week a few hundred bucks go
00:34:49
straight to the kids really I don't see
00:34:50
it go straight to the kids my 20 my
00:34:52
daughter's 20 today Amelia Jane Cecilia
00:34:54
if Mouse is listening hi Mouse dad loves
00:34:56
you but Mouse has just decided she wants
00:34:58
to take up riding which is a curse
00:35:00
because I'm obviously a writer of some
00:35:02
extraction and so Mouse calls me last
00:35:04
week or goes through her sister George
00:35:05
and says tell Dad I found the boots that
00:35:07
I want what sort of boots are they uh
00:35:09
R.E.M Williams for the little inverted
00:35:11
heel thing on them they're very trendy
00:35:12
and flashed up and what are they the 595
00:35:14
oh and I need job for Zen I need a skull
00:35:16
cap so so and 120 bucks a lesson so uh
00:35:20
you just when you think I know I know
00:35:22
and I've got five of them five of them
00:35:23
three at University and two still at
00:35:25
secondary school and they're all
00:35:26
expensive they all do rowing and all the
00:35:28
bloody whatever kids do who feel
00:35:30
entitled and we got to get to the mere
00:35:31
thing but if you come become mere it's
00:35:33
going to be a substantial pay cut
00:35:35
from being the boss of the headquarters
00:35:37
oh man I'm not doing it for the money I
00:35:39
know I know except but so I've got
00:35:40
another assets though so right we bought
00:35:42
that building that o'hagen's and and we
00:35:44
bought that about nearly three years ago
00:35:45
now and their their lease expires this
00:35:46
year so
00:35:48
um I mean to without being too much of a
00:35:49
wanker I don't really need to work again
00:35:50
if I don't want to okay I probably will
00:35:52
because I like work but but I could just
00:35:54
sit back and do nothing probably go up
00:35:55
to Rarotonga and buy a place on the
00:35:57
beach and spend five months a year up
00:35:59
there in seven down here and just go
00:36:00
back and forward and be quite happy yeah
00:36:01
you you wouldn't be very good at sitting
00:36:03
still would you I feel like you yeah you
00:36:05
need a project you need something to do
00:36:07
I've got a good work ethic and I never
00:36:09
ever ever have to say to myself get out
00:36:11
and go and do some work yeah okay I'm
00:36:12
more of the persuasion I have to say to
00:36:14
myself go home and chill and rest and
00:36:15
yeah spend some Leo time but I've
00:36:17
learned in recent years mum was a great
00:36:18
go to bed and listen to radio Pacific
00:36:20
person so which was you know incredibly
00:36:22
banal
00:36:23
um talk back you know this is Barbara
00:36:25
here from temuka they haven't fixed the
00:36:27
potholes in the road outside my house
00:36:29
for three and a half [ __ ] years
00:36:30
anyway mum loved that [ __ ] they're nice
00:36:33
to say to mum how can you listen to that
00:36:34
rubbish but I find myself to I can never
00:36:35
see it be and more importantly though I
00:36:38
love geopolitics and I like things like
00:36:39
epidemiology so I like going home now at
00:36:41
eight o'clock every night I have a
00:36:43
process that I go through to wind down
00:36:44
before I go to sleep and I'm very
00:36:46
structured in the way I live my life are
00:36:48
you lonely now
00:36:49
no I could within reason and I have a
00:36:53
I've never been short of girls in my
00:36:55
life and and I've just had a had a
00:36:57
girlfriend for nearly three years and
00:36:59
she decided she wanted to go and do
00:37:00
other things which I was 100 happy with
00:37:02
and my still mates yeah but no I'm
00:37:04
absolutely definitely not the only um a
00:37:06
country or you know I could have them
00:37:07
lined up Team Deep if I wanted
00:37:09
well I could but I don't know why but
00:37:12
girls like the pattern they like the
00:37:13
charm and in our Facebook profiling
00:37:15
surprise surprise woman 45 to 60 are my
00:37:17
biggest fan
00:37:19
yeah actually I feel like that's some
00:37:20
that's one thing you and me have in
00:37:22
common apart from the fact that we're um
00:37:23
you're not very well in doubt
00:37:25
um I haven't seen you in this year we're
00:37:28
both um kept from that sort of cloth
00:37:30
where people may form an opinion about
00:37:32
you and then when they meet you you
00:37:33
generally like prove them wrong okay so
00:37:36
that's a funny thing you should say that
00:37:37
because I've had to do a little bit of
00:37:38
media during the rounds and I did a
00:37:39
piece with um I fella from The Herald
00:37:42
and it was 45 minutes and we sat outside
00:37:43
