Hard lives, told without distance.
Anything Goes with James English puts people with hard pasts in the chair and lets the story run. Guests talk through damage, choices, faith, violence, prison, addiction, and what came after.
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Anything Goes with James English is a long-form interview show with a hard edge. It is built around people whose lives have crossed crime, prison, addiction, trauma, fame, politics, faith, and public judgement. The structure is simple. A guest sits down, the interviewer starts near the beginning, and the conversation works its way toward the damage. Recent episodes show the range clearly. John Crawley talks through his path from U.S. Marine to IRA involvement and prison. Katie Salmon speaks about Love Island, OnlyFans, charges, court cases, community service, wounds from childhood, and born-again Christianity. Leroy Gilbert’s episode frames Liverpool drug dealing, prison sentences, a book, and later motivational speaking. Betty Guadagno describes addiction, homelessness, sex work, poverty, family addiction, and spiritual awakening. Nina Aouilk brings the conversation into honour killings, family harm, suicide, religion, coaching, and public advocacy. Other episodes place a former cop across from Danny Simpson, or give Jason Vukovich space to discuss prison, revenge, child abuse, and the questions that come after violence. The show is blunt. It rarely hides from moral judgement. It can be warm one minute and confrontational the next, especially when the subject is abuse, corruption, exploitation, or violence against children. The interviews are not tidy case files. They move like real conversations, with repetition, interruptions, emotional turns, and guests circling back to what still hurts. That looseness is part of the appeal. The best moments come when a guest stops performing the headline version of their life and starts explaining the smaller choices, fears, beliefs, and pressures underneath it. The show suits listeners who can handle dark material and want firsthand accounts rather than clean narration. It is heavy, personal, and sometimes volatile. It keeps asking how someone got there, what it cost, and whether anything changed after the worst part.
Made for: For listeners drawn to firsthand accounts of crime, prison, addiction, trauma, faith, and redemption. It suits people who prefer direct, emotionally present interviews over polished narrative documentary.
What sets it apart: The show’s strength is its blunt room-level pressure: simple questions, long answers, and little attempt to make difficult stories feel clean. It gives guests space to speak while keeping the focus on consequence, survival, and accountability.
The Anything Goes Podcast Show is a place you'll find people talking about their real-life stories and experiences. Hosted by James English, guests include reformed gangsters, comedians, actors, footballers, porn stars, politicians and many more who all have a story to tell. Expect shocking stories about murder, crime, depression, addictions and suicide, with some laughs along the way with sagas of sex, love and comedy.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Guest biographies become direct conversations about authority, harm, belief and the difficult work of changing a life.
James English begins with biography, then lets each guest's account widen into questions about power, belief, punishment and personal change. Anything Goes with James English is built around extended, guest-led interviews: John Crawley's path from the US Marines to the IRA, Nina…
IRA prison memories and dating theory share a feed; you can leave your tidy categories outside.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A prison-and-politics life story with grit and contradiction.
The episode frames John Crawley’s life at the seam of prison time and political memory: born in Long Island to Irish immigrant parents, raised in Chicago, back in Ireland at 13, and later working for the IRA.
A blunt interview about revenge, child predators, and the hard edge of punishment.
This episode centers on an interview about revenge on paedophiles and the harm they inflict. The host is plainly admiring of Jason Vigovic, even while acknowledging that vigilantes are not the answer, and that tension gives the discussion much of its pull.
A blunt, humane conversation about honour killings, silence, and speaking out.
This episode centers on honour killings, and Nina Elk handles the subject with blunt honesty. The conversation stays on why it matters, why people stay quiet, and what it takes to speak out when the topic is painful and personal.
A combative interview moves from Islam and political violence to online paedophile stings and a closing prayer.
Valentina Gomez brings a fierce political and religious argument into view, tying fears of violence to Islam, Charlie Kirk's assassination, 9/11, October 7th, and Abbey Gate.
A Bolton family business story tracks Reebok from a registrar caveat to global scale.
Joe Foster's Reebok story starts in Bolton, rooted in the Foster family business and a working life formed before computers and smartphones changed everything.
A candid conversation that turns a Google story toward happiness, attraction, and the tensions inside intimacy.
Mo Gawdat's conversation moves from Cairo, public school, and public university to Google, then opens into happiness, transition, attraction, and relationships.
A former cop and a robber test anger, authority, accountability, and the possibility of moving on.
A former police officer and a robber sit opposite each other in a conversation shaped by distrust, resentment, and the difficult pull of personal responsibility.
Crime stories built from motive and consequence.
Mob history with case-file grit.
Cartel stories with the machinery exposed.
The host starts right at the beginning.
Nadine Macaluso discusses her toxic marriage to Jordan Belfort and her journey to becoming a therapist who helps others recognize, escape, and heal from trauma bonds.
This episode features an interview with author Andrew Loney about his book 'The Rise and Fall of the House of York', which explores the scandal involving Prince Andrew, Epstein, and related figures.
Cop versus robber starts face to face.
John Crawley sits down with James English and starts from the beginning.
Katie Salmon shares her personal journey from glamour modeling and reality TV to legal troubles and finding faith as a born-again Christian.
This episode features an interview with Leroy Gilbert, a former Liverpool crime boss who discusses his past in drugs and prison, his redemption story, and his new memoir offering business advice.
A former London gangster and an ex-undercover police officer sit down for a confrontational interview discussing their opposing perspectives on crime and law enforcement.
Betty Guadagno shares her raw journey from growing up in a family of addicts and poverty to becoming a former prostitute, discussing her experiences with homelessness, near-death moments, and spiritual awakenings.
The host opens by calling the guest a hero.
Nina comes in and tells James her story.
James English interviews Valentina Gomez on Anything Goes about Islam, illegal immigration, Charlie Kirk's assassination, and the backlash she says followed her public statements.
["Joe Foster ties Reebok to Bolton, a 1935 birth year, and a dictionary entry for a South African gazelle.", "He says World War II delayed schooling, he left college at 17, and the family shoe business already had a long athletics history.", "The family's grandfather invented the spike running shoe, and Joe points to Alf Schrupp's four world records at Ibrox Park and medals at the 1908 London Olympics.", "The business later hit two crises at once: a distributor collapse that forced 60 layoffs and an Adidas legal challenge that forced a rebrand from Mercury to Reebok."]
Anastasia discusses her past life of crime involving honey trap robberies while dressed as a police officer, her recent rehabilitation, and her upbringing in Wolverhampton.
The host interviews Wayne Lineker about his life, starting with his childhood in Leicester and early experiences working on markets, while touching on his reputation and business ventures like Ocean Beach.
Ofill shares his story of receiving a life sentence for murdering the man who raped his sister's best friend, discussing the emotional impact and his life before and after prison.