The Anita Podcast

About The Anita Podcast

The chat they've been waiting to have all day. The one you didn't know you needed. Anita Anabel spent nearly a decade as an entertainment journalist getting people to open up for a living. Now she sits across from everyone from MasterChef judges to TikTok creators to international stars — sharing as much as she's asking. Every conversation ends up in the same place: the gap between who someone appears to be and who they're actually becoming. Because nobody, no matter how it looks from the outside, ever has it all figured out. Anita makes guests feel safe enough to say the thing they've never said before and listeners leave feeling seen and hopeful. That’s the real BFE - Big Friend Energy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Publisher

Anita Anabel

Category

news · society & culture · tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

22 Apr 2026

Latest episode

11 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

14 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   11 Aug 2026

   Rachael Evren

   You know her as @rachevren. She's the hot geek who went from dancing with a lightsaber in a bikini to being the only female creator in the world to interview Anthony Mackie for Captain America: Brave New World. She hosted a Wednesday Netflix live stream to 40 million viewers with no teleprompter, screaming fans (us), an earpiece in... and she nailed it. This week's guest is a media presenter, entertainment creator, and co-founder of movie discovery app Cued It — and right now she's one of 22 celebrities trying to figure out who's lying to their face in season three of The Traitors Australia. We got into the Traitors, the mystery ex-boyfriend who may or may not have had a secret child, why she went brunette and covered herself in tattoos after Love Island, her BPD diagnosis, therapy, growing up in a broken home, and the moment she realised her emotions were never the problem. Find Rachael @rachevren on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Download the Cued It app at the link in her bio. Find Anita @hi.itsanita on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. Watch The Traitors Australia on Tuesdays and Wednesdays on 10 or catch up on 10Play. Listen to The Anita Podcast wherever you listen and watch full episodes on YouTube. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

2. 

   5 Aug 2026

   Ariana Grande, Body Image & the Cost of Staying Silent

   Natasha Lee on the eating disorder that nearly killed her as a fourteen-year-old TV star, and what her story means for how we're all talking about Ariana Grande right now. Ariana just confirmed she's stepping back from public life after years of her body being picked apart online. Natasha lived the opposite version twenty years ago on the set of Always Greener, disappearing in plain sight while nobody said a word. One woman surrounded by constant noise and speculation, the other suffering in silence. The same failure of care for both. This week's guest, Natasha Lee, walks through the eating disorder that hospitalised her at fourteen, the industry that wrote a weight clause into her contract instead of asking if she was okay, and what she'd want anyone watching Ariana right now to actually do about it. Find Natasha on Instagram @tashleetashlee. Find Anita @hi.itsanita on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. Listen to The Anita Podcast wherever you listen and watch full episodes on YouTube. Read Natasha's Op Eds here: https://themotherhood.substack.com/p/being-a-child-actor-nearly-killed and https://www.mediaweek.com.au/silence-isnt-always-kindness-ariana-grande-debate If this episode brought anything up for you, please reach out. Butterfly Foundation National Helpline: 1800 334 673 · butterfly.org.au Lifeline (24/7): 13 11 14 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

3. 

   28 Jul 2026

   Mikaela Copland - Tall Poppy Mgmt

   Mikaela Copland on flipping tall poppy syndrome into a talent agency — and the One Direction Tumblr blog she never told her school friends about. 35K followers. Self-taught HTML. A model nobody thought would get into Melbourne Fashion Week. One email, sent on pure audacity, that landed her artist a festival slot everyone said was out of reach. And the year One Direction fandom stopped being fun. This week's guest is proof the internet raised some of us right. Find Mikaela on Instagram @mikaelacopland and @tallpoppymgmt Find Anita @hi.itsanita on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok Listen to The Anita Podcast wherever you listen and watch full episodes on YouTube. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

4. 