in the coffee shop opposite nzme and we
00:37:46
did the chat thing like we're doing now
00:37:47
and he listened to my story and at the
00:37:49
end of it you could see he was staring
00:37:51
at me and you could just tell he was
00:37:52
looking deep and saying what's going on
00:37:53
there and I said what are you thinking
00:37:55
and he goes you just not what people
00:37:56
think you are and I said why do you say
00:37:58
that he said you'd so like Chloe
00:37:59
smallbrick and I said well don't quite
00:38:02
see how I'm like Chloe swarberg but put
00:38:04
the piece of the puzzle together for me
00:38:05
he said everybody has a preconceived
00:38:07
idea about you Leo everybody he said
00:38:09
until they meet you and everybody comes
00:38:11
away with the same impression you're
00:38:12
just not what people think you are which
00:38:14
I would attribute largely to the fact
00:38:16
that I've let the media painter picture
00:38:17
of me for a long time that I'm not a
00:38:19
particularly nice person you've given
00:38:20
them exactly what they want maybe you
00:38:22
danced to the tune they wanted to maybe
00:38:24
actually they're pretty poor [ __ ]
00:38:25
painting that's all I'll say because but
00:38:27
I feel like the media has come to you
00:38:28
because they know they know they're
00:38:29
going to get a good sound bite off well
00:38:30
they do say that they once told me the
00:38:32
guy from The Herald said there's four
00:38:33
things and I can only remember two of
00:38:34
them that we everybody wants to see as a
00:38:36
lead story in the herald one's Leo Maloy
00:38:37
and one's the royal family the other two
00:38:40
but I think covert might be one of them
00:38:41
I said why the [ __ ] do you bother why do
00:38:43
you ring me you know why do you he said
00:38:44
because we now if we ring you that about
00:38:46
10 minutes later we'll have the
00:38:47
recording device on and you'll finally
00:38:48
come up for breath and somewhere in
00:38:50
there in that secret I'll tell you who
00:38:51
told me this the guy from the spin-off
00:38:53
told me that story he said people have
00:38:54
this weird view of you and then he said
00:38:56
he took this story he wrote a story
00:38:57
about me he won some sort of prize for I
00:38:59
don't know what it's for probably the
00:39:00
command our story of the year or
00:39:01
something but anyway he took it back to
00:39:03
his work and he said everybody at the
00:39:04
office said they thought you're a right
00:39:05
[ __ ] until they did I did the interview
00:39:07
and they read the story he said and they
00:39:09
all changed their mind which is
00:39:09
interesting so but that should be a
00:39:11
fairly typical response I agree fully
00:39:13
and sitting down with yourself I do feel
00:39:14
like you've mellowed a little bit I I
00:39:16
would have said I have you you're one of
00:39:17
those people that like the fabric of you
00:39:19
hasn't changed much since I've known you
00:39:20
in like 30 years but I do feel like um
00:39:21
the edges are a little bit softer now
00:39:23
okay well if there's an insult no no
00:39:25
it's not mental bill but if that is true
00:39:27
that would be incremental so I'm not
00:39:28
aware of it it just it would creep up on
00:39:30
you over a period of time and I suppose
00:39:31
isn't it natural that any person as they
00:39:33
get older gets slightly more mellow okay
00:39:35
let's okay let's talk about that for a
00:39:37
second so this was um Grace Melania was
00:39:39
murdered by this um this piece of [ __ ]
00:39:40
yeah and you you breach the Supreme
00:39:43
order it did look like on the the
00:39:45
footage we saw on the news that you kind
00:39:46
of you kind of enjoyed your day in court
00:39:48
that late you're off for a day nothing
00:39:50
to apologize for I did it for the right
00:39:52
reason I thought about it so Jesse
00:39:54
kempson worked for my sister Julie at
00:39:55
oyster and chop yeah and there he met
00:39:57
Millie Rose who's the daughter of my
00:39:59
younger sister treys so and then he
00:40:01
flattened the one they always referenced
00:40:03
to The Faded with the Mount Eden that's
00:40:04
Millie Rose so she ended up marrying a
00:40:05
cop so we had our finger on the pulse of
00:40:08
exactly what was happening with Jesse
00:40:09
kempson all the time I knew he had the
00:40:10
nine further charges pending I knew he
00:40:12
had judge hunting trials penciled in I
00:40:14
knew he had two further charges of rape
00:40:15
I knew he had assault with a deadly
00:40:16
weapon I knew yes that's why there was
00:40:18
