Digital Social Hour - Inside Reality TV's Fake World: Former Star Tells All | John Ferguson DSH #990

Episode Date: December 18, 2024

🎬 Go behind the scenes of reality TV's staged world as a former star reveals shocking secrets about how shows are really made! From re-shooting entrances to scripted moments, get an insider's raw and honest perspective on what actually happens when cameras roll. Join this candid conversation with John Ferguson as he shares his eye-opening experiences in the entertainment industry, including his time on "Little People, Big World" and "The Amazing Race Canada." Discover the truth about staged scenes, manufactured drama, and why reality TV isn't always what it seems. Beyond the reality TV revelations, John opens up about his journey as a little person in entertainment, his philosophy on authenticity, and how he's turned unique opportunities into a platform for positive change. Get ready for an honest, entertaining, and surprisingly uplifting look at life both on and off camera. From navigating the entertainment industry to finding success on social media, this episode is packed with real talk about representation, authenticity, and making it in the digital age. Don't miss this revealing conversation that will change how you watch reality TV forever! 🎥 #watchmojo #selfimprovement #loveitorlistit #shorts #realitytv CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:50 - When Did You Stop Growing? 04:17 - Is Being a Little Person Genetic? 07:30 - Meeting Peter Dinklage 12:35 - Little People of America Convention 17:01 - The Amazing Race Canada Experience 18:39 - The Amazing Race Overview 20:48 - Impact of The Amazing Race on Sean 23:54 - Mindset of Little People 25:00 - Costs of Being a Little Person 28:00 - Is the "M Word" Offensive? 30:00 - Health Implications for Little People 33:15 - University: Is It Worth the Investment? 34:44 - Do You Want Kids? 37:43 - Employment Challenges for Little People 40:54 - Meeting Your First Little Person 41:48 - Final Thoughts & Predictions APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail] GUEST: John Ferguson https://www.instagram.com/johnlferguso https://www.youtube.com/@johnlferguson SPONSORS: BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com/DSH LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Try it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. It's actually crazy to see that reality shows are not reality at all. I was actually at their house for three days and after three days, they hit me up and said, can you re-enter the house as if you just arrived and I already slept there walk in again and I was like oh wow this house is beautiful I never expected anything like it and my sheets were all over the place because I was already sleeping there they actually aired it as well so it was funny

all right guys shortest guest I've ever had on John Ferguson. Thanks for coming on man. I had no idea how tall you were. You made me feel even shorter than I already am. Yeah. It is an absolute honor to be on here Sean. Dude it's a pleasure. I can't wait to get to know your world.

You're the first little person I've ever talked to. Really? Yeah. Well I hope I'm the best little person and the most unforgettable one you ever speak to. I love it man. So what's person in the most unforgettable one. I love it, man So what's your height? Four foot one. Okay. I've always claimed us four foot two until I got humble and then I realized I am an inch lower than Oh, you think you shrunk or I think I might have just worn the I grew up wearing vans

They have such big soles. Yeah, so I think once I switched over to the other sneakers I wear I lost an other sneakers I wear, I lost an inch. Wow. Yeah. So when did you stop growing? When I was about eight years old. It was hard as well because I played hockey

because I'm Canadian. And when I stopped growing and all my friends really started growing and they were hitting their growth spurs and everything, and my mom was like, hey, John, you are not going to get any taller. And then there was hitting in hockey when I was about 13. And that's when it really hit me like, hey John, I had to look myself in the mirror. Hey John, you're no longer going to get any taller and all your friends are going to keep growing. You're little for the rest of your life.

That was like a huge hard-hitting moment for me when I realized I couldn't play sports. I always wanted to play hockey growing up and end up in the NHL. And realizing I was small and coming to terms with that was the hardest thing ever in my entire life. But it took about five years of growing up after the age of 13 when I realized I can leverage my height to really put smiles on everyone's faces.

And I realized everyone's unique in their own way and You can either be upset with how you are or you could really accept who you are and use it to your advantage And that's what I've done now. I love that man Wow So I you said you were eight years old when you stopped eight years old when I stopped growing and I was about four foot one Massive head though the head never stopped going The head I think is still growing. I. I feel like Megamind out here, but no I stopped growing at about eight But I'm really I'm really happy I stopped growing because I really change the fact that I'm a small friend of theirs

You wouldn't change it and you got offered to be six foot, bro Unless I'm making the NBA and making those like nice like like $40 million contract, I'm happy at four foot one. Nice. I see a lot of things. Yeah. I see a lot of watches, see a lot of crotches, but I also see a lot of booty. So yeah, you got that angle, right?

It's not a bad life, especially here in Vegas too. Right. Lots of booty. But a lot of watches. Yeah, your eye level with the booty. Yes. But also with crotch. So it's like a win lose situation. Yeah. Yeah, but that's also why I'm a sneaker head because I can see sneakers so well Mmm, so never crease your shoes and bring them over in front of me

That's a pet peevee ears. I can really see them close the creases creases. Yeah, some people don't take care of their shoes No, but at least they wear them I don't like the people who wear like high or have high end shoes and never wear them. Right. That didn't make sense to me because if you're going to spend thousands on a shoe, just to put it in your office. Hey, Blake Wynn has some nice shoes and he wears them. Yeah. I know that. So there you go. There we go. Blake Wynn. Shout out to Blake.