   7 Jul 2026

   Layne Beachley AO

   Layne Beachley is a surfing legend. Seven world titles. Six of them back to back — a record nobody in the sport, male or female, has ever come close to touching. But the real story is everything inside, out and in between. Adopted at birth, and later learning the truth of how she was conceived, Layne spent years quietly deciding she'd only be lovable if she became a champion at something. In this episode we go deep on tall poppy syndrome, the sixth world title that broke her body completely, the phone call from her birth mother that flipped her life over in five minutes and how she turned every single setback into fuel. Today she's a fierce advocate for equality in sport, a champion for mental wellness, and a proud ambassador for The Black Dog Institute, R U OK? Day and Gotcha4Life. She's also co-founder of Awake Academy, where she helps individuals and organisations reclaim their energy, resilience and purpose. This one is raw, hilarious, and full of what she calls "Laneisms" — one-liners you'll absolutely want to adopt. 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. 📲 Find Awake Academy at awakeacademy.com.au 📲 Follow Layne: @laynebeachley on Instagram 📲 Follow Anita: @hi.itsanita on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Hit follow so you never miss an episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

5. 

   30 Jun 2026

   Wesley Senna Cortes

   Wesley Senna Cortes was one of three leads on the final season of The Bachelor Australia, and trust me, there's a lot more to him than what made the final cut. We get into the moment reality TV producers asked him for his "character trajectory" (yep, that's a real thing they say), what it actually cost him mentally to come back from filming, and a casting director scandal he ended up blowing wide open. We also spoke about his fight to stay in this country, what nobody tells you about the visa system, and the phone call that changed his life before any of this even started. This one's funny, it's heavy, and it's nothing like the guy you think you remember from TV. Hit follow so you never miss an episode of The Anita Podcast, and come find me at hi.itsanita on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube for more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

6. 

   23 Jun 2026

   Steve Toussaint (HBO's House of the Dragon) - Quick Hit

   In this Quick Hit episode, Anita sits down with Steve Toussaint from HBO's House of the Dragon. In town to promote Season 3, we chat about the wigs that turn him into Corlys Velaryon, imposter syndrome, and the film he just wrote that changed everything. We also got real about his acting process, what it costs to stay vulnerable, and what he's learned in his 30 year career. Our chat was only 10 minutes but it packed a huge punch! Subscribe to The Anita Podcast wherever you listen and follow @hi.itsanita on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for more. Follow Steve @thegenuinetoussaint Season 3 of HBO's House of the Dragon is now streaming on HBO Max. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

7. 

   17 Jun 2026

   Did Taylor Parker Actually Believe Her Own Lies? | Maternal Instinct Netflix - Culture Deep Dive

   This is the first Culture Deep Dive on The Anita Podcast Trigger warning: This episode contains detailed discussion of murder, pregnancy loss, infant death, and graphic crime scene details. Listener discretion is advised. If you've watched Netflix's Maternal Instinct — or lived through the phenomenon that was The Crash — you already know how deep a true crime documentary can get under your skin. Maternal Instinct got under mine. The fake pregnancy. The forged documents. The silicone baby bump. The gender reveal. Ten months of a lie so elaborate it's almost impossible to comprehend. But the question that really got me wasn't how she did it. It was: did Taylor Parker actually believe her own lies? In this episode I go deep on the Taylor Parker case — the full story, the psychology underneath it, and the details the documentary doesn't fully unpack. Then I'm joined by Gary Fahey — the man who ran the Australian Prime Minister's Protection Team and the Office of the AFP Commissioner, holds a Masters in Brain and Mind Sciences, and is currently doing a PhD in conscious decision making and identity-based psychology. Gary also has lived experience of exactly what it looks like when a person's internal world completely breaks down. We get into Taylor's brain — literally. The frontal lobe dysfunction. The atrophy. The clinical term that might change how you think about everything she did. ⏱ Already watched the documentary? Skip to Gary's interview — timecode: 17:44:10. 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the full episode on YouTube. 📲 Find Gary at garyfahey.com 📲 Follow Anita: @hi.itsanita on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube 📌 Fact check — Gary mentioned ghrelin: Ghrelin is the hormone that signals hunger. It rises when your stomach is empty and drops when you're full — an inverse response. It's one of the key hormones that regulates appetite and is heavily studied in the context of addiction, compulsive behaviour and reward-seeking. #MaternalInstinct #Netflix #TaylorParker #TrueCrime #TrueCrimeAustralia #TheAnitaPodcast #CultureDeepDive #GaryFahey #AustralianPodcast #TrueCrimePodcast #ReaganSimmonsHancock #Psychology #Netflix2026 #TheCrash #EntertainmentInterview Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

8. 

