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What if growing up didn’t mean growing out of the things you love?
For the very first episode of Charmed, Sam Todd is joined by actor, author and collector Chloe Hayden to talk about the tiny treasures, childhood obsessions and sentimental objects that become part of who we are.
Chloe takes us inside her collections, from a lifelong Titanic obsession and hundreds of model horses to Bratz dolls, Pokémon cards and pieces she kept from Heartbreak High. She and Sam also get into the joy of collecting as an adult, why your treasures are meant to be enjoyed, and finding your way back to the things you once thought you had to grow out of.
Then, for Show Me Your Charm, Chloe brings in an extraordinary Titanic keepsake with a story that perfectly sums up why the things we save can mean so much.
Because maybe growing up isn’t about losing your childhood obsessions. Maybe it’s finally getting to love them without being embarrassed.
Charmed, with Sam Todd. Stories worn to tell, with Pandora.
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Follow Sam Todd on instagram/ TikTok @SamTodd
HOSTED BY: Sam Todd
PRODUCED BY: Sally Best
DOP: Becky Lillyman
VIDEO EDITOR: Phoebe Edwards
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Shauna Anderson
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Land on which we have recorded this podcast.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transkriptvom Podcast bereitgestellt · Zeitmarken springen hin
Charmed is all about our collections and our memories and why they matter. Our keepsakes can be a representation of personal style and quality, a reminder of who we are. Some stories are worn to tell with Pandora. Keep listening for more.
These are all of my babies. Right? These are my children.
Yes, I love them all equally.
Yes, I birthed them all personally.
You just get it. She was a true horse.
She was a true horse. Oh my God, release them from plastic prison. Plastic prison! Plastic prison, get them out!
Hi, I'm Sam Todd, and welcome to Charmed. This is a show about the things we keep. The random little things, the sentimental things, the stuff that probably looks like nothing to anyone else, but for some reason, you can never throw it away. Every episode, I'll be chatting to someone about the bits and pieces they've held on to and what those things say about memory, nostalgia, obsession, and the person they were when they found them. Because yes, sometimes we collect things. Some of us, a lot of things.
But most of the time, I think we're really just trying to hold on to a feeling. Today, I'm chatting to Chloe Hayden about the tiny things that somehow say everything. This episode is about bag charms, aka purse pals. Jewelry, watches, sunglasses, hair clips, pins, jellycats, squishmallows, sunny angels, blind boxes, plush toys, labooboos, miniature objects, and all the small objects that people collect, wear, carry, and keep close. And yes, we talk about why fully grown adults, such as myself, will line up, hunt, trade, and spiral over softness, sparkle, nostalgia, and the perfect tiny thing.
But first, we're going to throw to our weekly Get to Know Me segment. Every week I put a question box on my Instagram story pertaining to this week's topic on Charmed and this week's topic being trinkets and collectibles and whatnot, brought in some fabulous questions. Our first question comes from Nat and she asks, do you collect any trinkets that you don't show online very often slash aren't as popular? And I do because there's a lot of things that I do in my life online to post about, but I do believe that Every time you post about something, you kind of give it away to the public. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but I do like to have things that are just for me or just for me and my partner, Harry. And together we collect
specific dolls from the Duffy and Friends universe. I collect Cookie Anne, who is a yellow fluffy puppy dog. Actually, there is a Cookie Anne hiding back here. Look through to the video stream if you can, but if you're just listening, she is wearing a princess outfit and she is absolutely adorable. And Harry collects her counterpart, Olimel, who is a green turtle that is not with us today.
But these dolls are made by Disney and they come in so many different outfits that are exclusive to the different Disney parks throughout the world, specifically in Asia. And when I tell you there are a lot of outfits, there are a lot of outfits for every holiday, every occasion, and we collect all of them. I would say that I have about 50 Cookie Hand dolls and Harry has about 40 Olimil dolls in his collection. Next up, Michaela asks, is there collectibles you've bought but no longer like, care for or wear? And you know what I'm really enjoying about this podcast is that I can be really candid and honest with you and I will never lie to you.
What I do regret a little bit is.
Some of the figurines that I've collected because I like to collect things that have a purpose. You know, I love purse piles because I can wear them on my bag. and style them as an extra part of my outfit. I love my dolls because I can brush their hair and dress them up. But some of the figurines that I've bought serve no purpose aside from to sit.
On a shelf.
And I got a lot of things sitting on my shelf. So in recent times, I have downsized my figurine collection a little bit by selling them on Depop. And then that has given me more money to collect more of the things that I actually use and enjoy. And our final question comes from Allegra who asks, where slash how do you store all of your collectibles? I live in a very small apartment. It has two bedrooms and one bedroom is my closet room. And it is very, very small.
It's basically a closet sized room, but every inch of my apartment is decorated with collectibles. We have strings hanging above doors with omamores hanging off them. We have shelves that have Monchichis all the way across. I like to group my things. Like all of my Bratz dolls are on one shelf. All of my Monchichis are in this spot.
I also have a lot of clear display cases that I put the figurines in. But there is no secret to it. There is just stuff everywhere. But that's how I like it. I know some people love minimalism and that makes them feel calm and collected, but I love looking around my apartment and seeing little mementos of all of my adventures everywhere. It makes me smile. It makes me feel so comfortable and safe and at home. And that's what's important to me. And on that note, there were a lot of questions in the question box on my Instagram story asking me to do an apartment tour.