Shout out to Blake Wynn. We're actually going to see him tonight. Yes, sir. On the celebrity poster tour. I'm excited to see you play, man. You said you played a little bit. Dude, I play all the time and guess what when I'm sitting on the same height usually as everyone else I don't know about Howard, but I have the same size torso Yeah, just smaller limbs and quite a large head a lot. Did they put you at Dwight Howard's table? No, they didn't I think I'm playing with I Actually don't know I'm playing. Oh you can study the field. I'm excited. No, no, no, dude.

I'm just hopping in. Just going to improvise it. But I'm ready to play. I'm so ready to play. Let's do it, dude. So is this a genetic thing? How does it work? So my whole family's average height.

Really? I have no one else in my family who is little. I think it's one of the 24 I think it's the 24th chromosome. I think it was like my father's semen or something that made me short, but I wanted 40,000 where my mom and dad are average height and they had a little person. However, me, since I'm already a little person,

if I were to reproduce with an average height person, then it's a 50-50 shot if it's little or average height like you And then if I were to reproduce with another little person 50% chance. It's small 25 bet MGM is an official sports betting partner of the National Hockey League and has your back all season long from puck drop till The final shot you're always taken care of with the sportsbook born in Vegas. That's a feeling you can only get with BetMGM. And no matter your team, your favorite skater, or your style, there's something every NHL fan is going to love about BetMGM.

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The holidays are a tricky time of the year for a lot of people, and I like to stay cozy and warm at home with my favorite movies and a warm blanket and also some BetterHelp. With a lot of time to reflect during the winter months, therapy is a great way to embrace what's on our mind and find comfort that doesn't leave us even as the holidays fade away. Even if you've never tried therapy or always wondered about its effects, BetterHelp's online therapy option can be a helpful tool to learn about positive coping mechanisms and set boundaries that will aid you in years

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Visit BetterHelp.com slash DSH today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp.com slash DSH. Little, but then another 25% chance that it won't even live. Whoa. So it's crazy. That's high. It's crazy.

I've actually heard a lot of couples who are each small, who unfortunately have lost their child. So. That's terrible. I didn't know it was 25%. Yeah, dude. It's a large percentage. It freaks me out, but if I do ever have a kid, I've always told myself I've told my family I will adopt

Yeah, yeah, that makes sense cuz you've met hundreds of little people So they probably share that sentiment too that they're scared about having kids. It's a huge fear But also, you know, maybe at the celebrity poker tour, I might find an average right away Then it's just a 50-50 shot. Who do you tend to gravitate towards? Um about like five five women Okay, like just around that that like range of like not too short, but not too tall. Okay. You like a taller woman Yeah, there we go. I like to look up to my women Older or younger? I'm older Oh, dude, I like a mature I like like the 40 year old range

You like the milfs which is actually great cuz there's the LSU USC game this weekend in Vegas and it is an older crowd. Hmm It's all like the alumni and there's a lot of older moms here. Wow, I really like it. Nice It's my like happy place. That's cool, dude. I know you're getting into acting. Have you met Peter Dinklage yet? I have not and that's one person I really want to meet. I would say he is the most famous little person. I guess Wee Man is also up there. But I would love to meet Peter. He is a huge role model.

Well he's not like physically huge. But he's a very big role model for all the other fellow little people. He's a great entertainer, a great actor. So I would love to meet him. He was my favorite character. One of my favorites in Game of Thrones. He made a lot of money on that frickin show. Oh he did? He made he was making like 20th season I want to say.

What? Bro he crushed it. He set for life. I know it was eight seasons. Dude yeah and he's hoppin into a lot of movies now and everything so. Wow I've seen him speak on acting roles for little people and there's not many. No there's not many. No, there's not. There's not. And it'll only become harder because a lot of the production companies are afraid

to offend and everything. As we had with that whole politically correct world, it's only, it'll only end up more politically correct. And then it'll be even harder for the little people to get roles. Wow. Usually we would end up, let's be honest, in the holiday roles like the elves, the leprechauns, whatever it is.

And now as we move into this more politically correct world, little people will not get any acting roles. I saw that with Snow White recently. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was all just average height people who they ended up hiring. What did you think about that whole incident? I think it was a little bit aggressive for Peter to bring that up because he's already

set for life and there are little people who are just solely actors and this is their shot to make a solid rack of money. And now after Peter said that and he has the platform where if he says something where it's mean that they're making fun of us you just screwed over seven little people at least who will now be unemployed and lose an opportunity to make a whole lot of money Wow so you actually disagreed with Peter's tape a little bit yeah Fox News actually reached out to me and wanted me to speak on it in a segment but I really didn't feel like super sad on explaining

it so I don't know about the mainstream media also. Dude, I held on. I was on one segment with someone on Fox News. His name is Jesse Waters. I think I heard of him. And he was speaking on pranks because I created this one Uber Eats prank where the Uber driver, whatever, ended up grabbing me. And they brought it up. They're like were you assaulted?

