Big Diva Energy

Tumble into this one, divas!

We've got that burning, blue-cheese buzz, as we dive deep into the life & times of the domestic goddess herself, one Nigella Lawson.

Along for the ride is another goddess, the simply stunning Eleanor Rushton (@Wellybeana). Eleanor brings her wit, charm and blanket obsession with Nigella to the Dining Diva's, frankly, amazing life, from her birth into wealth, privilege and pure camp, to her incarceration and subsequent emancipation from Saatchi Towers - via a whole lot of personal tragedy, always met with that trademark Nigella glow.

Along the way, in keeping with Holly's tendency to invent something world-changing every 5 years, she and Eleanor pitch "The Platterpuss", the team have a cry about Judy and we get the most well-thought-out Historical Diva pitch ever.

Strap in - it's a good 'un.

Subscribe now to Big Diva Energy and never miss a fabulous episode. And please do leave a review to help other Divas find the pod!

You can also reach out and Cher your diva stories with us on:

Twitter @DivaEnergy

Insta @bigdivaenergy

Facebook @bigdivaenergypod

Email [email protected]

xx

What’s that, Divas?

Is it the gentle cooing of a wood pigeon? Or is it Holly and Tom discussing this year’s Eurovision entries? Why, it’s both!

Once again, the pair are trying to steal Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman’s gig by podcasting from their bed.

For sex people reasons, Lynn?

Of course not, it’s just a much better acoustic and they’re TIRED.

Aside from Eurodiscourse (and a dash of Eurovisionscepticism surrounding some entrants’ blatant Dua Lipa rip offs) the other main topic is the new Tina Turner documentary, which is Simply. The. Best.

Holly and Tom wave goodbye to Tina's public profile watching the brand new, all-encompassing Tina, aka the Queen of Rock'n'Roll's leave-it-all-on-the-floor farewell to her fans.

Meanwhile, they shamelessly obsess over the seemingly-ageless Angela Bassett, discuss how Holly owes Jonny Woo quite a lot of money and ask you - the listeners - to let them know which prominent women since Diana (apart from Nigella) go by one name. Answers on a postcode please.

Subscribe now to Big Diva Energy and never miss a fabulous episode.

And please do give us five and a lovely!

You can also reach out and Cher your diva stories with us on:

Twitter @DivaEnergy

Insta @bigdivaenergy

Facebook @bigdivaenergypod

Email [email protected]

xx

Grab your bricks, Divas!

Maybe you thought our episode on Marsha P. Johnson was too sad? Strap in. It's about to get even sadder.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains a number of references to the sexual abuse of children. There is also reference made to gender dysphoria, transphobic abuse and violence. In addition, the episode contains the use of homophobic slurs. If you feel this one isn't for you, maybe give it a miss.

However, the brilliant, warm light of Carrot - cabaret superstar and host of @TheEnbyShow - is here to help us all through this journey with kindness, laughter and a great, big bag full of bricks.

Here are some links to resources mentioned in the episode:

You're Wrong About's episode on Stonewall is here

Sylvia's 1973 speech can be found here

“Gay Rights Before Stonewall”, by Michael Kazman, for Dissent Magazine

“5 Pre-Stonewall Events that Shaped the LGBT Community: Trailblazers” by Dan Avery, for NewNowNext

“Leslie Feinburg Interviews Sylvia Riviera: I’m Glad I was in the Stonewall Riot” for Worker’s World

“Meet the Trans Women of Color Who Helped Put Stonewall on the Map” by Jamilah King, for Identities.Mic

Please consider donating to the Trans Women of Color Collective here

Follow @CarrotDrag and @TheEnbyShow

Also, the borough that Transy House was located in was Brooklyn and it is now part of the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project.

Subscribe now to Big Diva Energy and never miss a fabulous episode. And please do leave a review to help other Divas find the pod!