the suppression thing because they
00:40:19
didn't want it to uh how could it be
00:40:22
compromised when he had a judge hunting
00:40:23
trial and do you know how many days he
00:40:25
got added to a sentence got 17 years for
00:40:26
the brutal murder that was the most
00:40:28
despicable slut-shaming ever of a victim
00:40:31
Grace Malone was dead and they [ __ ]
00:40:34
shamed her from the judicial system
00:40:35
Simon Moore the judge at the time and I
00:40:37
don't care if he listens to this it
00:40:38
doesn't bother me one ounce this what
00:40:40
what they did to Grace monane's family
00:40:41
was disgusting on the third day of that
00:40:43
trial Jillian milane and David Milan God
00:40:45
bless the soul he's dead now died of
00:40:47
cancer probably from stress Jill Eminem
00:40:48
walked out of the high court and someone
00:40:50
pertinent young journalists probably
00:40:51
just left you know journalism School the
00:40:53
week before shoved one of those little
00:40:54
microphones looks like a dead mouse up
00:40:56
under her nose and said how you feeling
00:40:57
Mrs Mullane and she said and I this
00:41:00
nearly makes cry I've got three
00:41:01
daughters and three sisters right she
00:41:03
said I thought I came to New Zealand to
00:41:05
see the murder of my daughter around
00:41:07
child I didn't realize it was my
00:41:08
daughter who was on trial they had the
00:41:10
opportunity at any time to step in and
00:41:11
say I love that evidence should have
00:41:13
been suppressed that was never for
00:41:14
public consumption it's a disgrace what
00:41:16
they did to Grace Malone and it never
00:41:17
should happen again and if I got a
00:41:19
conviction out of it big deal my Bush
00:41:21
was commissioner please he carried a
00:41:22
conviction to his entire career didn't
00:41:23
hurt him I I know I know it came from a
00:41:26
great place yeah but but do you just
00:41:29
sort of regret it now do you think I
00:41:30
should have just what I said to regret
00:41:32
so
00:41:34
no regrets no regrets and I'll tell you
00:41:37
not only no regrets we're proud and
00:41:39
we're out loud I just don't care I mean
00:41:41
I go to the USA every second year of it
00:41:43
conference I've already checked with
00:41:44
them they said it's not a common moral
00:41:45
too but you're free to go I haven't
00:41:46
tried Australia yet I've been to the
00:41:48
Cook Islands how's it going to impede me
00:41:50
what do they achieve seriously what do
00:41:52
they achieve they shut up a few people
00:41:54
on the internet you can go on the
00:41:55
internet and say who killed race my name
00:41:57
well yeah with the other names out there
00:41:58
in the public domain names yeah and I
00:42:01
put it on a private website but and they
00:42:03
used to make 20 people saw it yeah
00:42:04
really they just Cherry Picked Me
00:42:06
because I'm Leo Malloy you're a big
00:42:07
attack I thought they could beat up on
00:42:08
Liam like good [ __ ] luck yeah who can
00:42:10
beat up on me how many people have
00:42:12
[ __ ] tried it's only ever ends one
00:42:14
way and some tears now never mind there
00:42:16
there he goes see five minutes ago I
00:42:18
said I thought you'd mellowed I just
00:42:19
hadn't I hadn't poked the beer in the
00:42:20
right place no it's just a bizarre
00:42:22
notion that they could somehow yeah you
00:42:24
know how can they hurt me with a fine
00:42:25
big deal with a bit of community work
00:42:27
big deal yeah you know I I spend my life
00:42:29
doing community workers you know so they
00:42:31
couldn't hurt me and then they wanted me
00:42:32
to be heard I mean I had a judge come
00:42:34
similar that is a very nice champ but
00:42:36
the judge comes to me said you must be
00:42:37
hurting about I said no you can't
00:42:39
[ __ ] hurt me good luck just smack me
00:42:41
in the nose it might [ __ ] hurt me for
00:42:43
about two seconds but there's just no
00:42:45
chance you could hurt me with that sort
00:42:46
of behavior yeah I I disagree I think
00:42:49
you're a little bit hurt by that no I'm
00:42:51
not you said you just said that I like a
00:42:53
little Bantam rooster going to court
00:42:54
with my pink jacket on yeah you know
00:42:56
come on I didn't care man all right okay
00:42:58
okay all I care about is that I feel
00:43:00
sorry for Jillian milane I'd love to
00:43:02
meet her one day and apologize for the
00:43:04
way the New Zealand Judiciary sanctioned
00:43:07
the [ __ ] shaming of her daughter it's a
00:43:08
disgrace what they did absolute disgrace
00:43:10
and it should never happen again I hope
00:43:11