With uber reserve good things come to those who plan ahead Family vacay reserve your ride as soon as you book your flights to all the planners Now you can reserve your uber ride up to 90 days in advance see you grab for details Was live on Fox and I was like, oh god. Well'm afraid of freaking, I'm afraid of the live media now. Yeah, I mean they'll spin the story however they want. They just did it with Kamala's interview. I don't know which network that was, but apparently it was a 41 minute interview and they only showed like 7 minutes or something. Dude, the media is becoming like a powerhouse of just lives, it's crazy. And it is only Fox, it's all the channels are equally just they're pushing their agenda

absolutely whatever they want to do they will spin it into the perfect way that they wanted yeah that's not it were you on the show the little people show oh I was on little people big world yeah yeah I was on a couple episodes it's actually crazy to see that reality shows are not reality at all I was actually at their house for three days and after three days They hit me up and said can you re-enter the house as if you just arrived now I already slept there for 48 hours and I had to grab my suitcase walk in again and I was like, oh Wow, this house is beautiful.

I never expected anything like it. And then they brought me up into the room I was sleeping at and my sheets were all over the place because I was already sleeping there and I was young, I wasn't making the sheets after I woke up. But I was like, oh wow, this is a great room and it was a mess and I felt so bad.

And they actually aired it as well, so it was funny. That was funny. Yeah, reality TV, you never know. It's all a lie. You think so? Well, a lot of it's real, but a lot of the arguments and everything. It's funny to see that,

what do you see on TV that is real anymore? It's hard to even see it. Even vlogging on YouTube, half of it's scripted. Right. I still remember that show as a kid, for somebody who's just implanted in my brain. I think they went into like 15 seasons. Wow.

Zach Roloff, like this son who was small, he ended up becoming a great guy though. He's a close friend of mine. For a childhood celebrity, quote unquote, he ended up being a great guy. He's a father now of three. Nice. He has an average high of a. That's rather now three nice. He uh, he has an average high wife So he has three little people kids. Oh, wow

So he had that 50 50 shot three times three times and thoughts about a one in whatever zero 0.5 I Think it's one cubed one and 16 chance or something. Yeah. Yeah, that's crazy Well, yes. Yeah, it's one more chance. Yeah, I still remember that show. How do you feel like they portrayed you guys? Oh, they crushed it. It was good.

It was for charity fundraisers or whatever, so it was good. Yeah, so you liked it? It was fun. I really liked it, yeah. It was awesome. And he has a great family as well. Nice, and then there's conferences, which I want to make it out to one of these.

Yeah, dude, so it's called the Little People of America. The first one I ever went to was in 2008 in Seattle. It happens all over America and it's a new city every year. And essentially it's one week at the end of June where a bunch of little people from all over the US, but also a lot of the Canadians fly in. So I fly in with a lot of my Canadian friends and it's just one week of sports but also a lot of socializing and let's be honest a lot of sacks oh yeah little people well Georgie it's the greatest week ever for little people holy crap it's the

greatest week of the year and it's just a big convention of a bunch of little people we all get together and it's all a big convention of a bunch of little people. We all get together and it's all ages as well. It's like all the way from like a month old to 80 years old and it's great for all ages because obviously the young ones, it's a great opportunity for them to like really realize who they are and I guess come to terms with the fact that they're small. They can meet other little people. It's great for the average-sized parents

who meet other average-sized parents who already have a son who's older, and then they can ask questions about, hey, how hard was it raising a little person, blah, blah, blah. But then for us, when we're around the age of 15 to 28 or whatever It's it's like a hammered

Sex fast damn with a bunch of little people for one week Just a giant orgy giant orgy lots of alcohol lots of sex lots of sports, which is fun because it's like a literal Level headed playing field. Yeah, and it's a lot of fun. That's cool. You said earlier you love sports love sports, man Love basketball love hockey. We're gonna have to play basketball the other I don't ever play basketball I'll watch you play. I'd rather not break my ankles and your knee might hit me Where do you rank with the little people are you one of the more oh dude I suck I'm not I'm it's so ironic. I love sports. I love working Oh, dude, I suck. I'm not. I think it's so ironic. I love sports. I love working out.

I love fitness. Dude, I'm not athletic. I'm not coordinated. I don't think really. Yeah. I used to play hockey. I know. But I stopped at like 11 and then I skateboarded. I love to do that. You went through that phase. Yeah. Yeah.

You know, she was the emo phase. Yeah. Yeah. I wore like all like, you know, like the zoomies and all that stuff Uh, I love skateboarding. I love watching sports. I love playing it I'm just I'm not that athletic athletic and also I always have a hangover during that whole week Because all the sports happen early in the morning. So yeah, it's hard So you're drinking a lot a lot, but then I had like four months off ahead of that. So I always quit drinking for the first two quarters of the year because I know the Little People convention will be wild and then also the summer as well.

