Shakeel Kimotho on Confidence, Culture, Tip Toe & Taking Up Space

Shakeel Kimotho on Confidence, Culture, Tip Toe & Taking Up Space

You might recognise our guest from the acclaimed new Russell T. Davies' thriller Tip Toe, but Shakeel Kimotho's work and reputation extends far beyond the screen. Known for her work across fashion, media and culture, Shakeel has built a reputation for championing underrepresented voices and challenging the industry's traditional standards of beauty, identity and success. Through her creative work and advocacy, she continues to push conversations around race, representation and belonging into the mainstream. Having built an acclaimed stage career in productions of La Cage Aux Folles and Cats, Shakeel makes a striking television debut as Hanna in Tip Toe. On this episode of The Pieces, Bimini and Shakeel discuss the realities of navigating creative industries as marginalised people, the importance of authentic representation, and how fashion can be both a form of self-expression and resistance. They explore masculinity, race, queerness and the pressures of visibility, while reflecting on the role community plays in building confidence and creating change. Don’t forget to subscribe and don’t miss new episodes of The Pieces every Tuesday! Follow The Pieces with Bimini Listen Now on Global Player Instagram: @thepiecespod [https://www.instagram.com/thepiecespod] TikTok: @thepiecespod [https://www.tiktok.com/@thepiecespod] YouTube: @thepiecespod [https://youtube.com/@thepiecespod]

A'Whora on Drag Race, Burnout & Doing The Work

You might know A'Whora from her unforgettable run on RuPaul's Drag Race UK, where her razor-sharp wit, incredible fashion and unapologetic confidence made her one of the show's most memorable queens. Since bursting onto screens in 2021, A'Whora has become one of the UK's most celebrated drag artists, building a career that spans fashion, performance and television. Behind the glamour, however, is a story of resilience, ambition and learning to navigate life in the spotlight. On this episode of The Pieces, Bimini and A'Whora reunite to reflect on their shared Drag Race experience, the realities of fame after reality television, and the pressures of building a career in the entertainment industry. They discuss friendship, public perception, mental health, and the challenge of staying true to yourself while living under constant scrutiny. A'Whora also opens up about her journey from aspiring designer to drag superstar, the lessons she's learned along the way, and why vulnerability can be just as powerful as confidence. Don't forget to subscribe and don't miss new episodes of The Pieces every Tuesday! Follow The Pieces with Bimini Listen Now on Global Player Instagram: @thepiecespod [https://www.instagram.com/thepiecespod] TikTok: @thepiecespod [https://www.tiktok.com/@thepiecespod] YouTube: @thepiecespod [https://youtube.com/@thepiecespod]

Dee Whitnell on Why Sex Is Taboo, Trans Kids & Section 28

Dee Whitnell is a multi-award-winning sex educator, content creator, journalist and activist who is quite literally changing the conversation around sexual health and wellbeing in the UK. The author of Beyond Bananas and Condoms and founder of Trans Kids Deserve To Grow Up — a campaign born from witnessing the devastation of trans youth loss — Dee is working tirelessly to deliver inclusive, affirming sex education to young people across the country. Dee's work centres on one truth: comprehensive sex education is life-saving, and shame has no place in conversations about our bodies. On this episode of The Pieces, Bimini and Dee dive into the formative moments that shaped their mission. They discuss why sex remains so taboo despite literally being how most of us came into existence, the dangerous gap between abstinence-based education and reality, and how Section 28 created a generation of queer people who learned about sex through pornography. The conversation tackles the myth that queer people are at higher risk of STIs (spoiler: we just test more), the terrifying reality of AI replacing comprehensive sex education, and the moral panic around trans youth that echoes Thatcher's Section 28 rhetoric. Don't forget to subscribe and don't miss new episodes of The Pieces every Tuesday! Follow The Pieces with Bimini Listen Now on Global Player Instagram: @thepiecespod [https://www.instagram.com/thepiecespod] TikTok: @thepiecespod [https://www.tiktok.com/@thepiecespod] YouTube: @thepiecespod [https://youtube.com/@thepiecespod]

Performance Is the Truth: Class, Queerness & Becoming Yourself

This week on The Pieces, Bimini goes solo for a deeply personal episode about identity, class, performance and becoming who you’re meant to be. As they prepare to launch a new era of independent music with their debut punk-inspired single Tank Top Bum Boyz, Bimini reflects on the journey that brought them from Great Yarmouth to London — and the version of themselves that first arrived at Liverpool Street Station with blue hair, a fake Louis Vuitton bag and a dream. Bimini also opens up about growing up working class and queer, the hidden “tax” of navigating creative industries, and the pressure to reshape yourself in order to fit in. Along the way, Bimini reflects on grief, family, nostalgia, Britpop, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, and the power of pop music as a survival guide for outsiders. Honest, funny and philosophical in equal measure, this is an episode about reclaiming your voice, embracing every version of yourself, and realising that the pieces you were searching for were inside you all along. Don't forget to subscribe and don't miss new episodes of The Pieces every Tuesday! Follow The Pieces with Bimini Listen Now on Global Player Instagram: @thepiecespod [https://www.instagram.com/thepiecespod] TikTok: @thepiecespod [https://www.tiktok.com/@thepiecespod] YouTube: @thepiecespod [https://youtube.com/@thepiecespod]

Elizabeth Day on Rock Bottom, Societal Pressures On Women & Failure

Elizabeth Day is a bestselling author, award-winning journalist and the creator and host of How To Fail, one of the UK's most beloved podcasts. With over 300 episodes and millions of downloads, Elizabeth has built a global community around the radical idea that failure isn't something to be ashamed of — it's what makes us human. From her novels including One Of Us and Magpie to her Sunday Times bestselling memoir How to Fail: Everything I've Ever Learned From Things Going Wrong, Elizabeth's work centres on the messy, complicated, beautiful truth of being alive. Beyond her creative output, Elizabeth is a fierce advocate for redefining success, challenging societal expectations around relationships and motherhood, and celebrating the power of chosen family. On this episode of The Pieces, Bimini and Elizabeth dive into the formative moment that changed everything: being dumped three weeks before her 39th birthday, staring down the barrel of her 40s alone after a decade of intense transition — divorce, failed fertility treatment, three miscarriages, and the collapse of what she thought would be her second chance at love. They discuss how sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to break through, why failure is what happens when life doesn't go according to plan and how that heartbreak led to the creation of How To Fail. The conversation touches on the time limits society places on women having children, redefining family as chosen rather than conventional, and why the Virgin Mary is the ultimate IVF queen. Elizabeth and Bimini also bond over their shared love of Real Housewives before Elizabeth reveals where she finds her power... Don't forget to subscribe and don't miss new episodes of The Pieces every Tuesday! Follow The Pieces with Bimini Listen Now on Global Player Instagram: @thepiecespod [https://www.instagram.com/thepiecespod] TikTok: @thepiecespod [https://www.tiktok.com/@thepiecespod] YouTube: @thepiecespod [https://youtube.com/@thepiecespod]