they all learned their lesson and I hope
00:43:13
I had a very small part to play in
00:43:14
teaching them that you should show
00:43:15
respect that was a she was a young girl
00:43:18
Grace she was just feeling her way you
00:43:20
know as I said before explore exploring
00:43:22
the outliments of a sexuality she became
00:43:24
a victim of a serial killer he would
00:43:26
have been a serial killer he is a
00:43:28
dangerous man he's a dangerous man and
00:43:29
I've spoken to people since who worked
00:43:31
in Corrections and they all tell me the
00:43:32
same thing about them it's just a
00:43:33
psychopath yeah he has absolutely no
00:43:35
good and I don't believe in capital
00:43:37
punishment but if I was going to ever
00:43:39
put someone to the sword he'd be the
00:43:40
person not put to the sword come on keep
00:43:43
going no I know I feel like that's um
00:43:45
yeah that's case closed on that one okay
00:43:47
all right let's talk about the um the
00:43:48
murality thing first of all um why the
00:43:51
[ __ ] do you want to do this like you I
00:43:53
feel like you you are I told you before
00:43:55
I told you before the reason why and
00:43:57
I'll say it again in front of the
00:43:58
microphone because I never take the easy
00:44:01
option I never turn left of turning
00:44:03
right is the correct option the hard
00:44:04
option even Steve Hansen might he matter
00:44:07
of disclosure he's a personal friend but
00:44:09
I heard him give a small speech one
00:44:10
night to a group of people at a barbecue
00:44:12
at a dinner party and he was talking
00:44:13
about people in life who always turn
00:44:15
right and he used Richie mccurd as an
00:44:17
example and just for the sake of a combo
00:44:19
he threw me into the combo he said look
00:44:20
at the fella beside me he said he always
00:44:21
turns right I will never ever ever take
00:44:24
the easy option I don't care what it
00:44:25
costs me personally but it cost me in
00:44:27
terms of physical pain what it cost me
00:44:29
in money I will always do the right
00:44:31
thing I always have and always will and
00:44:33
I told you before the metaphor for how I
00:44:35
feel about the minority I feel like I'm
00:44:37
walking home late at night and I'm
00:44:38
watching 10 guys beating up one bloke
00:44:40
and the bloke's down on the ground he's
00:44:41
still getting his head kicked in I'm
00:44:43
never the guy who's going to walk past
00:44:44
I'm going to step up to the plate and
00:44:45
take the 10 of them on and I know I
00:44:47
won't win but I'll do it I'm that guy I
00:44:49
always have been but I feel like you're
00:44:51
you're at your best for you were you
00:44:53
like a dictator and I don't say that in
00:44:54
a mean way I mean in a like running a
00:44:56
business way like you can call the shots
00:44:57
and you can make [ __ ] happen I feel like
00:44:59
if you're mere you're just one voice
00:45:00
it's going to grind you down isn't it
00:45:01
that's true no I feel like you're going
00:45:03
in with good intentions but you're not
00:45:04
gonna be able to do is well if you
00:45:06
understand the super City model it's I
00:45:09
wouldn't say it's presidential but the
00:45:10
super City model is with the ccos the
00:45:12
way they're set up it lends itself to a
00:45:14
person like me who's a natural leader of
00:45:16
men and women
00:45:17
um of all people but who actually can
00:45:19
get things done it gives you the
00:45:20
opportunity to get things done was
00:45:22
written by the gnats for a person who's
00:45:24
fiscally responsible as it happens I'm
00:45:26
socially liberal too so I have a lot of
00:45:28
appeal across the Spectrum but it's
00:45:30
seriously broadly I don't see it as
00:45:31
being a difficult exercise at all I mean
00:45:33
there'll be territory people in Council
00:45:34
who will in the first instance and say
00:45:35
we don't like them we don't want to work
00:45:37
with them once they get to meet me like
00:45:38
you have yeah and like everybody does
00:45:40
yeah they'll fall in love I'll take them
00:45:41
to the gym I'll let them give me a
00:45:43
hiding if I feel like it probably give a
00:45:44
couple minutes I might take him out for
00:45:47
a run and [ __ ] terrorize them up and
00:45:48
down Landry Hill or something but I'll
00:45:50
make them I'll show them a different
00:45:52
side of life and I'll show them
00:45:53
sometimes it's not about you can't just
00:45:56
have lines in the sand that says I'm
00:45:57
left or I'm right or I'm black or I'm
00:45:58
white yeah life's not binary if you're
00:46:01