You go hard in the summer. Yeah. But I'm not going to be drinking during the celebrity poker tour. Okay. Because I'm ready to. You're going to be on alert. Dude, I'm alert. Guys, if you're betting on this match, you might have to.

I didn't know you could actually bet. Yeah. My friend's brother just put money on me. I'm alert guys if you're betting on this match you might have to I didn't know you actually bet Yeah, my friend's brother just put money on me. I'm a dude. This is real. What were your odds? Oh plus six thousand Well, I have worse odds than the hook to a girl. They must not have known you used to play never played before Yeah, they must not have known your background. No, I might throw a hundred on you dude. You'd splash little six thousand. That's I've known your background. No, I might throw a hundred on you did you splash little six thousand. That's 60k right or is that six care? I don't know the math on that but damn let's go, baby I'm excited. I'm so excited. Is this the first one you'll be watching live? Yeah, I played in the last one I got like 40th. It was my so I wore sunglasses and no one told me but you could see my cards What through the lens how you know I would I would let you know you would have told me right?

I swear to god because people were laughing at my table, and I didn't know why oh, that's so shitty Yeah, so they saw my cards. That's so funny wait. So how long were you in for like half an hour three hours? Okay? Yeah, I got wrecked. How does it usually flow? Is it like a lot of all-ins off the bat or is it just like? Someone gets out in the first two minutes every time. How many are there? There's like six to eight. 80 players, dude.

You got nine tables out there. Yeah, so you gotta take it slow. Dude, I'll take it slow. Yeah, you got two lives though. Oh really? One bullet if you bust. Cool. Yeah. Cool. So really one bullet if you bust cool. Yeah So you went on the Amazing Race Canada? I did I just did that we filmed it from the middle of April to

The middle of May and I was not out yet. No, no, we already are I think they're on like the last episode but I was eliminated on the fourth episode There's 11 episodes and I will tell everybody it was the greatest experience of my whole life. Wow. The amazing race really made me realize who I am, and I had no phone, no connection with the outside world, I had no TV, I read books. I haven't read books since like freaking middle school.

I got to read books. It really helped me realize what I want to do in life. I kind of had like a philosopher-esque, eye-opening realization that I want to start creating a lot more things that relate with what I want to do and who I really want to represent. I want to do more for the little people community. I feel like there's so many minorities now play the victim and all that. And I'm like, dude, the little people actually do go through a lot of things, like a lot of stereotypes. We are one of the last unrepresented groups

of quote unquote minorities, even though I hate even using that word, that hardly get any good representation in the mainstream media. So I realized during the race without a connection with the real world, so I had so much time to think that I want to do more for them. And I also want to expand my brand where I never say no to an opportunity. That's why when you reach out, you're like, hey, do you want to hop on the podium?

Like, heck yeah, I do. Like, you should never say no to any opportunity. But for the actual race However, that was physically challenging. I bet it looks intense dude. I Totally believed walking into it because as we mentioned earlier that Reality TV is all scripted the amazing race kicked my ass man physically Yeah, like every day it was like you had a backpack and they weren't lying They will not hold on to any of your stuff

So you have all your clothes all your food everything you're running. You got a pack light and dude you're running You you don't have a car or anything. You're running like miles It was so cool cuz at the end of it dude, I was shredded. So this is the best shape I've ever been in I wasn't drinking or anything. It was such a cool experience. However, when they reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to be on it, I had this plan of obviously bringing on a partner who was small because I thought that would be so cool. I ended up bringing on an average type friend who was freaking huge like you. And that was the greatest decision I made because it was physically taxing. And my partner did a lot

of the challenges that were like super difficult. So you would have been at a disadvantage with two of you. Dude, we would have been out in the first leg. But dude, it was such an incredible experience. I recommend everyone who would ever want to do it apply to the amazing race. I think they have it everywhere. They have an Asian one, Australia, obviously. They have the US one.

I didn't know they had Canada. That's interesting. Dude, the Canadian one's on their 11th season. Wow. I think the US one's on like their 36th season. Dude, they're the US. I didn't know they had Canada. That's interesting. Do the Canadian ones on their 11th season Wow I think the US ones on like their 30 suit their crushing it, but you have to be honest I'm down with those freaking legs, bro. You could you could really I got a little way. Yeah I want to go on Survivor would you ever go on Survivor? I would do it. Yeah, it would be cool I would have on any of the shows after the amazing race experience I would do it all like it's so cool. And dude, you're flying around for free.

Right. There's nothing better than not having to worry about grabbing flights and all. They cover your hotels, too. Everything's covered. Like you don't walk into it with a wallet. Like you don't even have your all you have is your driver's license. That's it. They hold on to everything else. Damn. Yeah.

So I don't even have a credit card. So you don't have a phone. But for some reason, they fed me a lot of protein bars. And that made me fart a lot. So the Amazing Race made my farts smell so bad. And now I weirdly have an addiction to protein bars. And you still are eating them? Dude, last night I ate them in Vegas.

