MTGM EXTRA! "Rejection..." - With Michelle de Swarte

December 3, 2025·21 min·1 clip

Joanne reveals the secret rule about who can meet celebrities off the jungle bridge—and why it's always their managers.

1. My Therapist Ghosted Me releases a bonus episode with host Joanne McNally and recurring guest Michelle de Swarte covering celebrity gossip, listener advice, and friendship anecdotes. 2. Joanne McNally is an Irish comedian currently on a UK arena tour; Michelle de Swarte is a comedian and actress who appeared on RuPaul's Drag Race. 3. The episode functions as a casual extended chat — no single thesis — with the listener email segment providing the most structured advice content. 4. The pair open by discussing Vogue Williams' experience on I'm a Celebrity, noting she 'arrived and had shit chucked at her' but kept smiling. 5. Joanne explains she was considering going on Lorraine to support Vogue but couldn't because she's on tour, and references the show's tradition of meeting contestants off 'the bridge' in Australia. 6. Joanne reveals she was shortlisted for the Love Island Australia voiceover before COVID, which required flying to Australia in person; Stephen Mulhern got the job and ended up alone in a hotel room on Australian time. 7. The conversation pivots to Azealia Banks, whom Joanne brought up after a press run left her anxious about saying the wrong thing publicly. 8. Joanne and Michelle catalogue Banks' feuds: tweeting that Ireland was full of 'ugly leprechauns,' an alleged hotel incident involving Russell Crowe spitting on her with RZA from Wu-Tang Clan present, and critiquing Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album in March 2024. 9. Joanne coins the comparison 'Azealia Banks ran so Doja could walk,' noting both are cross-genre artists and strong lyricists, but Banks 'napalms her life' whenever things go well. 10. Joanne reflects on media training HBO paid for, where a trainer told her to 'have a sip of water' if asked a question she didn't want to answer, because journalists exploit the silence that public speakers instinctively fill. 11. A listener who signs off as nearly giving 'myself the ick' writes in about being 39, enduring constant job rejections, and feeling like her 'life has hit reverse — not a gentle rollback, more like full-on Formula One backwards.' 12. Joanne advises the listener to 'dash some chips on the table,' 'stop drinking for a little while,' build a routine, and stay off social media where 'everyone's killing the game, on jet skis in Dubai with a falcon on their arm.' 13. Joanne recounts her own experience moving back to London at 39 with two suitcases, sleeping in her niece's old single bed with teenage graffiti on the wall, and turning 40 in that bed feeling 'so raging' it became motivating. 14. She recalls that after arriving in London, people invited her for coffee but only Roisin Conaty followed through, illustrating that social rejection compounds professional rejection. 15. Michelle observes that 27 feels older than 30, and that reaching your 40s brings a 'certain peace' because there's 'no one to blame anymore — no childhood, no mum excuses.' 16. Joanne notes that being single and straight at 40 on dating apps puts you in 'a different bracket,' where people assume 'you're on some jizzy supermarket sweep trying to get pregnant.' 17. The tone throughout is unscripted and conversational, with frequent profanity, self-interruptions, and tangents; the listener advice segment briefly shifts to a more direct register. 18. Both hosts are comfortable with long digressions and laugh at their own commentary; the chemistry reads as a genuine friendship rather than a staged dynamic. 19. Best for fans of Irish and UK comedy who enjoy celebrity gossip mixed with candid life-at-40 reflections. 20. Likely to frustrate listeners who prefer structured advice formats or who are unfamiliar with the regular cast of characters referenced.

As heard by us

A funny, wine-adjacent episode about press nerves, empty seats and acting like everything is under control.

This bonus episode tracks Joanne McNally and Michelle as they circle the nerves that come with being seen: public performance, press attention and the harder job of filling a room.

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Why you'd press play

You want comic company for selling tickets while pretending an empty room is part of the plan.

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