And I understand because you want to see how I store all of this stuff. So I have delivered for you in celebration of this episode of Charmed coming out, I have filmed an apartment tour that is now live on my Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. So go and watch it after you listen to this. After the break, we're going to be joined by Chloe Hayden to talk about the tiny things we collect, wear, carry, and keep close and why they can end up meaning so much. You know, one of the things I love about this podcast is how quickly a tiny treasure can open up a whole story.
a charm, a bracelet, a souvenir from a trip. For me personally, I love to collect Pandora charms and have been collecting them for my whole life. There are many types to collect and they all tell different stories. Whether it's exclusive charms you can only get when you visit a certain city or country, charms you can earn from completing a marathon, that's right, I ran a marathon for a Pandora charm, or even rare vintage charms that I love scouring the internet for, like their treasure. Each charm tells a different part of my life story, and I love that I can wear and see my memories every single day. If you're thinking about the stories you wear or the moments you'd love to hold on to, you can discover more at pandora.net. Chloe Hayden is an actor, author,
content creator, and advocate, she can truly do it all, whose world has always had a strong connection to identity, comfort, creativity, and self-expression. Today, we're talking about the small things that say everything, the charms, jewelry, keyrings, plush toys, collectibles, accessories, and tiny objects that can become part of how we present ourselves to the world. Welcome, Chloe, to the Charmed Podcast.
I am so ecstatic to have you on because I feel like you are equally as enthusiastic about trinkets and treasures as me, and you've brought a lot of wonderful things to share with us today.
I have.
But to start, I want to take us back to the very start. Can you remember the first object that you became absolutely obsessed with?
Oh my goodness. The first object was a ridiculously large one. My first ever obsession was Titanic. The ship. The ship.
The ship, the movie, the legend.
Do you know what? I didn't see the movie until I was maybe like 10. And back then it was a VHS and it was on two VHSs because of how long the movie was. But no, the ship itself was my first obsession. I walked into my granddad's study one day and- He, his special interest is trains, but he also has like, you know, ships and helicopters and planes and all that sort of stuff. All vessels of transport.
You know how they're like, oh, autism didn't exist back in the day. It did.
It has always existed.
I saw this like huge book on Titanic and there might as well been like that holy angel music with Beans are, yes.
We'll let it get onto you right now.
Thank you. And I picked it up and the rest is history. And that was when I was maybe like three or four.
So this was a model ship of the Titanic?
No, this was a book. This was an encyclopedia on Titanic. And I don't know what it is about it. Um, Titanic is also like a very like autistic thing. I don't know what it is. Um, but I just became obsessed with it and it's been my biggest obsession ever since.
Do you now have a collection of Titanic items?
You need to see my house. I will send you a photo afterwards.
Oh my God. Can we put it in the podcast?
Yes, absolutely.
Oh my God.
The girls would.
Love to see it.
Yes. I have so much Titanic. It is ridiculous. Walk us through it. Um, I think I have every single book on Titanic ever made.
Um, I have.
Multiple copies of Titanic on video.
Do you have VHS, DVD, Blu-ray?
Correct, correct. The whole kit and caboodle, the whole LinkedIn.
Of course.
I have the first ever publication from National Geographic after it was found. The original? You are the.
Current owner of the original manuscript.
No, no, no. Sorry, sorry, sorry. So the Titanic itself, when it was found at the bottom of the ocean, National Geographic published an article about it in their magazine. And I own a copy of that magazine that came out after it was found.
Wow, like the discovery of the Titanic.
Discovery of Titanic, yeah.
That is a piece of history.
I found it for 10 cents at Vinnie's. Ten cents. Right.
It should be $ 10 million.
Right. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. What else do I own? I own the giant Lego, like the big heck off sized one. What else do I have? I have a pocket watch. It's got Titanic on it. I have a piece of cobblestone from the shipyard that it was made of. How did you come to be in possession?
I stole it. How did you steal it from the shipyard? Were you there?
Did you travel all the way to it? I literally went all the way to Belfast, which is in Northern Ireland, just to go see the shipyard where Titanic was made. And there was a piece of couple of stone that was like, broken and I was like no one's gonna miss this.
It's a perfect addition to your collection.
That's what I thought.
I think you just like me understand that items aren't just items. Like that might be a piece of cobblestone to someone else but that is a treasure to us.
Exactly.
How does it make you feel when you look at your collection of Titanic items?
I am so excited. I mean I don't have a child but I imagine it's the same way that a mother feels looking at her child.
These are all of my babies.
Right? These are my children.
Yes I love them all.
Yes I birthed them all personally.
You just get it. And I feel like your Titanic collection is widely known, but do you have any collections that nobody knows about?
Oh, my goodness. Let me think. I am a chronic yapper. I can't keep anything to myself.
Same.
So I feel like anything I say, people will be like, Quinn, you've been speaking about that for a minute. What else have I got? I collect model horses. I have hundreds of them.
Hundreds?
Hundreds of them. I collect Brea and Schleich, which are both these, like, old, like, plastic they used to be hand-painted model horses.
So those are a specific type of model horse love that you're wearing a horse t-shirt today too yeah thank you this is a safe space for proud horse girls.
Yes exactly horse girls are cool horse girls used to get bullied like when I was a horse girl in school I got bullied now it's like all of the designer brands are making like chaps and like Horse riding boots. Like, it's, like, cool to be a horse girl now. I was like, all right, now you'll come back. Okay, okay.
You were there from the start.
I've been there from day dot. I've been a day dot horse girlie.
Did you pretend to ride imaginary horses in primary school? Oh, my God, yes. Because that was my jam. I was in saddle club in my dreams.
Yes. I would, when I was in primary school at recess, I had this group of girls and we would all pretend. We didn't pretend to ride horses. We pretended to be horses. Oh, okay.
We're taking it one step further.
Yeah, we would, like, gallop around. I was... I would like, I can't run properly. I can only gallop like in PA.
She was a true horse.
She was a true horse.
I love that who you were as a young girl though has carried all the way through because that's how I feel too. Like all of the things that I collect now, like the Bratz dolls, they were what I loved when I was younger and I lost them a little bit somewhere along the way. But now that we're women, coming back to the things that we love is so special.
