Kathy Burke has announced she’s leaving the chart-topping podcast Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake.
After insisting “you’ll get 20 episodes out of me”, Kathy went on to host over 100 episodes, achieve millions of downloads and present a sell-out live show.
The podcast – which sees celebrity guests talk about their perfect funeral – will release its last new episode with her as host tomorrow, Tuesday 18 February. She will hand over the reins to a new host who will be announced soon.
In true Kathy-style, she shared a foul-mouthed farewell to her listeners, saying: “So, lovely listeners, my darling deathlings. You know, I’m an old f**k now, we all know that. Anyway, the thing is, my darlings, I’ve decided I have to say goodbye to this fantastic podcast. And the reason is […] I’ve loved this job so much.
“I said to [Exec Producer] Big God Ollie when he first asked me to do the gig, ‘Look, you’ll probably get about twenty episodes out of me, and I’ve ended up doing over 100’. Now there is proof that I have really f**king enjoyed myself.
“I’ve loved meeting all the guests. I’ve loved having my friends in real life on the show. The live show was just fantastic – a great night with the marvellous Tom Davis. But I’ve been doing it for two years.
“I’m a gypsy, darling. I’m a gypsy at heart. I need to do other things. I need to be creative and stop reading other people’s f**king memoirs.
“So, if you don’t mind, I’m just gonna have a little break. Hopefully, I might be back. Who knows? One day in the future. But thank you all very, very much for welcoming me with open arms into the podcast world.”
Kathy, who has has sat down with the likes of Danny Dyer, Kim Cattrall, James Acaster, Dawn French and Stanley Tucci as they planned their final days on earth, went on to explain: “The show itself is going to continue because it is brilliant.
“You all love it. There’s going to be a brand-new presenter, which will be extremely exciting. So, I’m just going to say goodbye for now. And, most importantly, I’ve really loved working with this team. They’ve really made this a very, very special job for me. We really, really loved it and listen, please carry on listening because it’s a fantastic idea.
“It’s a really, really important talking point. Despite us having a laugh about it, it’s really helped people talk about death and it’s helped a lot of people come to terms with grief that they’re going through.”
From Tuesday 25 February, exclusive content from the podcast’s ‘Six Feet Under’ subscription channel will be available, starting with an episode with Rylan.
Then, there will be a special “Purgatory Season” beginning in March. It will feature pairs from the podcasting world bringing their deaths to life on the Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake feed.
Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake is available on all podcast platforms.
