The Women Of Ill Repute Maureen Holloway and Wendy Mesley

There are many pathways to fame and fortune, but being exceptionally good at doing laundry is an unusual one. Enter Melissa Dilkes Pateras, whose knowledge of housecleaning tips and tricks has turned her into an internet sensation. Well, that, and her sly sense of humour and unblinking acknowledgement of her sexuality. A resident of Uxbridge, Ontario, and mother of three, Melissa started making videos during the Covid-19 lockdown to entertain herself, and went viral on Facebook, then TikTok, and ultimately an appearance on the CBS Morning Show. She also found love when she connected with her now wife Tracy, who moved from Australia to Canada to be together. We talk love, keeping a clean house, trad wives, and the truth about laundry strips (it’s not good).
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
A Transcription of the show is available on the episode page.
You can also watch the show here.
Melissa is the author of “A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home: Housekeeping Hacks You Can’t Live Without”.
Follow her on Facebook and TikTok.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s no getting away from Ann Pornel, not that you would want to. She’s loud, she’s proud, she’s utterly glamorous and funny as hell. Ann’s a sketch comedian and an actress who is best known as the host of The Great Canadian Baking Show. Born in the Philippines, Ann moved with her family to Canada, then came up through the comedy ranks at the University of Toronto (yes, U of T is a hotbed of comedy). She’s written for Baroness Von Sketch and This Hour has 22 Minutes, and was recently recognized as one of Canada’s Top 25 Immigrants - not bad for a country built by immigrants.
We talk home cooking, recipe boxes, sitting on your front porch, Oprah and Ozempic, owning the word “fat”, and the transformative power of being funny.
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George Stroumboulopoulos is a man for all seasons. He’s everything: a media personality, broadcaster, former VJ, radio, talk and reality show host, social advocate and one time host of Hockey Night in Canada. Everyone knows George, and George know everyone, but what do we really know about him? He’s 51 and lives in L.A. now, where he does a show for Apple Music. He’s a vegan who embraces a straight edge lifestyle, rides a motorcycle and loves heavy metal.
He’s single (we think, but who knows) and has no plans to ever have children. His life is an open book - you can ask him anything, and we do, about his humble beginnings in West Toronto, the many famous people he’s met and befriended, and the fallout from his all too brief stint hosting Hockey Night. Still, Strombo remains a bit of a mystery, which of course makes him all the more interesting.
No video for this episode - technical issues. Sorry.
You can grab a copy of the transcription on the episode page.
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We had to ask about the red hair, does one get ridiculed or admired? Loreena McKennitt has a mass of beautiful red curls but is mostly admired for her music. When Mo thinks of her, she sees mists and magic and fairy tales. Loreena’s sold more than 14 million albums and toured the world with her harp and her beloved band of fellow musicians. She’s a singer, songwriter and composer with a new album full of early Celtic tunes called “The Road Back Home”, and is going on tour where she hopes the audience will sing along with her!
Loreena’s never had a manager and organizes the tours herself. She says the insurance during Covid was half a million dollars! We talk to her about the joys of touring and about being a privacy activist. Ok, that was our word, Loreena says she’s not an activist, but she sure sounds like one, as she speaks about trying to make the world a better place. She was born in Morden, Manitoba and now lives in Stratford Ontario.
You can watch the show on our YouTube page.
You can grab a copy of the transcription on the episode page.
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Going to the coconut tree”. You hear it all the time on “Survivor”. What does that mean? Erica Casupanan spills the beans. She is the first Canadian to win “Survivor”, and the first Filipino. Tiny and Asian, she was tired of always being underestimated, so she used it on “Survivor 41”. Erika voted out her rivals, won over everyone else, and surprise, she won! More than a million bucks. A bit more than her previous salary as a communications manager, where she saw power dynamics at play. People are treating her very seriously now.
Mo tried to get Wendy to try out for Amazing Race Canada, but Wendy couldn’t imagine life without her special pillow. Then Erika said she was only allowed to wear underwear for the whole show. That had absolutely nothing to do with Wendy’s decision. Really. Erika now does a podcast, called “Happy to See Me”, where she is not so secretly trying to make the world a better place. And to hell with the trolls, winning “Survivor” taught her she can do anything. As for the million bucks, Erica’s only bought one pair of fancy shoes.
You can watch this episode on YouTube.
A Transcription of this episode is located on our episode page.
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Smith is a Celebrity Chef who decided he had a problem with the Celebrity part. He’s kind of a big deal, has published several cookbooks, hosted TV shows on the Canadian Food Network, and wore the chef’s hat at some big-name restaurants around the world. Now, tired of Michelin-priced restaurants, he moved to Prince Edward Island and runs the 5-star “Inn at Bay Fortune”, where the farm is as sumptuous as the food. And there are oysters. Some nights he helps shuck 700 of them.
Chef Michael got married, had kids, and embraced his inner tree hugger. He’s a nutritional activist, who says he went through a preachy period, but now he’s just trying to be “real”. We talk to him about tipping (he’s not for it), the show “The Bear” (he loves it), and living on the Island. We didn’t ask him for any potato recipes. Although He’s 6.5 –that would be a lot of potatoes.
You can watch this episode on YouTube.
A Transcription of this episode is located on our episode page.
We love writing and would love for you to read what we write. Sign up for our Substack Newsletter.
If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Wendy and Maureen at womenofir@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices