World of Secrets BBC Podcasts

The new investigative podcast from the BBC. Every series will tell a new story from around the world. Gripping storytelling and brilliant journalism. Delve into a World of Secrets.
Season one will be available from 2 October 2023.
#WorldofSecrets

An aspiring male model hopes a meeting with Abercrombie and Fitch’s former CEO could be a career break. But it's far from a dream opportunity - revealing fashion’s dark side.
This is World of Secrets: Season 1 - The Abercrombie Guys, an investigation from BBC 5 Live and Panorama.

Sometimes it only takes one person to speak, for others to be heard…

An aspiring male model hopes a meeting with Abercrombie and Fitch’s former CEO could be a career break. But it is far from a dream opportunity. “It's probably the darkest experience I’ve ever dealt with,” he says.

After reading a cryptic tweet, Rianna Croxford follows a trail which leads to the most intensive investigation of her career. MeToo has empowered women to speak out – now men say they want to be heard. This is World of Secrets - Season 1: The Abercrombie Guys, an investigation from BBC 5 Live and Panorama.

Have you got a story to tell? Email rianna@bbc.com. Let us know what you think of the season using the hashtag #WorldofSecrets
This podcast refers to sexual abuse and contains interviews that some listeners may find upsetting, as well as some occasional strong language.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this series, please contact support organisations in your own country. For a list of organisations in the UK that can provide support for survivors of sexual abuse, go to bbc.co.uk/actionline.
World of Secrets: Season 1 - The Abercrombie Guys is presented and investigated by Rianna Croxford
Series Producers: Ruth Evans and Alys Harte
Senior Producer: Emma Close
Development Producer: Hannah Livingston
Investigation Editor: Ed Campbell
Podcast Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Executive Editor: Emma Rippon
Studio Engineers: Neil Churchill, Andy Fell, Gareth Jones, and Ali Rezakhani
Production Coordinators: Debbie Richford and Sophie Hill
Commissioning Editor: Dylan Haskins
Commissioning Executive: Louise Kattenhorn
Assistant Commissioner: Natasha Johansson
Archive: Paramount Pictures: Mean Girls (2004)

This podcast is made in collaboration with BBC Panorama.

If you are in the UK, you can watch Panorama: The Abercrombie Guys: The Dark Side of Cool on BBC iPlayer now, or on BBC Select if you are in the in the US.

World of Secrets: Season 1 - The Abercrombie Guys is a BBC Long Form Audio production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

He made Abercrombie and Fitch a millennial megabrand, marketing "sexy clothes on sexy people”, as one former colleague of Mike Jeffries put it.
At home he had model-like men washing his cars and staff to chauffeur his dogs around. But what else was going on at his Hamptons mansion? “There was something about it that was strange,” according to a former staffer, “why wouldn’t anyone talk about it?” Rianna decides to investigate.
Have you got a story to tell? Email rianna@bbc.com. Let us know what you think of the season using the hashtag #WorldofSecrets
This podcast refers to sexual abuse and contains interviews that some listeners may find upsetting, as well as some occasional strong language.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this series, please contact support organisations in your own country. For a list of organisations in the UK that can provide support for survivors of sexual abuse, go to bbc.co.uk/actionline.
World of Secrets: Season 1 - The Abercrombie Guys is presented and investigated by Rianna Croxford
Series Producers: Ruth Evans and Alys Harte
Senior Producer: Emma Close
Development Producer: Hannah Livingston
Investigation Editor: Ed Campbell
Podcast Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Executive Editor: Emma Rippon
Studio Engineers: Neil Churchill, Andy Fell, Gareth Jones, and Ali Rezakhani
Production Coordinators: Debbie Richford and Sophie Hill
Commissioning Editor: Dylan Haskins
Commissioning Executive: Louise Kattenhorn
Assistant Commissioner: Natasha Johansson
Archive:
CBS: Sharon Chin report (9th May 2013)
Warner Bros: Ellen DeGeneres - (May 2013)
BBC: Sophie Hutchison news report (24th Jun 2009)
BBC: Hugh Schofield news report (26 July 2013)
International Business Times: A&F Company outlook (24th May 2013)
Bloomberg: Report on Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries to Step Down (9th Dec 2014)
Bloomberg: Jeffrey Hayzlett joins Trish Ragen and Adam Johnson on Bloomberg's Street Smart (9th Mar 2013)
NBC: Report on ‘half-naked models’ (30/11/2002)
Fox News: The O’Reilly Factor Report on Abercrombie & Fitch marketing (1st Dec 2015)
BBC: BBC 4- Love Thy Neighbour (14th Oct 2008)


This podcast is made in collaboration with BBC Panorama.