You can also reach out and Cher your diva stories with us on:

Twitter @DivaEnergy

Insta @bigdivaenergy

Facebook @bigdivaenergypod

Email [email protected]

xx

Solidarity, Divas,

It's been an absolute shitter the past few weeks, hasn't it?

We encourage you to please donate to Reclaim These Streets' JustGiving here.

And, to pull us out of the funk, we get stuck into a round up of news from the Diva-verse, featuring the Head Girl of Pop, how to pronounce Emerald Fennell's name and Lexi Burke-Living-Bitch.

We are joined as ever by LDE stalwarts Rich Hawkins and Chris Adams, for a superb wig/Britney-focused bitch and a coincidence which leaves us, as ever, shook!

We are also blessed this week with one more extra special outside broadcast from our very own Anti-Royal Correspondent, Cat Loud, the true Queen of Scots!

Love you all.

RIP Sarah Everard.

Subscribe now to Big Diva Energy and never miss a fabulous episode. And please do leave a review to help other Divas find the pod!

You can reach out and Cher your diva stories with us. But, also, you can always just reach out if it's getting too much. We're here, at:

Twitter @DivaEnergy

Insta @bigdivaenergy

Facebook @bigdivaenergypod

Email [email protected]

xx

Pay it no mind, Divas!

Recorded as part of LGBT+ History Month, we are thrilled to offer the first of two extra special episodes on icons of activism and queer power, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.

We begin with the gorgeous Marsha, and, here to explore both the light and the dark times of this beautiful soul, is another binary-smashing beauty, an icon of drag and cabaret. It's the one and only, Carrot! (@CarrotDrag)

Join us, as we travel through what we know of Marsha's life. Trigger warning: we do cover some very dark themes, including child sex abuse, transphobia, murder and problematic mental health diagnoses. But, we also talk about the strength, the warmth, and the love that made Marsha such an icon of LBTQ+ History.

You can find a link to Tricia's Wedding here.

But, more importantly, you can donate to Trans Women of Color Collective here.

Subscribe now to Big Diva Energy and never miss a fabulous episode. And please do leave a review to help other Divas find the pod!

You can also reach out and Cher your diva stories with us on:

Twitter @DivaEnergy

Insta @bigdivaenergy

Facebook @bigdivaenergypod

Email [email protected]

xx

G'day Divas,

Thankfully, the season finale of Married At First Sight Australia finally aired yesterday and has been very much consumed, so Holly actually showed up for this record. (But only really so she could put a call out to get Cyrell to be her friend.)

It's Holly and her husband back in the chair this week and they sift through all the Diva news including: the Golden Globes shitty party, that Britney doc and, of course, the unfolding diva true crime drama that is the shooting of Ryan Fischer and abduction of Lady Gaga's dogs.

You can find the John Waters talk here (The Last Tuesday Society)

You can find Peaches Christ merch here

For plenty more of this nonsense, please subscribe now and never miss a fabulous episode.

And do leave a review if you're able, so you can help other Divas find the pod!

You can also reach out and Cher your diva stories with us on:

Twitter @DivaEnergy

Insta @bigdivaenergy

Facebook @bigdivaenergypod

Email [email protected]

XXX

Oh my God Almighty! Someone has sent us a Diva!

Keep your dogs close and your rosary beads closer as we stick our thumbs out and hitch a ride with the divine Peaches Christ for the second leg of the divine Divine!

Peaches (world-renowned icon of drag and all-round Watersphile) throws Holly & Tom into the back seat, revs the engine and we're back out on the Divine Highway, picking up at Eat Your Make-Up, making our filthy way through the full film career, detouring for a coastal view of the (way ahead of its time) music career and tragically coming to our final stop at Divine's untimely death.

Along the way, you can sit back and enjoy the view, with such sights as the problems of creativity in a world gone mad, the wild wonders of the San Francisco public transport system and Tom's devastatingly boring story about the time he sold John Waters a book.