I went to CVS. I got like four Quest protein bars. Oh, the cookies and cream one? Yeah. Those are fire. Dude, I microw I ate them in Vegas. I went to CVS. I got like four Quest protein bars. Oh, the cookies and cream ones? Yeah. Those are fire. I microwaved them. What? Yeah, but dude, my farts in the morning are atrocious.

Wow. I had to let it all out this morning because I didn't really want to fart on the podcast. I feel like that would be rude. I just met you in person. Obviously, I met you before online. But dude, if I fart in front of Sean, it's really going to be weird. I feel like the first impression you don't want to really do that.

You don't want to fart. Yeah. Why do you microwave them? Uh, it's like a soft like chocolate brownie. Oh so it melts a little bit? Yeah. Damn. I love those things though dude. I used to pound those in high school.

They're so good. Are they still as good as high school? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah dude I love protein bars. I know why. Sometimes I eat food that I used to like and it's not good. I mean you get a lot healthier though. Like I eat salad every day and all that I eat a lot of vegetables and fruit but um, if you ever a lot, yeah, but uh, I do have a 1,100 calories a day. Oh, that's it. Yeah, dude. I don't actually a lot. I burn 3,000 a day

I could see that with your freaking big body. Yeah, it's not you can run. So I have to eat like your shape I'm in decent shape. Is it hard? So is it are you at a point then where you like you don't want to eat more but you have to I? Intermittent fast like you so that the problem with that though is you feel great during the day But then you got to eat a lot in your last two meals. Yeah, so I have to eat like heavy meals I try to quit eating at least three hours before I fall asleep. Or else I feel like groggy in the morning. Right.

You ever have that? Yeah. Dude, wait. So what's your main meal? Like, it varies. Like when I go to buffets, I eat 12 plates. I would get a little bit of everything. But you know, chicken, steak, mashed potatoes, broccoli.

Dude, we should go to catch Catches nice you catch up a catch and just eat 3,000 calories each you think you could do that I want to do an oyster challenge where I eat 40 oysters in one minute Whoa, but that sounds hard that you have to suck them out that part takes a while I'm a sucker if they just laid them out maybe and then you could use a straw and I Wouldn't do any hot sauce or anything Like I don't want anything holding me back just damn raw. I need some sauce on my oysters, bro

Yeah, they're too oyster for me. I love seafood. It's like my thing really in a whole other world I was a sea creature. Hmm. I thought I was a pirate in my past life because I'm good at navigating Is okay. Yeah, I've been living that stuff. That's crazy. I don't know what I would be in my past life. I think I was an NBA player, I swear. Yeah? I really do think I was like a crazy athlete in my past life where I had this insane NBA

career and that's why I ended up small in my second life. They're like, all right, buddy. Oh, they punished you. You had a really good like living in the tall world, have fun at four foot and I took advantage of it. I literally get to make people smile every day because I'm small. Obviously there's a few other things that I have to add onto it,

but being small has given me the greatest platform ever to make people smile. I love it. What's the mindset overall of small people though, because you met so many. Everyone I think is happy with me, which is so cool. I think what's so cool about being a little person is we're one of the only minorities

where you walk up to us and you're not afraid. You honestly gravitate towards us. You want to meet us. I'm not saying there's any other minorities specifically that you're afraid of or you're a little bit shy or you're just not really wanting to see them or meet them but little people specifically Do you don't see a little person you don't see a little person on the street and go? I do not want to walk up to that guy When you're at the club you want to go walk up to that little person That's what's so cool to be a little person because you already have the advantage

when you're meeting people. That's true. Everybody wants to meet you. Right. It's hard though at the bar because then everyone wants to buy you shots. It's like, dude, I don't need a lot. You only need three, right?

Dude, yeah, three shots and bye bye. Especially when I'm intermittent fasting. I'm like 91 pounds. I do not need a lot of liquor, which is good though, cause it's cheap. Yeah. But then that's a whole other thing. Everyone thinks cause I'm small, my clothing is cheap.

Well guess what? I have a big booty, but I have short limbs. So there I have to get adult sized pants cause of my big booty, but I have to hem them and all that. So it's even more expensive for me to buy pants than you damn As I'm grabbing the same price pants, but then I'm also having to hire some money to have the bottom Wow, that's annoying. So you gotta stop doing squats then uh-huh no no

It's like if you're a little person with a contraplasia. That's like this specific type. I have yeah, you just have a big booty damn So there's specific types within the little people have a wagon That's why I'm excited to see black China tonight Turn I can Spawn over how we have big booties. Yeah, you got to work together. Oh my god. We should work on the table I'd be fire. Yeah, you gotta do some all that work. Let's do it. What are the other types? There's a crime. That's Amelia of dude. I can't even pronounce them But there's a heck of a lot of them. I think there's over 200 what the other one is a hypochondriplasia. That's like one of the main ones That's when you're about like four six. So like you're right around the cutoff, which is four time and

Hypo like you have like longer limbs. You look a little more Normal, I don't like using that word, obviously, but you do look a little more regular. And a lot of them end up in the Paralympics for swimming. Oh, got it. So you could have entered the Paralympics? Yeah, yeah, oh yeah, for sure. But I can't swim. Dude, you throw me in the damn water.