If you are in the UK, you can watch Panorama: The Abercrombie Guys: The Dark Side of Cool on BBC iPlayer now, or on BBC Select if you are in the in the US.

World of Secrets: Season 1 - The Abercrombie Guys is a BBC Long Form Audio production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

A former US marine turned reality TV star is invited to Mike Jeffries' mansion in the Hamptons. He dreams of being an Abercrombie and Fitch model, and he hopes to impress the fashion mogul.

But the mood at the event begins to change and he says he soon realises this is not the interview he was expecting: "I didn't feel like I had control”.

Have you got a story to tell? Email rianna@bbc.com. Let us know what you think of the season using the hashtag #WorldofSecrets
This podcast refers to sexual abuse and contains interviews that some listeners may find upsetting, as well as some occasional strong language.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this series, please contact support organisations in your own country. For a list of organisations in the UK that can provide support for survivors of sexual abuse, go to bbc.co.uk/actionline.
World of Secrets: Season 1 - The Abercrombie Guys is presented and investigated by Rianna Croxford
Series Producers: Ruth Evans and Alys Harte
Senior Producer: Emma Close
Development Producer: Hannah Livingston
Investigation Editor: Ed Campbell
Podcast Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Executive Editor: Emma Rippon
Studio Engineers: Neil Churchill, Andy Fell, Gareth Jones, and Ali Rezakhani
Production Coordinators: Debbie Richford and Sophie Hill
Commissioning Editor: Dylan Haskins
Commissioning Executive: Louise Kattenhorn
Assistant Commissioner: Natasha Johansson
Archive audio: Bravo TV: Below Deck (2013)

This podcast is made in collaboration with BBC Panorama.

If you are in the UK, you can watch Panorama: The Abercrombie Guys: The Dark Side of Cool on BBC iPlayer now, or on BBC Select if you are in the in the US.

World of Secrets: Season 1 - The Abercrombie Guys is a BBC Long Form Audio production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Who is the other Abercrombie guy, Matthew Smith? “Witty, strict and secretive” says a former colleague.
Papers reveal the influential role he had in the life of his partner, the former Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries.

A former staffer reveals how he frequently requested large sums of cash, sealed in white envelopes – what was it for?

Have you got a story to tell? Email rianna@bbc.com. Let us know what you think of the season using the hashtag #WorldofSecrets
This podcast refers to sexual abuse and contains interviews that some listeners may find upsetting, as well as some occasional strong language.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this series, please contact support organisations in your own country. For a list of organisations in the UK that can provide support for survivors of sexual abuse, go to bbc.co.uk/actionline.
World of Secrets: Season 1 - The Abercrombie Guys is presented and investigated by Rianna Croxford
Series Producers: Ruth Evans and Alys Harte
Senior Producer: Emma Close
Development Producer: Hannah Livingston
Investigation Editor: Ed Campbell
Podcast Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Executive Editor: Emma Rippon
Studio Engineers: Neil Churchill, Andy Fell, Gareth Jones, and Ali Rezakhani
Production Coordinators: Debbie Richford and Sophie Hill
Commissioning Editor: Dylan Haskins
Commissioning Executive: Louise Kattenhorn
Assistant Commissioner: Natasha Johansson

This podcast is made in collaboration with BBC Panorama.

If you are in the UK, you can watch Panorama: The Abercrombie Guys: The Dark Side of Cool on BBC iPlayer now, or on BBC Select if you are in the in the US.

World of Secrets: Season 1 - The Abercrombie Guys is a BBC Long Form Audio production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.