coming from the left but you happen to
00:46:02
think that something from the right is
00:46:03
correct you've got to agree to Traverse
00:46:05
the boundary and there'll be occasions
00:46:06
and I'll have to do it too I'll have to
00:46:08
bend with the window wee bit here and
00:46:09
there but I absolutely know that I'll
00:46:11
get things done and look who you've had
00:46:12
you've had back to back back to back leg
00:46:14
over Lynn Brown whatever you want to
00:46:15
call him Brown then you've had the
00:46:18
cardboard cutout Phil golf I mean what's
00:46:20
he [ __ ] done and he said he's hardly
00:46:22
ever appeared I've seen him once out in
00:46:24
the normal community in six years I
00:46:26
challenge you to find a person who's met
00:46:27
or fraternized a philkoff so and I'm a
00:46:30
man of the people I will never I've
00:46:31
already been offered personal security
00:46:33
and I've said no I don't ever want to be
00:46:34
the person who needs security I'll
00:46:36
happily wander around town on my own
00:46:37
I'll shake everyone's hand I'll have a
00:46:39
selfie with them I think about 400 000
00:46:41
people have my phone number now I've got
00:46:42
no intention change in my phone so but I
00:46:45
will be a good mayor I'll be a great
00:46:46
mayor because I'll make a difference
00:46:47
who's your main competitors who are you
00:46:49
who are your big threats
00:46:51
um big threats oh God uh who's a threat
00:46:54
let me think no like who's like if there
00:46:56
were tab odds who's who's like the
00:46:58
favorite are you the favorite I'm
00:47:00
favorite to get the gold favor to get
00:47:02
the silver and favor to get the bronze I
00:47:03
think there's only one place on the
00:47:04
podium I don't think anybody else is a
00:47:05
contender for the title offesso Collins
00:47:07
who appears to be a very nice chap uh
00:47:10
south side of town Evangelical
00:47:12
background
00:47:14
um I've watched his profile I've watched
00:47:16
him um FaceTiming on Facebook he's
00:47:19
interesting to watch I think he's
00:47:20
genuine he's not actually a bad speaker
00:47:22
either I might have but he's very
00:47:24
limited in his appeal across the entire
00:47:25
Spectrum he's very labor-oriented very
00:47:27
left and he's very Pro rates increases
00:47:30
which I don't think the city has an
00:47:31
appetite for oh nobody does no and from
00:47:33
the center right it's hard to say who
00:47:35
she represents but the Beck who's
00:47:36
normally associated with heart of a city
00:47:38
she's put herself forward I don't quite
00:47:40
understand what the represents are where
00:47:42
she thinks she's going to get a voting
00:47:43
support from right and who's um who's
00:47:45
Craig Lord because I saw a thing on
00:47:47
Twitter uh he he shared a like a screen
00:47:50
cap was this a text message that you
00:47:52
sent to him do you know what I'm you
00:47:54
know what I'm talking about say this guy
00:47:55
Craig Lord you've seen him
00:47:57
a text message saying um
00:48:00
um haha Craig who see you later
00:48:02
let's agree on one thing he got 30 000
00:48:05
votes funds when there was absolutely no
00:48:07
competition this time he's got real
00:48:08
competition he comes from a Speedway
00:48:10
background I'm told his nickname is
00:48:11
[ __ ] so I've known far too much about
00:48:13
him and I've never met the guy there'd
00:48:15
be more chance of finding an iceberg in
00:48:16
the middle of the Sahara than there
00:48:17
would be of him [ __ ] becoming me
00:48:19
right except I said again don't say that
00:48:21
f word I'm just being coached in the
00:48:22
background can we delete all those F
00:48:24
words I don't mean that I'm just being
00:48:25
affectionate can you say the F word in
00:48:27
an affectionate way but I can't edit all
00:48:28
of them out that'll be uh that'll be an
00:48:30
editing nightmare maybe uh if you've
00:48:32
listened to this and you've listened to
00:48:33
all the mural stuff and there's no
00:48:34
earphones during the mural stuff you
00:48:36
know that I've done an editing job
00:48:38
um oh so you said Craig lord said were
00:48:40
you just like like taunting him for
00:48:41
nothing yeah yeah what do you know you
00:48:43
have a relationship no it's a blood
00:48:45
sport and and I love blood Sports I was
00:48:46
born for blood Sports so yeah politics
00:48:48
and boxing they're just different
00:48:50
versions yeah it's physical and one's
00:48:51
sort of like a theoretical thing so so
00:48:53
if he wants to jump in the beer pit with
00:48:55
me good luck you know lots of advice can
