After a string of career highs, Sam Thompson is setting his sights on a new goal — fronting a breakfast radio show after enjoying a recent stint covering the Hits Radio morning slot.
The Staying Relevant podcaster, 33, said the structure of early starts and consistency appeals to him.
“I really enjoy it,” he told the Standard. “I like the routine, I like the idea of waking people up in the morning and building a community. We have done it with the podcast, and I would love to do it with radio too. I could definitely see myself doing breakfast radio in the not too distant future.”
Routine, which Thompson has often spoken about valuing as someone with ADHD and autism, is something he says makes the prospect of a permanent slot even more appealing.
But the broadcaster has another ambition for 2026: to front a documentary exploring autism, building on his award-nominated 2023 film on ADHD.
“Next year, what I really want to do is another documentary,” he explained. “I would love to expand into autism because we touched on it in the ADHD doc but I don’t know much about it even though I have it. So it would be a learning curve for me and hopefully loads of other people.”
He added: “I didn’t realise until after the Jungle but a lot of kids, when they get diagnosed with ADHD, are really ashamed of it. Every time we talk about ADHD it changes their opinion. I’d like to do that with autism too, because it can be a superpower as well as incredibly challenging.”
Reflecting on his ADHD documentary, Thompson said he felt “lucky” to make it at all given how difficult it can be to get a diagnosis. “I learned so much, and there are still so many people in this country who don’t know anything at all,” he said.
He believes part of the issue is that information is not always accessible. “Unless you really go looking, there aren’t many documentaries,” he said. “A lot of people with neurodiversity are visual learners. We want to watch something to understand ourselves. Reading can be really hard for many — I can only speak for myself, but I think it’s the same for others too.”
The West Londoner is also preparing for another landmark moment — taking Staying Relevant to London’s O2 Arena on September 19, where he and co-host Pete Wicks will perform in front of 20,000 fans. An accompanying book will follow on October 9.
“We are so proud of ourselves for getting there,” he said. “It is wild and we cannot believe it is happening.”
It has already been, in his words, an “insane” year, with highlights including winning a TRIC Award for Best Podcast and meeting the King at a Buckingham Palace reception celebrating the creative industries.
Thompson laughed that he even managed to call the monarch “mate” in the excitement of the moment. “It just slipped out — I couldn’t believe I said it,” he admitted.
Another career highlight was his Match Ball Mission for Soccer Aid, which saw him cycle and run a marathon a day for five days, delivering the ball from London to Manchester ahead of the annual charity football match. Though it left him with a torn calf muscle, Thompson says he is already thinking about how to top it.
“I would love to run the London Marathon,” he said. “I do not know how I will better what we did for Soccer Aid, but I would love to try.”
He could also be adding cat talent manager to his already impressive CV, as his Ragdoll cats Cedric and Albus have just landed their first major ad campaign. The former Made in Chelsea star and his feline friends have joined forces with Purina ONE to highlight the importance of feline hydration.
Research for the pet brand found 78 per cent of owners worry their pets do not drink enough water. Its new product Hydralife is designed as a gravy-style addition to make topping up hydration easier.
“Every time they’re licking it I have a visual representation of their hydration topping up,” he said. “It’s a really nice thing to see as a cat owner.”
And Thompson admits his feline stars more than rose to the occasion. “I don’t mean to brag but they are pretty good — some of the shots we took were absolutely phenomenal, and let’s put it this way, not of me!” he laughed. “They were so great because they genuinely like the product, so we got so many cool shots of them just feasting whilst looking cute.”
He hopes the pair will front more campaigns in future. “I would love them to be involved in more things that help bring awareness to issues that can help cats, one hundred per cent,” he said.
For now, Thompson says he also has another priority: “I need to restart their Instagram account as well.”
For more information about Purina One Hyrdalife, visit purina.co.uk/brands/purina-one