   9 Jun 2026

   Josh Partington - Content Creator Series

   ⚠️ This episode contains adult themes and language. Not one for the kids. ⚠️ Josh Partington started posting comedy content in August 2024. Within months he had over a hundred thousand followers and four million views on a single video. In this episode of The Anita Podcast, Anita sits down with the Melbourne-based content creator behind @keepingitjosh — the TikTok account making Australians feel deeply seen, wildly nostalgic, and absolutely certain they grew up in the same house. He was a self-confessed "background character" at school. Tried uni, lasted four weeks. Bounced between jobs he couldn't sit still in. Then one night his girlfriend said you should just post comedy videos — and everything changed. We also get into the teen social media ban, why finding out 68% of his audience are women completely floored him, and the personal moment that made him realise life is too short not to back yourself. Oh, and we finally find out whether Josh is actually a teacher. The internet has been asking. He answers. This one is funny, surprisingly deep, and goes places you won't expect. A big conversation with a guy who's only just getting started. 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. 📲 Follow Josh: @keepingitjosh on TikTok · @joshparto on Instagram 📲 Follow Anita: @hi.itsanita on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube #JoshPartington #keepingitjosh #TheAnitaPodcast #AustralianPodcast #ContentCreator #TikTokAustralia #AustralianContentCreator #PodcastAustralia #CreatorSeries Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

9. 

   2 Jun 2026

   Aicha Robertson - Content Creator Series

   She wanted to be the next James Nachtwey. She ended up being the internet's favourite pop culture girl. And honestly? We think she won. Aicha Robertson — fashion blogger, beauty creator, movie critic, and pop culture commentator behind The Fashion Heist and now Aichark — is the very first guest in The Anita Podcast's content creator series. And she did not come to play. We talk about what Aicha Robertson actually studied at uni (yes, she has a journalism degree, sort of), the Brisbane fashion show that changed her entire trajectory, the Blogspot that no longer exists (RIP, genuinely), and how COVID accidentally built her a whole new career in movies and pop culture content. We get into Australian Idol, the Netflix Bridgerton gig, what it really takes to build something real in an industry that makes it look effortless, and the version of Aicha the world hasn't seen yet — but absolutely should. Also: she's a hypochondriac who gives herself diseases after watching medical dramas and dreams of doing Cabaret on Broadway. So there's that. This one is warm, real, and a little unhinged in the best way. Grab your headphones. 🎧 Follow Aicha → @aicharkk Listen wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes dropping Wednesdays. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

10. 

    19 May 2026

    Finn Little

    Before he was third billing on Paramount+'s Dutton Ranch alongside Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser, Finn Little was a softly spoken kid from Brisbane who liked fishing in the river, was obsessed with magic, and had no idea that a School Zone TV commercial at age five would lead to sharing a set with some of the greatest actors of our generation. Geoffrey Rush. Angelina Jolie. Nicolas Cage. Kevin Costner. Annette Bening. Ed Harris. All before turning 20. We talk about growing up on set instead of in a classroom, what Taylor Sheridan said when he called to tell Finn he'd written Carter specifically for him, the horse he rode for years that he still misses, the hat he never got to keep, and the phone call that changed absolutely everything. He doesn't love talking about himself, which turned into something so pure! Love it! Dutton Ranch is streaming now on Paramount+. But first — meet the kid from Brisbane. Dutton Ranch premiered with two episodes on Friday, 15 May with new episodes dropping weekly! 🎧 Watch the Dutton Ranch official trailer: here (https://youtu.be/_oKbFzvm7ao) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

11. 