Swimming's tough. I'm very heavy up top. I can't float, dude. Yeah, I sink. I literally can't float. If you ever hate me me just throw me in water Bye. Wait, so if you're four nine and a half. Yeah, you're a little person. Uh Well, like it's like a whole genetic thing

But like technically they just claim if you're under four ten, you're you're good Wow. It's like an over-under thing in sports What's the shortest adult you've seen? Uh, probably two foot. He had like a two super rare, super rare form of dwarfism. Wow. Yeah. He looked up to me for sure. Damn. Yeah. Two's is nice, but he was so happy. It was so cool to see everyone just happy with who they are. And that's such an issue in today's world where everyone just wants to play the victim, everyone wants to be upset with who they are.

Except who the heck you are, man. You only have one life at the end of the day. Accept who you are, come to terms with what you have, whether it's some physical disadvantage, some mental disadvantage. At the end of the day, dude, in this world, if everybody was the same, this world would be so boring. Everybody is unique in their own way. So leverage that. Take that to your advantage and just accept who you are. I love it. And move on with life because you can't change it.

Yeah. That's what I did, dude. I accepted that I was little and I realized because I'm little, now I get to put smiles on millions of freaking faces and how cool is that? I love my life. You're representing guys amazingly man. When I go on social media, sometimes I see people talking about the M word and they look really pissed. Is that a big deal? The word midget, yeah. It is like found upon. I wouldn't ever use it, obviously. I will inform people if they ever say it not to use it, but's one of those words where a lot of people just are uninformed like they're not using it in a negative way

All right, so I rather just not come off aggressively when someone says it and I would rather just say hey It's not really a word that people like to say a lot So yeah, they don't like to be called that and then they're like, oh, I'm so sorry Like a lot of people just simply they don't know what to cause. Right. Which is fine. Which is fair. I don't like the comparison, though, with the other words. Like they a lot of a lot of little people in my community compare it with like

a race, drug, Tory word. And I'm like, oh, really, let's not let's not make that embarrassing because what caused it, because it's like, we used to use the R word, right? Yes, yeah. And I think it was just all those words that were like, I don't know, I don't know what they were, but I think it was like, I don't know what they were,

but I think it was like, I don't know what they were, but I think it was like, I don't know what they were, but I think it was like, I don't know what they were, but I think it was like, I don't know what they were,

but I think it was like, I don't know what they were, but I think it was like, I don't know what they were, but I think it was like, I don't know what they were, but I think it was like, I don't know what they were, but I think it was like, I don't know what they were, but I think it was like, Is where it was like, let's just not use that anymore.

I wonder what caused it, because it's like, we used to use the R word, right? Yes, yeah. I think it was just all those words. They were like, every single minority group was like, all right, what word are we going to cancel out? And everyone decided to remove the word that everyone uses, which is hard, but yeah.

Yeah, it was weird to me. I don't know I didn't make sense everyone wants to play the victim. Yeah, like one day was fine. And then yeah next day You're the worst guy in the world. I'm like afraid and like in like five years, but will the next word be? We can't use yeah for all you just call me a human. Yeah, what's the hack? Human Organism, Okay. Yeah. Is there any like other health implications other than the height? Um, other than having a massive wiener? I'm, um, no, um, there's a few other issues.

Obviously your limbs will get pretty sore, especially if you overeat. There's a lot. It's super easy to overeat as a little person because we have the same like appetite, I guess. Like we have the same size torso, but there's not enough room for the food to go. Wow. And a lot of little people end up overeating and obesity is a massive issue. Really? The issue with obesity with little people is once you get heavy, our legs aren't strong enough to really hold all that weight, so then it becomes a big cluster F. Wow, I didn't know that.

A lot of us ended up in scooters at 40, which is why I ended up intermittent fasting, because I got so anxious. But I kind of take things to like a little bit too far, and then I like really quit eating for a while, and then I've been eating a lot more a lot of Protein bars and everything, but I also eat healthy as well But yeah, there's a lot of other implications a lot of limb issues where like you need surgery or whatnot

But other than that, I think it's just the same issues as everyone else, you know, you get those random You know health issues I guess yeah besides that the fact that we're just happy with who we are that's all that matters there's issues with really tall people too yeah yeah yeah every inch past 510 you lose a year on average but really yeah that's crazy yeah damn so Howard will meet like poor Howard's gonna have some years off his life but if you think about it like what super tall guy do you know that lived long? Holy you know what I mean? Well, they dropped pretty early

This is early in the morning for eye openers. Yeah, no, that's crazy I used to think about it, but I'm gonna look that up after this no look it up It may be a change, but I remember I saw a study about it years ago. Wow. Yeah, I had no idea. I'm 6'6 so I don't know why I have a weird feeling you're gonna live to like you're like 120 I'm pretty healthy, but you are healthy like you're over there having a big spring water out of a glass Yeah, I drink out of glass. I might modify my kids genetics. Okay. Are you having kids? Yes How old are you? 27. Oh Are you in 97? Yeah, 97 to November 6. Oh nice. Nice. That's a 2015 baby. Yes, baby

Let's go. You went to university. Yeah, I didn't make it. What's all the way through Rutgers I think you did very well for yourself without you. Yeah these days you don't really need it as much as you used to YouTube's fine for what I'm using do. I love YouTube University, baby. Dude, it's crazy. You can spend $40,000 a year in university, or you could go to YouTube for free. You just have to watch like a five second ad. I pay for YouTube Red.