00:48:57
you give a person like him he's got no
00:48:58
chance of winning he's going to get
00:49:00
mauled it's only a matter of how badly
00:49:01
will he survive it possibly will he be
00:49:03
bruised and battered definitely and he
00:49:05
might as well start licking his wounds
00:49:07
now
00:49:08
he might as well save himself some money
00:49:10
and go and do what he does best which I
00:49:11
understand is driving some sort of stock
00:49:13
cars they used to be he got 30 30 000
00:49:15
votes last time around what's a good
00:49:17
number of votes I've got absolutely no
00:49:18
idea to be honest in previous previous
00:49:21
um like council elections I go through
00:49:23
the book and you don't know any of the
00:49:25
any of the counselors that you're voting
00:49:27
for if you recognize someone's name
00:49:28
maybe you give them a tick for the mural
00:49:30
campaign if you recognize the name so
00:49:31
what do you think about recognition then
00:49:33
in terms of Leo Malloy if you were
00:49:34
looking at a voting paper if your
00:49:36
current girlfriend I'm not sure which
00:49:37
one it is because she's to rotationally
00:49:39
graze these days so it's a different
00:49:41
Panic every day but that's fine that's
00:49:43
your business you're a single man now
00:49:44
but but you open up your little orange
00:49:46
envelope and it says um you've got a
00:49:47
choice of names to pick from so let's
00:49:49
run through a couple well I'm voting for
00:49:50
you because I've known you for 30 years
00:49:52
and you're a sensible man you're well
00:49:54
and full so let's go let's start with
00:49:55
vanilla Viv Beck do you know no well I I
00:49:58
don't but I suppose if she's from like
00:50:00
that's fine so Collins you know
00:50:02
Professor Collins uh from from labor
00:50:04
yeah yeah but not well known on you no
00:50:07
not like a Phil golf yeah someone like
00:50:09
Leo Malloy as I said I've known you for
00:50:11
30 years and I know that you're you're
00:50:12
lawyer you don't live in a complete
00:50:13
level yeah yeah media works you know for
00:50:15
awesome work so whether it's Leo
00:50:17
malloy's sit on the radar of Auckland
00:50:18
life with you well I think that's the
00:50:20
thing that could work
00:50:21
oh I was gonna say I could wait for you
00:50:23
against you but probably more for
00:50:25
against you your your reputation well
00:50:28
all I would say is that's the 16 who
00:50:30
don't like me and every single person
00:50:31
who doesn't like me voted Green in the
00:50:33
last election so we've done the
00:50:35
retrospective analysis every person who
00:50:37
voted green doesn't like me right
00:50:38
exception yet I have the best screen
00:50:39
policies I'm green hydrogen driven I'm a
00:50:42
firm believer in green hydrogen as a
00:50:44
convergence of Technologies for the
00:50:45
future so I have great green policies
00:50:47
but they just have these preconceived
00:50:49
ideas based around what the media say
00:50:51
yeah the Fabrications of the media but
00:50:53
as things unfold as it evolves the
00:50:55
mineral campaign more and more people
00:50:57
will get the opportunity to listen to
00:50:58
what I have to say or see me live or
00:51:00
meet me in person and they all change
00:51:02
their mind so we have a hardcore we
00:51:04
think about 15 who totally support me
00:51:06
that translates to about a hundred
00:51:07
thousand votes we need about 120 000 to
00:51:09
win it so we're nearly there there's a
00:51:11
massive as a fluid pool of about 50
00:51:13
undecided but the reality is that
00:51:16
they're going to come across they're
00:51:17
going to side with the person who's most
00:51:19
eloquent who's best informed who's the
00:51:21
debater and we can win it with resources
00:51:24
as well so there's a multitude of
00:51:26
reasons why people will swing my way
00:51:27
toward the end how much how much money
00:51:29
are you gonna have to pump into this how
00:51:30
many how much have you got I know how
00:51:32
much you got paid when you're a job you
00:51:34
run like 800 Grand a year so I'm a
00:51:36
podcast today I just appreciate the
00:51:38
freebie I don't need much I don't need
00:51:40
much now what do you reckon What's it
00:51:41
gonna cost at like 100 Grand a couple
00:51:43
hundred no that's not the light to talk
00:51:44
about that stuff it's not okay you're a
00:51:46
long long way short Bud we don't talk
00:51:49
about how you resource because yeah and
00:51:50
not every candidate has the same
00:51:52
resources at their disposal and it's
00:51:53
unfair to talk about that and um just
