The Tom's Talks Podcast is a place where we speak to a vast array of people from different walks of life and find out what makes them them. We will speak about their unique journey and delve into the highs and the lows which ultimately define them. This episode discusses suicide, health anxiety and infertility. If you’re struggling, Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123. “I didn’t choose to be a meme.” At 16, Danny Andrews was a teenage bodybuilder beating grown men on stage. Then a BBC documentary filmed him talking through his diet, and one clip turned him into the fish and rice cakes guy, one of Britain’s first ever memes. For years he hated it and did everything he could not to be associated with it. The meme is only the part people saw. Behind it was a lad who left home at 16, got hooked on M-Cat in a town with nothing to do, and moved to Preston with nothing to start again. Today he’s a barber with his own shop, newly engaged, and finally using the thing he spent 20 years hiding from. He’s also living with nerve damage that has left his calf paralysed, health anxiety that has him convinced something is seriously wrong, and the infertility he was too ashamed to talk about for years. What we get into: The BBC documentary, the phone call he thought was a prank, and how one clip went viral before he could even afford the internet Being laughed at at house parties, his sister having to tell people he wasn’t thick, and why he hated being the fish and rice cakes guy Growing up in Barrow-in-Furness, a rugby league town where drugs and steroids were the norm Moving out at 16, getting addicted to M-Cat, losing his job and starting again in Preston Finding barbering, opening his own shop at 22, and the first time he felt his family were proud of him Collapsing out of the shower before a date, unable to feel his legs, and the emergency spine operation that followed Finding out his calf muscle is paralysed, and the health anxiety that now affects him more than the injury itself Living with anxiety and OCD, why he thinks he may have ADHD, and why he finds it so hard to switch off Finding out he’s infertile, crying in the doctor’s surgery, and why he didn’t feel like a man What it did to a past relationship, starting IVF with his fiancée, and the fears he still carries Why talking openly takes the shame away, and how posting about it has helped him as much as the people watching The failed rice cake business that led him onto a TV dating show, and to the woman he’s now engaged to Laughing at him or laughing with him, and going from ashamed of the meme to proud of it What he’d say to 16 year old Danny the day the clip went viral Tom started sharing his own story online after losing his brother Liam, and he still gets negative comments for it. Danny’s story is a reminder that when you own the thing people laugh at, they lose their power over you. An honest conversation about going viral, health anxiety, male infertility and learning to be proud of who you are. Subscribe to Tom's Talks for a new episode every week. If you found value in this episode: 👍 Like the video 💬 Comment your biggest takeaway 🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations that matter Subscribe for weekly conversations with inspiring guests sharing real stories about resilience, growth and overcoming life’s challenges. It would mean the world to me if you were to like, comment, subscribe on my videos whilst I share my ongoing journey. Check out my website: https://toms-talks.co.uk/ Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toms.talks__/ Proudly sponsored by: https://osiofficefurniture.co.uk/ Support the show Check out my website: toms-talks.co.uk Follow me on Instagram: toms.talks__ Follow me on TikTok: tomstalks Subscribe on YouTube: TomsTalks