Reality Stars Thompson and Wicks Face Stigma Before Show

and have revealed they've struggled to overcome the 'stigma' of their past, before finding new success as podcast stars.

The pair became best pals after meeting on in 2017, but they both first found fame on and respectively, and started their podcast Staying Relevant together in 2022 as a way to spend more time together.

Since then, the pair have expanded their show to start their own company Staying Relevant Productions, culminating in a sold-out night at London's O2 Arena in September.

The dramatic build-up to the show has been captured in a new documentary, set to be released on YouTube on Monday, showing how Sam, 33, and Pete, 37, put together the evening with a few behind-the-scenes struggles along the way.

And while their reality TV stints gave them the backing to launch their podcast, and find a whole new fanbase doing so, Sam and Pete have now shared their past did have an impact on their credibility in the industry, with many doors being 'firmly shut to them.'

They added that it was these restrictions that led them to break out on their own by going into business together, with Pete admitting 'a lot of people thought they'd fail,' when they first started their company in 2024.

Speaking at a screening for their documentary in London last week, Sam said: 'It's a weird thing isn't it? Because when you do reality TV, I started in my early twenties, and you do this sort of thing and at the start there was no social media, right? 

'So you do these shows and right after that, it's ''go and get a different job, whatever that may be and it's been a fun time in my twenties.''

'And then, you do this show and the industry as it were appears in front of your face when all these doors happen, you try and walk through the doors and they're very firmly shut.

'It's like a double-edged sword, because you wouldn't know the doors existed unless you did reality TV but then it becomes doubly hard to walk through the f****g doors because no one's there, everyone's locking it like that... that's my experience of it anyway.'

Pete added: 'Fundamentally, and it's slightly different now, but when we started reality TV, it was only really Made in Chelsea, Geordie Shore, TOWIE, you didn't have Love Island, you didn't have as many shows as what there is now.

'And I think when you have a reality TV background, you're seen to be the ones that get produced, you kind of do a lot of things that you're kind of told to do, and you're told what directions to go in.

'And sometimes, especially doing some of the things that we've done, for two complete f*****g doughnuts to go and do some of the things that we've done, especially like the O2, off of our own back and not having writers or people to do the show or people to do that.

'We just thought, ''f**k it, we'll do it ourselves.'' I think a lot of people thought we would fail, there's probably people in this room that thought we'd fail.

'And actually it's just having a bit of belief in ourselves, that Sam particularly loves this industry and I love being part of it, and learning more about it, but sometimes you don't get the opportunity to do that because people just want you to be on the screen and not come behind and try and learn more and learn kind of a trait because it's an incredible industry.

'A lot of you guys that are behind the camera, I find the most interesting, are the ones that make the TV and we want to be kind of part of that, rather than just being kind of in front of the camera and being kind of the doughnuts effectively, which sometimes I think people are assuming that everyone that comes from reality TV is, there's a bit of a stigma sometimes, and actually there's sometimes a little bit more to find out, whether or not there is with us, I don't know. I suppose we'll find out, won't we?

Despite the success of their O2 show, Sam and Pete confessed they've 'aged a lot' since starting their podcast together, and even though their friendship has been deemed unlikely be some, their differences have been their biggest benefit when working together.

Sam said: 'I think that when you work this close to somebody, you have to be brothers. 

'I can't see another way around it because we are in each other's pockets almost every day. 

'I spent five days away from Pete and honestly missed the s**t out of him. And for people who work so closely together, I think that's kind of unheard of. 

'I don't think that you could do something like this, they always say, don't work with your family and all your best mates, and I would agree with that.

'For some unknown reason, we make it work. And I think Pete touched on it then. I am a dreamer... and Pete will turn around and say, ''let's just start at the first step.''

'He doesn't say no, but he's like, ''let's just figure out how we're gonna f****g get there.'' And I'm already there in my head. I'm gonna say ‘’we're gonna be James Corden, we're in LA, we're doing it.’’ 

'And Pete will then actually find a way, and how beautiful is this to have a partner in crime who will do his absolute best, make what I've dreamt up a reality. And I think it's a beautiful thing that I don't think many people have.'

Pete echoed his pal's sentiment, saying: 'I think working with your best mates, spending so much time together is really, really tough. 

'Doing the pod is amazing because that's just us being us, but actually doing a business and working in a business together, I think the biggest thing that's helped with us is, we are so different, so there's clearly defined roles within the business and what we do. 

'Sam, I honestly genuinely think he's one of the best people in the country in terms of making content and marketing and all the rest of it, and I'm kind of like the donkey in the background that kind of works out logistically how we're going to get there and I do all the boring s***t.

'I mean Sam always disagrees, but I think Sam is kind of the face of what Staying Relevant is, and then I just sort of slave away in a dungeon in the background trying to make all his dreams come true really and that's because actually Sam is fundamentally right a lot of the time.

'A lot of things that sometimes I think that's too big for us to do, if it wasn't for Sam pushing for us to do it we probably wouldn't have achieved half the stuff that we have done in this kind of first 18 months, which is mad, when you think about how much time and what we've kind of achieved, and a lot of that is down to Sam dreaming big.'

Sam added: 'It's a testament to what Pete is like as a best mate, but also a co-founder of this thing where every day you walk into work and you go, ''anything goes.''

'Anything f****g goes, there's no red tape at all. Let's just f****g see what we can come up with. I like to think I'm creative, it's so great to have someone who doesn't put any limitation on what it is that we believe that we can produce.'

While fans will now get to enjoy looking back at Sam and Pete's night at the O2 through the documentary, the pair also hinted there's 'something big' to come from them later this year.

Road to the O2 will be released on Monday at 8pm on Staying Relevant's YouTube channel.