Oh my God. Yeah. It's yeah. I'm the exact same.
I think.
There's something so I think empowering actually about falling in love with the stuff that kind of got kicked out of you somewhere along the way.
Yes, and it's like owning who you truly are. I know that you have a collection of Bratz dolls as well. I saw a video that you posted recently where you got the legendary Facebook Marketplace haul with hundreds of Bratz dolls, Bratz outfits, Bratz babies.
The big Bratz babies.
I've never been more envious. First of all, how much was that? I got.
So this was like.
It was the most amount of brats I've ever seen.
It was insane. And they were all original, like from 2001. And they also all came with the little trading cards.
No way.
That came with them. The ones that, I don't know what it's called, but like when you move it like this, it's like two images. Yes.
So whoever had them was a true collector.
Yeah.
I want to know why they were getting rid of it. Right? Are they going to regret that?
Right, right, right. It came with like the instruction manual for like anything that was like an electronics sort of thing. It came with posters. Um, like all of the original outfits, all the earrings are still in, all the earrings are still in, the necklaces are still on. Um, I got all of them and I got like the lot of it for 350, which I personally think is like insane. Yeah. Right.
Like that's so cheap.
Some of these collector's brats go one for 350.
No, exactly. That's insane. That's what I'm saying.
It's insane. And especially having the earrings and the necklaces, because that's always a casualty. Priceless! I can't believe a collector like that let that go.
I messaged them and I was like, I will pick this up immediately. I'd look at my husband and I'd go, get in the car.
Everybody who missed out on Facebook Marketplace would be stoked.
I received so many messages from people after I posted that video being like, it was you that got it.
This has inspired me because I'm not very active on Facebook Marketplace.
Girl, get on it. Facebook Marketplace is where it's at.
I need to become. I don't know if this is a hot take, but all of my Bratz dolls I take out of the boxes. I don't have the posters.
I don't have the cards.
I don't have the boxes because I actually want to play with them. I want to style them. I want to brush their hair. Do you agree?
Oh, my God. Release them from plastic prison. Plastic prison. Plastic prison. Get them out.
What is the point of our treasures if not to enjoy them?
No, I agree 100%. I haven't got any of my dolls in their plastic prison.
I'm so glad you get it. They can't breathe.
Right?
Every time I post unboxing them and people are like, how dare you? How could you do this? You've completely devalued it.
But also, it's yours. The value isn't what you see the value in. I'm not going to be reselling it. No, exactly.
The point is not to keep it in pristine condition and make it worth a million dollars in 50 years' time. The point is to enjoy our future now. To enjoy it now.
Did you see that girl? I don't remember her name, but she's from a K-pop group. And she bought a PSA 10 graded Pokemon card and opened it to put in the back of her phone. Yes. And everyone was... reeling her for it because they're like oh my god she's completely destroyed the value i'm like absolutely not she was she's increased the value for her because now she's using it for her purpose.
And if you're so lucky to get this super rare pokemon card isn't the whole point to then enjoy.
Your amazing that's what i'm saying yeah.
Isn't that the whole point yes do you collect pokemon cards i do i've only just started collecting pokemon cards i was collecting swap cards since a swap card is.
Um they're the they're old my my mum got me into them when I was really really little um and they're traditionally on the back of like playing cards and they're these beautiful vintage designs and I collect horse ones um.
So for the record they have nothing to do with Pokemon.
No but same kind of vibe where it's like full different worlds um and I would collect them I would buy them from markets and vintage shops and took my mum's collection and stuff like that and I loved that so I've I've always kind of been into like cards i guess but never really fully got into pokemon um i've played like all the pokemon games and i've watched the anime.
I always love the pokemon games i play every single one that comes out and every single one has the same storyline and i eat it up every time.
No exactly i love it exactly exactly i need to get the switch too because i want to play pokopio oh.
It's amazing i I've built a whole entire world.
Oh my God. I want it so bad. Yeah. I like, I've always loved the games and the series and stuff. And I just haven't gotten to the cards. Cause I was like, don't look, you don't need any more obsession.
As soon as I like let the floodgates open.
No, that's it. That's it. Cause the thing with me is I can't like just like something casually. I have to, I'm either like, I hate it or I'm obsessed with it.
We are kindred spirits.
Yes.
If I have to, if I get one, I have to have them all.
No.
And that's exactly it. So I was like, don't look at the Pokemon cards. Cause I know you're going to be obsessed with them. So I couldn't let myself. And then I was like, oh, go on. And so I went into Facebook Marketplace.
Your favorite shop?
My favorite place. And I just found this kid who was selling like every single Pokemon card they had. And it was like, I shit you not, maybe like $ 2, 500. And did you buy every single one? I bought every single one.
$ 2, 500?
I bought every single one. And they were like, I didn't know how Pokemon worked. So they were mostly bulk cards, which are like not very valuable. But- I bought them all and then I was like, oh shit, I'm obsessed with these.
And so you went from having zero to having 2,500 in one go. And you've got one here today.
I do, I do.
What is this? Is this your favorite one?
This is my favorite graded one. So graded means that they're in the plastic. I was about to ask.
So graded is in the plastic, protected.
Yes. So this was, this is what the whole stink about was with the girls. That broke it to put it in the back of her phone. Right. Because it's graded. It's protected. It's in plastic. Yes.
Hers was protected in her phone case.
That's what I said. That's what I said. I agree. I agree. I agree. So yeah, this is, look how beautiful it is. Have a look at it. Isn't she so pretty?
So this is Rapidash. It's sort of rainbow holographic.
And the color's stunning.
It's a little piece of artwork.
That's it.
That's why I love them. Just the art on.
Them is so gorgeous.