OK, so you do like $5 a month. Or you could do $40,000 a year and have to walk to all your classes. Yep. And you don't even like choose what you learn essentially. Nope. University I think is a lot like the R word and the M word where it's like let's just keep it to the past.

Let's find something else. Absolutely. Did you go? I did. I did. But you know what? University for me, I went for finance, which has helped me a lot in my life. The greatest thing that I got out of university

was really accepting who I was, but also I made so many videos online at university, which made me realize I wanna do this as a career. I wanna make content as a career. So university helped me with that. So I wouldn't regret it. University was the greatest four years of my life. It wasn't the greatest thing of my life

because I was the amazing race. But yeah, I loved university. It was fun. Was there any other little people at your university? There was a couple. You know what's weird about little people? When you see them in public and you don't know them, they either like look over at you

and provide you with like head nods. Like, yo, what's up? Yeah, yeah, we're each short. We don't even need to say it. Or they'll like see that you're also small and they'll be like. Oh. And they'll like hide.

They'll avoid you. They're like, we're clearly each short. Like you're going to at least wink at me or something. Damn, so that happened to you? Someone just saw you. Yeah, someone else went to the same university. It was a Canadian one, so it was like a lot smaller. And they didn't even want to have anything to do with me.

What? I feel like I'd want a bond. Dude, at least provide me a wink. Right. Yeah, like I'm small too. Yeah, because who else can relate to your problems? Exactly. Damn.

Exactly. We can relate, baby. Maybe he's just too ashamed. It was a girl. Oh, it was a girl. Yeah, and I just. Oh, so she could have had a crush on you then. Yeah.

You know? Maybe she was flabby with me, Sean. She could have been. Answering my question over to you, I don't think I was ever going to have kids. What? But you said you wanted to adopt. I do. I want to be a single father.

Oh, so you don't even. Can you do that? Yeah. As a single father, maybe. I didn't know. I don't even know. Yeah, I don't even know. So now there's two things after this podcast

that I can look up. One is the average age of someone over five, 10, how long they last, and number two is can you adopt as a single father. So why single though? I just don't think a wife could handle me. Really? Yeah.

You're that wild. Not like wild, I'm just like impatient. You know, like I like to leave the house like on time and stuff. I like to do whatever I want to do when I want to do it. Like even hanging out with my mom now, she like rips my hair apart. It's like, John, slow down. I'm like, I'm just like super hyper. So do you think that's like OCD or something? I think it comes with creating content. I swear I wasn't ever like that.

Like I was always late to everything. But then five years in the social media creation side, it turned me into just like this hyper animal where I just want to get stuff done. Like I want to always be working if that makes any sense. I'm like that too. So yeah, like after this, I plan on going to the shops

in Vegas, grabbing Kim Kardashian skims, wearing them throughout the strip with my small friend. That's hilarious. And we're going to make some videos for that. I'll go viral. Exactly. You always take a clever videos. I love just making random stuff where like you just,

you don't see that every day. Yeah. You know what I mean? So yeah, it'll be fun. That's what you have to do, because too many people copy each other. And everyone's doing the same stuff. It's played out.

Obviously I'm small, so I have that to my advantage already. So that's unique in its own way. But then I want to take it to a whole new level. Yeah, no, I love that, dude, because too many people just follow a trend. And it's like- It is crazy.

Like you see so many of the same videos now. So many. It's so crazy. Like you've been creating for so long I know that because I think our first Message was like four years ago But dude in the last four years like Corona as well created so many new content creators and everyone's creating now Yeah, like it used to be I want to be an NBA player. I want to be an actor

I want to be a firefighter now the kids want to become an NBA player. I want to be an actor. I want to be a firefighter. Now the kids want to become a creator online. Yeah. It's crazy. It's nuts. It's a whole new world. Do you advise upcoming kids to really dive into content creation?

I think if you truly have a passion for it, yes. But I wouldn't force it. I would never force working on something that you don't actually want to do, but you want to do it for the wrong reasons facts They are dude. There's nothing I love more than walking on the street and someone walking up and being like hey, yeah, you really made me smile Hmm, that's cool. Absolutely. How the hell did I do that?