Subscribe now to Big Diva Energy and never miss a fabulous episode. And please do leave a review to help other Divas find the pod!

You can also reach out and Cher your diva stories with us on:

Twitter @DivaEnergy

Insta @bigdivaenergy

Facebook @bigdivaenergypod

Email [email protected]

xx

What a bitchin' coincidence, Divas!

With us for the first Little Diva of 2021 are our two very own BDE correspondents, Chris (@ChrisA) and Rich (@RichHawkins). Because there's so much to catch up on since we've been away, one bitch/coincidence simply will not do.

Rich spends the episode trying to get around to talking about that Britney doc, but there's only one doc Chris is interested in: Ann Maurice (remember her? Almost certainly not.)

Expect lengthy detours on North London serial killers, Holly and Chris' longstanding conspiracy about foxes and the not-so-subtle differences between Anneka Rice and Anthea "The Body" Turner.

For plenty more of this energy, please subscribe now and never miss a fabulous episode.

And do leave a review if you're able, so you can help other Divas find the pod!

You can also reach out and Cher your diva stories with us on:

Twitter @DivaEnergy

Insta @bigdivaenergy

Facebook @bigdivaenergypod

Email [email protected]

xxx

We're back, Divas!

It's been a long, cold January, presumably made all the colder without your regular dollop of diva. And we missed you all terribly. But we've returned from our self-imposed hiatus, ready to bring a bit of glitter back to the shitter.

And phwoar, have we got something special to kick off the season.

First off, our subject this week was a genuine one-of-kind. They could call him fatso, they could call him asshole, he didn't mind - but we just call him DIVINE.

And to top it off (and we can't quite believe we get to say this), but our extra-special guest this week is the equally incomparable PEACHES CHRIST (@PeachesChrist), who is not only a genuine, documentary-appearing expert on Divine but also a living, breathing friend and fiend of John Actual Waters.

We can't even.

So come with us, Divas, as we journey through Divine’s childhood in Baltimore, say hello to his fabulous ex-girlfriend and equally fabulous mother, all the way up to the world-changing moment he met pencil-moustachioed auteur himself, one John Waters.

Along the way, we discover Peaches’ early dealings with the ire of the sweater-gays, Tom’s very early introduction to Pam Anderson’s Barb Wire and, of course, we talk about the ever-changing mug of drag.

Subscribe now to Big Diva Energy and never miss a fabulous episode. And please do leave a review to help other Divas find the pod!

You can also reach out and Cher your diva stories with us on:

Twitter @DivaEnergy

Insta @bigdivaenergy

Facebook @bigdivaenergypod

Email [email protected]

xx

Happy New Year, Divas!

Despite 2020 being a well-documented bin fire, the diva-verse was aflame with fantastic content throughout. Which was useful for us, because, as of this month, Big Diva Energy is officially One Years Old!

As such, this feature-length episode finds Holly & Tom in their actual marital bed, doing a run down of 2020's Biggest Diva Moments, whilst hearing from many of their previous guests from a year's worth of diva-based madness.

Plus, we all know that 2021 doesn't officially kick off until 4th January (because of the Bank Holiday/weekend) so here it is, on the day it was intended. Like Jesus.

Granted, the Top 20 might be the work of Tom's drink-addled, sleep-deprived mind, and makes *some* mistakes, but - as always - the contributors really pick up the slack.

The shop where you should buy your books is here

The diva's brunch book of choice is here

Quick Announcement: unlike Drag Race, we will be taking a brief hiatus this January, and returning February 2nd with a big, big, big-ass guest.

Until then, please do subscribe to Big Diva Energy and never miss a fabulous episode and please leave a review to help other Divas find the pod!

You can also reach out and Cher your diva stories with us on:

Twitter @DivaEnergy

Insta @bigdivaenergy

Facebook @bigdivaenergypod

Email [email protected]

Happy New Year and please do stay safe xxx