And her move is Libra Home, so she's a Libra sister like me.
So true, so true.
I've just gotten into the Disney Locana cards. I haven't entered the world of Pokemon cards yet because not.
Similar to you. I could see you getting into it. The art, I could see you eating the art up. Oh, my God. And there's this Bina method called the Michi method. Have you heard of this? No.
Please don't lie to us.
Okay, let me hook you up.
A binder method. Is this how we're storing our cards in a binder? Because I was about to say, I don't know what to do with my little card.
Okay. So he, oh my God, you could do the Meaty method with your little card cards. Meaty method. So what you do is you put them in the binder, but then you get these little stickers and gems and you decorate it by color and like make little themes.
And are we decorating the card or the binder?
So you get little sleeves and then you're decorating the sleeves. Damaging the card itself.
I'm into this and also because I'm a perfectionist. So if I make a mistake, it doesn't matter.
Exactly. Oh, my God. You need to get onto it.
And then you just flip through it and look at all of your beautiful artwork.
Yes.
I love that. It's so soothing looking at all of our treasures. Right?
Yes.
And I see that you brought a Bratz doll today. Who is this diva over there? I also have a few of my own.
I saw that. Oh, the purple hair. She's so beautiful.
This is the gentle monster, Bratz doll.
She's so gorgeous.
Complete with her own designer glasses.
I love her. I love her. This is my girl, Felicia. Isn't she the prettiest thing ever?
I love her frills. lipstick.
Isn't she so cute? And her little camping outfit and her little boots.
Oh my God.
This isn't my original one. They did a reproduction of her.
And I.
Hadn't collected any Bratz dolls in my adult life. And then I saw that they re-put her and I was like, And I bought her and I'm not, I actually think I've got a video of it. I don't think I ever posted it. But when she came in the mail and I unboxed her, I literally started crying because she was my favorite. When I was like eight years old, Felicia was my favorite.
They don't make enough Felicias.
No, they don't. And I love her. Felicia's my favorite.
She's beautiful. So is she the one that reactivated your Bratz collecting in your adult life?
Yeah.
She's so special. I want to introduce her to, this is me.
Wait.
My best friend, Ellie, made this for my birthday.
It is.
It's technically Jade, but it's Jade as me with glitter hair extensions that she put in. My cat, Billy. I am wearing not only a Pandora necklace, but also a Pandora bracelet on my head.
Oh my goodness.
The little shoes. Isn't it so cute? And this was a recreation. I love her. The pink shirt and blue skirt was a recreation of an outfit that I wore.
I love the pink lashes.
Thank you. I would like to meet. Please introduce my Bratz doll to Felicia. Hey, girlies.
Oh my God. They're so cute together.
The Charmed House is a safe space. Safe space to play with dolls. Oh my God.
Her earrings.
Isn't it fab? She even has a mini handbag with a mini lucky cat on it that Ally made. The bag is my god's love today.
Oh my god, so you.
She's me. She's me as Jade. Now, something that I have been dying to ask you about is your time on Heartbreak High. You starred as Quinny in the final season this year. I must know, did you take anything from the set?
Girl, I took most things from the set. I took a bag and I went, put it all in, babes.
And they let you take it all?
For legal reasons, yes.
Understood. I took.
Almost everything from her closet home with me. The only things that I didn't take was... The stuff that is on display at Acme at the moment.
It's so cool.
It's so cool. Right? Oh my God.
What are your favorite pieces that you took from wardrobe that you still wear in your personal wardrobe? Because I feel like your style and Quinny's is similar. Maybe hers is a little bit more exaggerated, but the essence is there.
Do you know what? Quinny's style has definitely helped grow my style. Like the amount of pieces that I never would have worn.
She's so experimental.
She's so experimental. And the amount of pieces that, I never would have worn in, like, my personal life if I didn't try it on in the Heartbreak costume truck and be like, wait, I actually really like this on me.
That must have been such a cool experience being in a costume truck.
It's so much fun. Yeah, it's so much fun.
Did they just have all of these options? And did you get to have any input?
I got a little bit of input, yeah. I think the biggest input that I got in terms of styling was comfort. So if there was anything that was itchy or uncomfortable or the tags or whatever, and if I said, like, this– is kind of giving me sensory issues. It'd be like, sick, let's throw it out then.
Yeah, because Quinny wouldn't wear it because she was authentically autistic as well.
Exactly. In terms of my, what's my favorite piece that I brought home? I kept this little bag from season three. It's actually a jellycat bag. It's a jellycat Grumpy Frog.
I know the exact one.
And I kept that as soon as I wore it. I was like, just so everyone knows, it's coming home with me.
Yeah, the costume department will never be seeing this again.
No, exactly. You will not be seeing this again. That's probably my favorite costume item. I also kept the jumper that I wore in the very first time you ever see Quinny. It's this like black jumper with this like orange daisy on it. I kept that and I wear that all the time. And then I've got this Marc Jacobs Heaven like long sleeve t-shirt that's got like naked women all over it and I'm obsessed.
With it and that was all in 20 war on the show too that's so iconic yeah do you have the outfit that you wore in the first scene that you recorded is it the orange flower or did you record it out of order no we recorded the whole show out of order like ridiculously out of order every every scene we.
Would shoot in a day would be a different scene so like it's so fascinating to me so I yearn to have the experience it's so tricky because like you know, it's a teenage drama. People's relationships with different characters changes like that. So you'll be filming like, you know, scene three, episode one in the morning. And then after lunch, you'll be filming like you know, episode six, scene seven or whatever.
So I'm like, do I like each other or not?
Tomorrow we're in a relationship. Right? It's so discombobulating. It's so discombobulating. Because you think that the actor would have the natural emotional progression as you go through watching it sequentially.
Yeah.
But it's not like that.