00:51:56
before we sat down for this chat I um
00:51:57
meet you in your bar HQ and all the
00:51:59
staff are wearing um t-shirts and one of
00:52:00
them kindly gave me one Leo from here
00:52:02
are they do they have to wear their
00:52:04
shoes
00:52:05
I don't ask anybody or telemed to wear
00:52:08
anything we give away about 200 a week
00:52:09
and I just found out what they cost
00:52:11
today I've ordered another 1300. 10
00:52:13
bucks each 15 bucks each miles more than
00:52:15
that really it's ridiculous how
00:52:16
expensive they are I've been telling
00:52:18
people take one take two take five
00:52:19
whatever yeah and I've just got told
00:52:21
today I said well contact bill for the
00:52:22
week for t-shirts I think it was nine
00:52:24
grand for the week or something yeah and
00:52:25
I've ordered 1300 more so far and I said
00:52:27
to Michelle today my admin lady no more
00:52:29
that's it no Mass I I well I asked about
00:52:31
the shirts and yourself were here
00:52:33
because I thought I think it says a lot
00:52:34
like um Matt knows you know Matt
00:52:36
McCartney my campaign manager he comes
00:52:37
from Union background and anybody who
00:52:39
digs deep on me will tell you the same
00:52:41
thing my staff are so loyal and they
00:52:43
love me because I'm a genuinely good to
00:52:45
them and I've never asked one of them to
00:52:47
wear that t-shirt they decided that they
00:52:48
made an elected position themselves and
00:52:50
which I totally support for obvious
00:52:51
reasons but I've never once asked one of
00:52:53
them to wear it so but they they they're
00:52:55
all part of this ride as well so we're
00:52:56
in the spocker together and we're all
00:52:58
peddling in the same direction yeah oh
00:52:59
you're a good boss and you're a good
00:53:00
person and anyone that knows you knows
00:53:02
that yeah that's true I want to
00:53:03
reiterate that can you say it one more
00:53:05
time
00:53:06
how good am I really bull man I've
00:53:09
always been great to you having 35 years
00:53:10
I'll link you in my soft top stay in the
00:53:13
seats you stainless it was aioli from
00:53:15
the KFC all right Leah Miller full Mia
00:53:18
good mere not nightmare hopefully no
00:53:21
I'll be a great man I will change the
00:53:22
city I have a vision that no mere before
00:53:24
me has had maybe John Logan Campbell
00:53:26
going back a few years and funny enough
00:53:27
he was a doctor as well but I think I'll
00:53:29
give it nine years of my life and I'll
00:53:30
give it everything I've got and I'm not
00:53:32
interested in the money I'm only
00:53:33
interested in changing Auckland to make
00:53:34
it a better place to my view Tamaki
00:53:37
makaro has deserved its place on the
00:53:39
Pacific Rim as one of the glittering
00:53:41
diamonds and we have sadly gone through
00:53:43
a period where we've been bought our
00:53:44
knees by a multitude of factors but I'm
00:53:46
absolutely determined to put us back
00:53:47
where we belong to make it a great great
00:53:49
City and long after I'm gone I would
00:53:51
like to think that people will reflect
00:53:53
on it and go you know what we might have
00:53:55
doubted him when he first took over but
00:53:56
no one doubted him after and I'm pretty
00:53:58
sure I can say for some honesty that
00:54:01
there's already sections or sectors of
00:54:02
the media becoming arriving at that
00:54:05
conclusion now saying you know what he's
00:54:06
going to be a great mayor and you
00:54:09
promise you'll never have sex in the
00:54:10
naughty native Tower room I was called
00:54:12
what was the room
00:54:14
sacred room I would absolutely love to
00:54:16
if I could but I've got to say when
00:54:18
you're approaching 66 the Mind may be
00:54:21
willing but the flesh is Wake trust me
00:54:22
you can still dream about it but that's
00:54:25
where it begins and that's where it ends
00:54:27
and that's where this wind Leo love you
00:54:29
mate thanks love you two more men

Podspun Insights

In this episode of Runners Only, Don Harvey welcomes the charismatic Leo Malloy, who is not just a former runner but also a potential future mayor of Auckland City. The conversation kicks off with a light-hearted banter about running, where Leo humorously reflects on his past marathon attempts, revealing his not-so-glamorous journey through the world of athletics. As they dive deeper, Leo shares personal anecdotes, including his experiences in the hospitality industry, his rise and fall in business, and the resilience that brought him back to his feet after bankruptcy.