    12 May 2026

    Jasmin Tarasin

    ⚠️ Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussion of domestic violence, coercive control, emotional abuse, financial abuse, and intergenerational trauma. Please take care of yourself while listening. If you or someone you know needs support, contact the 1800RESPECT national helpline on 1800 737 732 — available 24/7. This episode is not suitable for kids. I sat down with Jasmin Tarasin — director of the stunning new Australian film Life Could Be a Dream — and I was not prepared for how deeply personal this conversation would become. For both of us. Life Could Be a Dream follows Sarah, a forty-year-old woman navigating her way out of a coercive marriage while trying to model strength for her teenage son. It's a film about emotional abuse, shame, survival, and what it actually takes to start over. Starring Maeve Dermody and Alexander England, with Jasmin's own son Sonny McGee in a breakthrough performance. We talk about why coercive control is so hard to see from the inside, why women don't ask for help, and why the most dangerous version of an abuser is the charming one. We also get into the unique and delicate dynamic between single mothers and their sons during adolescence — and what we owe our kids when it comes to modelling what healthy love actually looks like. Jasmin grew up witnessing multigenerational domestic violence firsthand. This film is personal. And it shows in every frame. And my key takeaway from Jasmin? The fairytale we were sold since childhood — the one about being rescued, being completed, being kept — it's the very thing that can keep us trapped. Rewriting that story takes courage. But it's possible. And it starts with knowing what to look for. In this episode: What coercive control really looks like in middle and upper-class relationships — and why it stays invisible The Jekyll-and-Hyde dynamic of the charming abuser and why it's more terrifying than physical violence How children absorb toxic behaviour without knowing it's wrong The shame that stops women from asking for help Why financial independence is one of the most radical acts of self-protection The impact campaign partnering with CommBank Next Chapter and The Man Cave The phone call that changed Jasmin's life About the film: Life Could Be a Dream is in cinemas now through Palace Cinemas. $1 from every ticket sold goes directly to The Man Cave — Australia's leading preventative mental health charity for young men. CommBank Next Chapter supports people across Australia experiencing financial abuse. commbank.com.au/nextchapter The Man Cave: themancave.com.au Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

12. 

    5 May 2026

    Ana Thu Nguyen

    In this engaging interview of The Anita Podcast, actor Ana Thu Nguyen shares her inspiring journey from childhood in Sydney's Shire to becoming a rising star in Hollywood. She discusses her cultural roots, the importance of authenticity in acting, and the serendipity behind her role in Mortal Kombat II, offering valuable insights for aspiring actors and fans alike. This week's key takeaway: Trust your instincts and let go! Follow Ana - @anathunguyen Mortal Kombat Official Site - https://www.mortalkombat.com/ Follow Anita - @hi.itsanita Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

13. 

    29 Apr 2026

    Justin Hill

    If you know Justin Hill, you know he's the guy who shows up to an interview in a Schiaparelli-inspired suit covered in brooches just to break the ice with Nicola Coughlan — and it worked. Spectacularly. Justin is one of Australia's most recognised entertainment reporters, host of Loud and Proud on Hayu and Drag Race Down Under: The Podcast for Stan, and the man whose Wicked interview went so viral it ended up on Good Morning America. He's also, full disclosure, one of my friends — which made this conversation honest and a little nerdy about the industry we work in! We get into all of it — the years of grinding before he made it, what it actually felt like to walk away from the Kyle and Jackie O show, how he built his own TV series from a single phone call, and why starting over is sometimes the best thing that can happen to you. We also talk fashion, FOMO, jealousy, and the very specific kind of exhaustion that comes from being your own producer, editor, stylist, and Uber passenger all in one night. Follow Justin on socials @jus_hill Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

14. 

    22 Apr 2026

    Poh Ling Yeow

    You think you know her but after this conversation, you'll know her a little differently. In the very first episode of The Anita Podcast, host and entertainment journalist Anita sits down with Poh Ling Yeow — MasterChef Australia Season 1 runner-up, TV host, painter, and now judge on MasterChef Australia Season 18. They go deep on navigating chaos in television production, dealing with online hate without losing yourself, the unexpected path that brought Poh back to MasterChef, letting go of perfectionism, what love really looks like when you stop getting in your own way, and the ongoing, beautiful, messy evolution of becoming who you're meant to be. This is The Anita Podcast — the people you know, the stories you don't. Catch Poh on Season 18 of MasterChef Australia on Ten and 10Play. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

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