No. Yeah. So it's really interesting. But like we would, you know, have people there that's like we had script supervisors whose job was to be like, you know, This is where you came from and this is where you're going. Stuff like that. So it didn't make it as tricky. Yeah, definitely.
And as for items from the set, did you take anything?
Go on, most things. Go on, most things.
Tell us, what did you take?
What else did I take? I took a bunch of jewelry. I took a bunch of things from Quinny's bedroom. And I took a bunch of things. So Quinny's special interest is this fictional book series called Angelina of the Underworld. And I took... most of her collection, which I think is really sweet.
It is really special. Do you display it in your home?
I do. I have all of Quinny's Angeline stuff in my living room.
So you've got Angeline of the Underworld in your living room. And what book have we got here?
Oh, my goodness.
I can't believe we have an item from the Heartbreak High set on the charm set.
Has it been long enough to do spoilers?
I think so.
I think so, too. I think so.
Spoiler warning.
Spoiler warning. I am so excited that I got to take this home. So in season three, Quinny writes fan fiction, which, love, because so did I. And that's fan trance, right? Girl, it was a whore fan. Anyway, yes.
It's very intriguing.
Very interesting. God love her. She wrote fan fiction about centaurs, and everyone, she was getting bullied and teased a lot, and her girlfriend... made this for her, which is a binded, handmade copy of her fan fiction.
That's a really beautiful thing that her girlfriend did for her.
Isn't it so beautiful?
Yeah, because she, you know, was kind of made to feel ashamed of it. But it's something that she should be so proud of, especially when you see it displayed like that.
Right, and I think it's so lovely that she has someone in her life who, despite the strangeness of it, is just so there for her.
Yeah, and likes her as she is.
And I just think that's so lovely. And I get like, I see so many people hating on Taz because of how she treats Quinny at the start. And because, you know, a lot of what happened to Quinny in season three is kind of Taz is essentially at the center of what started it all. But Taz is also the only person in the whole world who 100% understands her.
Yeah like she really gets her as she.
Yeah yeah and i like i think that's so beautiful like i am like team queen and taz forever and ever and ever like they're absolutely end games me and i just think this is so sweet for sure um have a look through it it is so gorgeous it's like handmade.
There's someone who made this right like how right even got by quitting i know it's so beautiful.
And it's like there's like illustrations in it Like, it's all hand-drawn. It's so beautiful.
I was going to say, should I do a reading? But it's very interesting.
It does make a matter. Depends on what. Would you like to read it.
Out for the people?
Be my guest, Queen. I've already read it out before.
Her people would perish if she did not pop her pussy.
And I've always said that.
That is some beautiful writing.
How stunning are the illustrations?
By Queenie Gallagher-Jones. For those who are just listening, flick through to the video stream now if you can, because the illustrations in this are so beautiful. So gorgeous. So are these meant to be hand-drawn by Taz?
I believe so, yeah. Isn't it gorgeous?
It's so special. And it's so nice that you got to keep such a special memento.
That is my favorite thing that I got to keep from the set because it's like that's Quinny's thing. Like that's her. That's the most special thing in her life. So the fact that I got to keep a piece of what's the most special thing to her.
And it was such a pivotal part of the story of the final season of the biggest project that you've ever worked on.
Right? Yeah.
I have a question actually. As someone who is very superstitious, obviously you booked this massive acting role. in Heartbreak High. When you do auditions like that, do you have any lucky charms or little rituals that you bring with you?
I don't think so. Since COVID, every single audition that you do is actually a self-tape.
So at home?
So pre-COVID, a lot of auditions you would go into the studio. But now almost everything you just record yourself.
That's so interesting. Are you doing a lot of auditions?
I am. Yeah. I'm very blessed that I'm, you know, getting a lot of opportunities still in the industry. Yeah.
I hope we get to see you in another screen production soon. Me too.
I don't know if there's any rituals, but for Heartbreak, I got the audition when I was, I do competitive horse riding and rodeos and stuff like that. And I got the audition for Heartbreak when I was at a rodeo. And usually when I'm competing and I get an audition, I just kind of go, you know, this isn't the right timing. So this one isn't for me. And I looked at the audition brief and I saw Quinny's character line and I went, oh my God, like she's you she's me I need to I need to be her um and there's a video circling the internet somewhere of me competing in this rodeo and you can see my mouth moving and what I'm doing is while I'm competing on my horse I'm learning the script.
So did you have it all saved in your brain yeah I was like practicing it going over the line so then I get home and I film it and like I'd done a bunch of auditions at this stage but I just was so like oh my god I need this.
So bad and I was like calling my manager like the next day being like have you heard yet and he's like you know that this isn't how it works like I will let you know if you know if we find anything out um and then a couple of weeks later I got a second audition and then had to do an audition via zoom, um, in front of the production team. And then we had, um, maybe a month or so of chemistry reads, which is where.
That's a long time.
It's a really long time. Um, which is where you audition like with people auditioning for characters that you'll be working alongside. So I did a lot of chem reads with people auditioning for Darren, a lot of chem reads with people auditioning for Amory. Right.
So not the original group from the start. No. That's interesting. Um, And you survived the Hunger Games. You made it all the way through.
I survived the Hunger Games.
Were there other Quinny's? I feel like no one else could do Quinny like you. I don't know.
I mean, I assume that there was a bunch of people auditioning for every character. It was also an open casting call. So you don't actually have to have an agent to audition for Heartbreak.
It was a lot of unknown talent, right?
Correct. Anyone could audition for it. I actually saw the casting brief for it. before I got sent the audition myself. So, like, anyone in Australia or New Zealand were able to audition for this.
Beat them all. And I beat them all.
Now she's mine.
You were so fabulous at it.
Thank you.