You know what I mean? Like obviously the money and the fact that you have to make a living from this But the fact that we can make people smile and entertain people is such a blessing. Yeah. I love it. Do you see little people struggling to get jobs? Oh yeah, yeah. But it is helping with this whole like new world politically correctness where we are hired now

for unfortunately, I don't want to say the wrong reasons but because we were small. So they have to hire certain amount. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it is hard. Obviously, physical labor.

I don't see us in construction that often or police officers. But that would be an easy way to run away from it. But in finance and all of those jobs, office jobs is, I think think great opportunities for us. But there are a lot of creators though who are small. A lot of them are on that one platform where you remove your clothes. Oh, they make-

I heard about one of them, that one girl that makes like a million a month. Eric Hall or whatever. Dude, all my friends who are average height always hit me up about her. Like, yo, hit her up. I'm like, yo, no. has she been in those orgies at the conferences no she likes average height guys ah like not just average height guys like

big average height guys like Howard guys damn yeah I haven't been on her oaf but it sounds like you have oh no but I've been sent a lot of her videos you ever see my hidden requests on Instagram It's like concerning really people either like are you an M red or hey? Like here's a video of little people without clothes on damn like damn I can't believe you could just send that to someone on Instagram I know and I'm also like well know like it warns you it's like hey Do you want to see this and I'm sorry if I see that I'm freaking going like, yeah, I'm curious.

Pop out on the damn. I'm in the airport now. Someone else can probably see my phone. But yeah, she's crushing it. You make a lot of money as a little person. You just remove your clothes and you upload it. I haven't done it yet. Have you considered it?

I'm not at that point yet. But you know, if times are tough, I'm fully fine with nudity. Like you can I will show my whatever to everybody. I just, my grandma, I just don't know if she'd be happy with me naked online. I feel that. Yeah, family life. I don't really want to hurt her. Yeah, family life might be impacted by that decision.

So I'm gonna keep my hammer in my pants for now. I guess you could blur your face or, you know. So I'm going to keep my hammer in my pants for now. I guess you could blur your face or, you know. Not sure. It would be so easy to just know. Yeah, there's not many people with your ability. That's the thing with the issue with being a little person is I couldn't rob a bank. Why?

Because even if I put on a mask, like the shape, like the silhouette of us is quite obvious what it is. That's how I feel too. And dude, there's like you just say how many little people flew into that city today or like are from that city. And then there's like what, like 40 of us and then after that, it's pretty easy to find out. Yeah.

Well, you're in Toronto, so maybe there is. Yeah. So I can't rub a bank on top of that. Like, let's be honest, our legs aren't that large. Yeah. Yeah, so I can't rub a bank on top of that like let's be honest our legs aren't that Large right so running away was not really an option. Have you ever ran a mile? Uh, yeah in four hours There's a great four hours. I was exhausted. How old were you when you met your first little person? That's a really good question I was three years old. Oh, yeah. So I had no clue I was even like small at that point. I was like, I guess small. Yeah.

And you remember this? Oh, yeah, not really like vividly, but then when I was eight years old That's when I like really made close friends with another little person who grew up half an hour for me Yeah, and then we played a lot of hockey. We watched a lot of hockey we did I was really into wrestling for some reason like the fake one or whatever and And then we played a lot of hockey. We watched a lot of hockey. We did. I was really into wrestling for some reason, like the fake one or whatever. And then we really connected. It's so good for little people to grow up with another little person friend. Right.

That's why those conventions that happen every year are so crucial. Yeah. Especially bringing your little person kid to those events at a young age. Super crucial. Yeah, I love that dude. Yeah. Well John, it's been a blast. Anything else you want to close off with? Any predictions for tonight's game? Um, well first I want to tell the audience, dude, if you're struggling to accept who you are, if you have any issues with your life, physically or mentally, accept who you are. No matter what, you are who you are. You can't really change it. Just keep on moving on. We're all unique in our own ways. If everybody was the same in this world, this world would be a boring place.

And that's why it's so exciting, because everyone is different in their own way. Accept who you are and love everybody, because guess what? Hate literally brings you nowhere. Well, actually, there are like a lot of celebrities like from just hating, but besides that, hate will bring you nowhere in life. Well actually there are like a lot of celebrities like from just hating but besides that hate will bring you nowhere in life. Also Sean it was such a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me on.

You are one of the hardest working people I've ever not met because this is the first time I'm actually physically meeting you but I've been following you so long so thank you so much for having me on. My prediction for tonight's game is I truly think that Ashley Nassera is going to win this thing. Whoa. Yeah, she's smart. I love Ashley Nassera. She is such a great person, but she's also from Jersey, so she has that like year from

there as well, right? That like super grinding mindset. I just feel like she's in it to win it. And she's a good trash talker too. Super nice girl, but she's also a good trash talker. Ashley and Sarah is my prediction to win this thing. I'll keep an eye on her. I'll see you at the final table though, right?

Dude, yes you will. I promise you. Let's do it. All right brother, thank you so much. Love you. Sorry, I had to like hop off your chair. I know you have a long reach, but I definitely don't. You're gonna have to have the bass guys.

Thank you guys.