A Facebook fan group devoted to a popular podcast has erupted.
Ardal Makes Friends is the celebrity interview podcast by former variety show host/comedian Ardal Morgan, which sees Ardal interview his favourite celebrities for 40 minutes each week, which is topped and tailed by 20 minutes of banter and nonsense with his long-term assistant Sarah and producer Michael.
The Ardal’s Friends Facebook fan group is a celebration of this show, with fans giving their opinions of the weekly interviews as well as reminiscing about their favourite moments from Ardal’s 20-year variety show career.
Though one member has grown frustrated with the podcast.
Peter put up a post the other day, saying, “Thank God for the weekly banter and silliness between Ardal, Sarah, and Michael. Their rapport has kept me interested in the podcast because the celebrity interviews are BORING now! Everyone’s on there to plug someone and the interviews drag on forever! I’ll download the podcast every week, though skipping the interview saves me a precious 40 minutes. But the hijinks between Ardal, Sarah, and Michael are hillarious and has me in stitches most weeks!”
Not surprisingly, the post got a lot of negative reaction, with a mixture of ‘haha’, ‘shocked’, and ‘angry’ reactions.
One commenter (Zoe) said: “If that’s how you feel then get the HELL out of this group right now! REAL FANS listen to EVERY episode in full, NO MATTER who the guest is! You probably only heard of Ardal through the podcast anyway! Because you’re a FAKE fan!”
While Zoe’s comment got plenty of ‘thumbs up’ and ‘heart’ reactions, Peter hit back, saying that as long as he downloaded the podcast, he’s free to listen to as much of it as he wants.
The argument thread continued back and forth – with a few other members posting GIFs of Bill Hader eating popcorn to indicate they were engrossed in the fight – as Zoe accused Peter of hating Ardal and his work.
Eventually Peter left with one last shot at the group: “You so-called superfans are so sad! You brag about having an intimate knowledge of Ardal’s sketches and HEAVEN FORBID anyone says ANYTHING negative about the podcast! I’m not saying I hate Ardal, I’m saying I find the interviews boring! That’s not Ardal’s fault. Anyway, whatever, I’m out of here!”
Everyday News can report that Peter still listens to the podcast every week, but only the first 10 minutes and last 10 minutes, still watches his favourite Ardal sketches on YouTube, and hasn’t been tempted to rejoin the fan group.