I mean, you can do it all. Actress, horse rider. Also, museum exhibition curator. This is not our first radio together.
This is not our first radio.
We did a little bit of a live podcast at your museum exhibition where you curated a whole exhibition of textiles that was at the Powerhouse Museum.
Yeah. How did that come about?
And how does one curate a museum?
It was so much fun. I love museums. I'm such a museum girlie. I got an email from the Powerhouse team asking if I would like to curate an exhibition. I said, oh my God, say less. How much do you want me to pay you? And so I had some meetings with them. They showed me like their full database of everything that they had. We had a few conversations of like what my favorite things are and what I love and what inspires me and what I wanted to share. And then I worked with them to curate this really awesome exhibition featuring Some of their things that hadn't been shown in a really long time and stuff that was just so quintessentially me.
I'm wondering when you said that they have a database of stuff for you to look through. So they have all of this stuff where? Like in storage?
I think so. I think they have like a huge storage site where just like everything they own just like exists. Because they obviously can't have everything on display all the time. Yeah. Yeah.
When choosing the things that you displayed, was there a through line? Like what guided you to choose? It was quite a diverse.
So it had to be like in the realm of textiles, but obviously that's like a very loose terminology. Because like anything can be textiles, you know, like technically everything is a textile. You know what I mean?
Yes.
So they kind of put like kind of some barriers on it. And then after that, like a lot of things that I chose kind of I chose based on, what I'm kind of most known for or what I love. So like a lot of stuff that I chose was, um, like about cowboys and stuff like that. Cause it's kind of a really huge part of my life. Um, I chose stuff, um, that was kind of rooted in Irish history cause I'm Irish. Um, I chose, what else did I have? I had some pieces from like my favorite clothing brands. I had a.
Were you wearing Romance Was Born in the beautiful photo shoot that you did?
Yes, yes, yes.
You put a picture here.
Yes, that was Romance. I was wearing Romance on the day and I was wearing Camilla. I think it was Camilla for the kind of like promo photo shoot, which are like two of my favorite Australian brands. Yeah, it was so much fun. And I think like in terms of choosing the objects, I feel like you'd be very similar.
I just kind of, There's not really a template that I have in my head. I just look at something and I go, that's mine.
Yes, you can feel it. You can just feel it.
That's it. Yeah, 100%. So that's kind of how I chose most of my stuff. There was no kind of like, oh, let's kind of like pros and cons or whatever. I literally just went, that's mine.
It feels correct, right?
It feels correct.
It just calls to you. And I think that's about having like a really clear understanding of self and not exactly who we are and what we like.
Yeah.
It's so impressive that you got to curate a museum exhibition today. Did they let.
You keep or take anything? Oh no, I wish. There was these three little like cow figurines, which I was obsessed with. I do this thing when I look at teddies and figurines and dolls and stuff where I'm like, I get so obsessively attached to them.
Now, as a fellow collector of trinkets and treasures, Do you have particular things that you buy? For example, you just went to Springfield, the Simpsons land at Universal Studios Hollywood, for which I know that you are the Simpsons mega fan of the world.
Yes, I am.
Is there specific things that you get every time? Like for me, I get a bag charm, a purse pal, if you will, every time.
Yes. Do you get anything? You've gotten me onto that trend now too. I always get, yes, I always get a little purse pal every single time I go somewhere now. I buy pins. I've got a huge pin board and I always buy a pin at every location that I go to.
Did you get a? Simpsons pen.
I actually did it this time. That's crazy. But I'm going. What the hell? That's crazy. I'm going back in two weeks. So. Are you? What for? Um, just some meetings and stuff.
Oh, well, I'm sending you all the good luck vibes. By the time this airs, the meetings will have already happened. So true. So true. I hope it all goes fantastically well for you. Peace. Do you collect the Disney pins?
I do. Yes, yes, yes.
I've just entered the world. When I was in Hawaii a couple of weeks ago, I jumped both feet in because not dissimilar to the Pokemon cards. I was like, I'm already obsessed with so many things. Can I possibly have another collection? The answer is yes, I can.
Exactly.
So I did my first pin trade. Someone even donated me a pin because they were like, this.
Poor girl has no pins. Oh my God, that's so cute. How addicting is trading? Oh my God.
So I went from Hawaii to then Disneyland and in Disneyland I bought more pins. And so I have about 10 pins.
Love that.
I wish I bought a pin because we could have done a pin trade.
We could have done pin trading.
Oh, next time. What do you do with your pins?
Do you do the buying?
Do you put them on your clothes?
No, I have like just a big cork board and I just put them all on the cork board.
So you can see them all.
So I can see them all. I want to see my stuff. One thing about me, I'm not a minimalist. I want to see my stuff. The charmed house is not a minimalist house. No, exactly. Like I want my stuff out.
In front of my eyes.
Exactly.
I actually took the doors off my cupboard so I could see all my clothes.
Oh, I love that. Love.
Because it's sorted in rainbow order. It looks so nice. And then I can just take it in.
You need to come and sort my house. I hired a professional. I need to hire a professional.
I have so much stuff that when I moved to Melbourne, I hired a professional to come in.
Love that.
And sort it all. And she put it all in rainbow order.
Oh my gosh. What a woman.
Magnificent. We will have just posted the charm department to her actually. So go to my Instagram, TikTok or YouTube if you want to see that. It's up now. But circling back to the pins. There is this girl I love on TikTok as well. I think her username's Ash Wilbur. And she gets bags, like a nylon designer bag, and she puts me in all over them.
Oh my God, cute.
That's what I want to do.
Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, that's very you. That's very you.
I started collecting Disney princess pins and then also Donald Duck pins.
Oh, of course.
So I want to do a princess bag and a Donald Duck bag. Yes, cute.
Is that like, are you just collecting any type of Disney pin or is it just like princesses and Donald Duck?