The episode takes a poignant turn as Leo opens up about his family life, touching on the heartbreak of his marriages and the impact of his father's death at a young age. His candidness about therapy and mental health adds a layer of depth to the conversation, making it not just entertaining but also relatable. Leo's unapologetic personality shines through as he discusses his political aspirations, his views on media portrayal, and his determination to make a difference in Auckland.

With a mix of humor, vulnerability, and ambition, this episode encapsulates the essence of Leo Malloy—a man who refuses to back down, embraces challenges, and aims to inspire others along the way. Whether you're a fan of running, politics, or just a good story, this episode is sure to leave you entertained and perhaps a little inspired.

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most heartwarming
  • 85
    Most inspiring
  • 85
    Most heartbreaking
  • 85
    Best performance

Episode Highlights

  • Running for Mayor
    Leo Malloy boldly declares his intention to run for mayor, stating, "I'm going to be the mayor of the city."
    “I'm going to be the mayor of the city.”
    @ 00m 42s
    October 25, 2022
  • Unstoppable Spirit
    Leo shares his unwavering self-belief with the powerful statement, "I am a man on fire. I am unstoppable."
    “I am a man on fire. I am unstoppable.”
    @ 08m 08s
    October 25, 2022
  • Authenticity in Politics
    Leo emphasizes the importance of being true to oneself in politics, saying, "I can’t act, I’m Leo. I’ve always been Leo."
    “I can’t act, I’m Leo. I’ve always been Leo.”
    @ 08m 49s
    October 25, 2022
  • Heartbreak and Healing
    Reflecting on a painful breakup and the journey through therapy.
    “That really destroyed me; I had to go through a lot of deep intensive therapy.”
    @ 16m 16s
    October 25, 2022
  • The Rise and Fall of Cardiac
    A bold nightclub venture that ultimately led to bankruptcy.
    “It was like a soldier laying in the battlefield, bleeding from every orifice.”
    @ 27m 10s
    October 25, 2022
  • A Second Chance
    A friend's support helps him start anew after losing everything.
    “If you’ve got one in mind, I said I know a little sushi shop that’s for sale.”
    @ 28m 18s
    October 25, 2022
  • A Mother's Pain
    A mother expresses her heartbreak over the trial of her murdered daughter, reflecting on the media's insensitivity.
    “I thought I came to New Zealand to see the murder of my daughter around child.”
    @ 41m 05s
    October 25, 2022
  • No Regrets
    Despite controversies, the speaker stands proud, declaring no regrets about their actions.
    “No regrets, no regrets and I’ll tell you not only no regrets, we’re proud and we’re out loud.”
    @ 41m 37s
    October 25, 2022
  • Judicial Disgrace
    The speaker condemns the judicial system for its treatment of a victim's family during a high-profile trial.
    “It’s a disgrace what they did absolute disgrace and it should never happen again.”
    @ 43m 08s
    October 25, 2022
  • The Hard Option
    I never take the easy option; I always choose the hard right over the easy wrong.
    “I will never ever take the easy option.”
    @ 44m 24s
    October 25, 2022
  • Determined Leadership
    I’m absolutely determined to put us back where we belong, to make it a great city.
    “I will change Auckland to make it a better place.”
    @ 53m 33s
    October 25, 2022
  • A Vision for Auckland
    I have a vision that no mayor before me has had, and I’m committed to it.
    “I will change Auckland to make it a better place.”
    @ 53m 33s
    October 25, 2022

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

  • Running Ambitions00:42
  • Heartbreak16:10
  • Therapy Journey16:18
  • Serendipity32:39
  • Mellowing Over Time39:21
  • Judicial System Critique43:08
  • Serial Killer Discussion43:24
  • Campaign Strategy50:58

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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