Fans already had their suspicions after Joe Lycett mysteriously cancelled plans for his new podcast, named Turdcast, on Friday, and now the Birmingham funnyman has confirmed that the planned audio series - and reports of a sewage “spillage” – was part of a much wider stunt calling on water companies to do more to address the sewage scandal.
Last week, Lycett announced he was launching the “ploppy poddy” in which guests talk about their “toilet habits”, and even told indy100 that he’d love to have author Dr Giulia Enders on the podcast, implying it was actually a real project from the Got Your Back star.
His first guest was supposedly Gary Lineker.
There was even a launch event scheduled for Thursday – a day before the supposed release of the first episode - at Liverpool’s Royal Albert Dock, in which Lycett attempted to erect a giant inflatable toilet known as ‘The Turdis’ and interview the general public about their toilet stories.
However, the publicity stunt had to be cancelled early “due to a technical issue” with the inflatable object, and windy conditions didn’t help with its inflation, either.
A spokesperson released a statement which claimed that “a mechanical fault occurred with a portable toilet which saw a small spillage occur”.
“This was immediately dealt with by the support team on hand to ensure there was no impact on the water into which the spillage occurred.
“However, the event was cancelled with immediate effect as it was not possible for members of the public to use the toilet as planned. We apologise to disappointed fans hoping to attend,” they said.
Lycett himself later put out his own statement on social media on Friday morning, in which he revealed the dramatic decision to “cancel the podcast indefinitely”, as it would be “inappropriate” to launch Turdcast off the back of the “ongoing investigation into the sewage spilled into the waters”.
“I’d like to reiterate that it was entirely safe and managed by the team very swiftly. I’ll be releasing more information in due course,” he added.
Well, that came on Saturday, when Lycett shared a video statement from “Miss Sue Idge” confirming that “of course” he didn’t spill raw sewage” and that it was instead another stunt to “get people talking about the big issues”.
He continued: “I’m not spilling s*** in public everywhere. Who do you think I am, GB News?
“No, it was fake sewage, from a fake toilet, to promote a fake podcast. Turdcast was never real, although we did record a real one with the real Gary Lineker.
“It would have been better to use a fake Gary Lineker because we would have saved a lot of money on his day rate.”
Lycett explained that his fake sewage was to get people talking about the “real sewage” being spilled by water companies every year, and that an hour-long special on water companies will air on Channel 4 next year.
“Last year, according to one analysis, £1.4 billion in dividends was paid out to shareholders of the water companies – that’s a lot of money that could be used to improve the sewage network and reduce spills.
“So I want the water companies to stop paying dividends, and invest that money in improving and solving this problem,” he said.
He then called on viewers and fans to go to a website and email their water company, calling on them to sign up to “Joe’s Poo Promise” – lovely alliteration.
Lycett has since been branded a “genius” and “national treasure” over the campaign:
And it’s not the first dramatic stunt which Lycett has pulled off, as he pretended to shred £10,000 in protest at David Beckham being an ambassador for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and created an elaborate four-year stunt which “infuriated” MPs and formed the basis of his most recent stand-up show, More, More, More!
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