I'm very new to the world. So true. So I'm still working it out, but I did get, because I was at the Disney resort in Hawaii called Aulani. I got some Alani exclusive pins because if there's one thing I'm a sucker for.
It's an exclusive.
Yes, location exclusive items. All you have to do is put the word exclusive on it and I will buy it.
Exactly. That was so true.
So I'm still working out because my rule with collections to keep it, you know, under control is to, for example, for Disney plushies, I only collect Donald Duck because if I collected Donald and Mickey and Minnie and Goofy.
That's smart.
I would have no space left in my house. Yes. So fair. So I try to keep it somewhat limited. Do you have any like guidelines for your collections?
Everything. Yeah. Um, I, no, do you know what I was going to say? I try to just buy kind of like one thing in one place, but that's also a lie. I don't think I have, my limits is when my husband says, babe, Enough.
Men are wrong though.
No, that's what I said. Men don't know. That's what I said. I said, look away. Look away.
They don't know. Do you have a current hyper fixation that you're collecting?
Oh, what's my current thing? I would say probably the Pokemon cards. I love going to card shows and just collecting my favorite singles.
A card show, you say?
Yeah. Oh, you need to get into it.
Do they have them in Melbourne?
Yes.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And, like, a lot of, like, markets and stuff will have Pokemon vendors there. And they have huge binders. And you can just go through. And, like, some of them are obviously, like, stupid expensive. Like, I saw one at my local market. I also live in the country. I saw one at my local market. And this card was, like, $ 26, 000.
I'm like, who is going to a farmer's market and going, like, yeah, $ 26, 000 on this? Let me just drop $ 26, 000. Ridiculous. But they always have, like, cheap. single folders. So I just go to that and I'm like, the dollar cards, please.
Do you ever actually play the Pokemon cards?
I'm sitting for the love of the game, not the actual game.
I do not know how to play either. you know now we are grown women we are not the little girls anymore and we're still collecting and loving all of these things what do you think it is that brought us back to collecting all of our childhood passions as adults Oh my goodness. For me, I think it's just connecting with younger me. I'm not embarrassed of her anymore.
I want to be her.
Yeah, I think so too. I also think like being an adult is hard and kind of scary. And I remember like I always hated the idea of growing up. Like I still do. It's always terrified me because I never saw a grown up that had passion.
Right. So many people just lose their way.
Mm hmm.
And they don't express themselves as their authentic self. And that terrified me. I think you're completely right. Growing up, I don't remember seeing 30-year-old women like us. No, exactly.
And that terrified me because the only people I could ever relate to were younger than me. And I was so scared that I was like, okay, so there's obviously an age that you have to hit where everything disappears forever. And you have to live in a beige house with a beige couch with beige walls and go to your beige job and that's it.
That was so scary to me because I'm like, that's not my life.
That's not what I want to do. That's not who I am. That's so scary.
And I was always like, when is the transition going to happen?
Right. Because I don't feel. I was waiting for it to just kind of like barge in the door one day and be like, you know, I'm here.
To take over your life. Because I was like, I don't feel like that could ever be me. No, exactly. Am I just one day going to wake up with a different personality and be like. Exactly.
Now I don't love all of the things that you love. And that was so terrifying to me. And so I think like the older I've gotten and the. the less beige I'm becoming, the more I'm realizing that it's actually completely up to us who we want to be when we grow up. And now like I look to women that haven't lost that spark, you know, because they're out there.
And I think that, yeah.
And the more of us that are out there and spreading the word and showing that it's okay to still be your authentic self, no matter the age, it doesn't matter. The more people will realize that it's okay. Because I think a lot of people are masking because they think, You can't be a 30-year-old woman who likes to brush their bratz doll hair.
100%!
Or you can't be a 30-year-old woman who likes to go to Disneyland. Yes! But I concur. I think life is really stressful and hard, and we have these high-pressure, public-facing jobs. To me, the best day is going to Disneyland, where the only thing that I have to worry about is which Lightning Lane am I going to go to.
No, exactly!
And that's it. And it's like, I love looking at women.
In fact, the only women that I follow now on Instagram are women that make me feel like that that I look at and I go oh my god I'm so excited to get older because I used to be terrified of growing up because I never saw women who genuinely still loved what they were doing and genuinely had passion about what they were doing and who I could see myself in I could never see like a more grown-up version of Chloe and now like I like I look at you I mean we're at the same age but like I look at you and I look at M.
Rossiano and I look at Jessica Rowe and And I look at these women that are bold and colorful and brilliant and loud and powerful. Happy Chatfield. And I go, oh, OK, I'm going to be fine.
Yeah, you don't have to lose your sparkle. You don't have to dull yourself down. And we can continue to get more passionate. In fact, as we get older, I will continue to collect More things. And, you know, sometimes people say, oh, all of the stuff you have is just junk. It's going to be in landfill next year.
Incorrect.
These are my treasures that I will continue building upon for the rest of my life.
That's exactly it.
My house is my archive.
Yes.
Like, it is basically a historical exhibition of anything I've ever loved.
Yeah.
And now we've arrived at my favorite segment of the show, Show Me Your Charm, where I ask all of our brilliant guests to bring one extra special item to show. So what have you brought for us today?
Okay, so I brought an ashtray that was supposed to be on Titanic.
Of course, you brought a Titanic item.
You want to have a look? I do. This is beautiful. Isn't it gorgeous?
Yeah. And I noticed you said supposed to be on the Titanic. What do you mean by supposed to be?
Yes. Okay. So this was made by the factory that made all of the products that went on the White Star Line. So any ship that belonged to the White Star Line, this factory made. The thing that made Titanic so... incredible is that it was supposed to be this like, like heaven on water. It was like, everything was supposed to be absolutely perfect. This ashtray was slightly off kilter.
