155: Jono Coleman

Jono Coleman (@jonocoleman) is a legendary broadcaster from Australia who has had an incredible career here and in the UK.

He worked on landmark stations like the earliest incarnations of JJJ, the BBC and at the huge upstart that was Virgin Radio in the 90s.

Starting in the late early 80s I first came to know him on a kids’ after school show called “Simon Townshend’s Wonder World” you could really get away with wordy names back then.

Now Jono’s a big bloke. He’s always been a big bloke, even when he was starting out.

There was even one particular character that he played on that show, which was a super hero called “Flash Flab”.

He was a crime-fighter who was there to save the day, and he was a bigger man.

It’s fair to say that in this conversation I have with Jono I tell him what that meant to me - to see someone that looked like me on the TV and who wasn’t being teased for being fat.

It’s all I’ve got to relate to when it comes to the diversity discussion - in that you can’t be what you can’t see.

And I get it. Until I saw that he was a fat super hero, I had nowhere to look for some reason to feel anything but shame for my body.

I still felt it in years to come - but for that short period of time, I felt empowered.

So when it comes to seeing all body types, and all colors of body types, ones that look standard, and ones with less arms or legs, or different shapes of torso - that sort of thing is so important.

I don’t work in casting for TV, but if I did - I’d try to work hard to make sure what you see on TV looks like what you see in the street.

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