It didn't sit like completely straight. And so one of the workers there pocketed it instead of putting it in the bin. A few days later, Titanic's at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean. So what I love about this is it survived because of its difference.
Oh, my God, that's such a beautiful quote.
Isn't that cool? Yeah.
That's so, like, beautiful and authentic to you as well. And what's so intriguing to me as well is that I didn't know Titanic had that level of perfection because looking at this, to me... You wouldn't be able to tell. It's a beautiful golden tray. That looks perfect to me. I would never have thought that this wasn't good enough to go on a ship.
Uh-huh.
But my burning question is, how did you come to be in possession of this?
This is one of my favorite stories ever.
So I do.
Motivational talks all around the world. I was doing a talk near my hometown and I was doing this meet and greet. And this woman and her child came up to me and said that they had this gift for me. And she said that her granddad worked at this factory in Belfast that made these ashtrays, told me the story and she handed it to me.
So her granddad was the one that pocketed it?
Yeah.
Wow.
Isn't that incredible?
Yeah.
Like, I burst into tears because that is, like, I mean, like, as I said at the start of this podcast, like, Titanic is, like, my thing.
It's everything.
That is my thing. And the fact that this woman, like, it's her family heirloom, like, it was passed down, like, generation to generation.
Yeah, that's so true. That she was willing to give it to you. Right? But it also speaks so much to the beautiful community that you've cultivated around you.
I'm so blessed. I'm so, yeah.
How passionate you are about it.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, and I just think it's such a beautiful story. Like, I think it's so cool that difference is survival like I think that's such an important thing to remember for all of.
Us totally and now it's a part of your story too it's your it's my heirloom yeah and I imagine you'll be keeping that forever absolutely it will not be getting past.
No unfortunately no mean greets for this one oh.
My god thank you for bringing something so magnificent now I feel like the item that I brought is not as oh my god.
Not at all show me I'm excited like it anyway okay Oh my God.
What is it?
Oh my God. It's a doll. Yes.
Mine is more fun than sentimental, but.
I brought mine. Oh, she's so cool.
No, this is my most favorite doll and my only doll in box. So this is a Barbie, Cinderella, Victor and Rolf collab.
And actually I stand corrected.
She's not technically Barbie. She's a Mattel doll, but she's not technically Barbie. But this is a culmination of all of the things that I love because she is She is a doll, she is a designer collaboration and she is signed by Victor and Grace.
Oh my God. I know. That is so cool. What a piece. So that's why she's in the box and- No, that's fair and understandable.
Right? And the Disney team gifted her to me because they know how much I love things like this and it's so nice to feel so understood and appreciated.
Underscored, yes. Oh wow.
Isn't she magnificent? She is so, oh my God. I did take her out of the box one time and have a little play with her. Good. But she is the only doll that is in plastic prison. It is very tempting to take her out.
Oh, my goodness. Her eyelashes.
Isn't she perfect? She's wearing a very modern interpretation of a Cinderella outfit.
I love it.
The dress says, I came... I saw, I left early, which is intrinsically me as well.
A little Gus Gus on the phone case. That is so cute. It's very detailed.
She has a mobile phone and on it.
Oh my God, 159. That is so cool.
The time on the phone is a minute before midnight.
Oh my God, I love it.
And she's got one shoe on display and the other shoe on her foot.
Really?
Oh my God.
That is so cool. Oh my God, the details. You know, I used to have a pet mouse called Gus Gus.
I didn't know that, but that is a fun fact. I love her so much.
She's so beautiful.
Thank you. And now I've got one final question for you.
Oh, my God. Okay.
And I despise this question personally, but you must answer it before you can leave. Okay. If you could only keep one thing in your entire collection, everything else is getting burnt in a house fire.
That was a bit morbid.
But you can only keep one thing. What's it going to be?
No.
I don't know.
Oh, my God. Wait. Oh, wait. That's so scary.
I know.
I hate that question. I know.
I don't even want to think about it. Sorry for making you have to think about it.
Oh, my God. Oh, actually, I know what it would be. I have a Cabbage Patch doll that is incredibly sentimental to me. I hurt her at a really hard time in my life when I was seven. And she's been there for me. The only reason I didn't bring her is because I'm like, if anything happened to this doll, that would be the end of it for me.
So she's been your lifelong comfort and support?
Yes, she has. Her name is Libby.
It's a very cute name. Thanks.
I think it's the name she came with. I'm not going to change her name. Why would I do that? That's crazy.
Will you send us a picture of Libby?
I will. I'll send you a picture of her. I'll send you a picture of her. Yeah. Yeah. I would take her.
Does she still sleep in your bed today? As they should. We should never grow out of our stuff.
I have multiple teddies that sleep in my bed and my husband will like put them into bed with me every night. And like when he makes a bed in the morning, he'll like tuck them into into the sheets.
That's so sweet yeah this is one thing i am missing in my life because i have two chihuahuas and one of them is obsessed with toys any plush toys it now belongs to him and i treasure my plush toys so i can't have them on the bed because then they become his so i have a little set of drawers next to my bed where they're all perfectly lined up but i long to be tucked into bed with.
At least you can be tucked into bed with a chihuahua That's true.
You can't have it all.
You win some, you lose some.
But this has been such a blast having you on. Thank you so much for being so generous with your stories and bringing so many fabulous items. We've loved having you.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you so much to Chloe for joining us this week. I had so much fun talking to her and I hope you had fun listening. We'll be back again next week for another episode. And don't forget to stay charmed. In this episode of Charmed, we discovered some fascinating keepsakes and the memories that go with them. We all have stories that live in the items we choose to keep.
Catch you again on Charmed and keep those collections safe till next time. Some stories are one to tell with Pandora.
