A bloated, rotting ram floating in a Cornish quarry, a 12-year-old boy bullied into dragging it out, a finger inserted into a decomposing eye socket, and a long, smelly walk home that nobody ever forgot.

The Extra Legendary Bit is where Johnny Vaughan and Gavin "The Woodman" Woods dive into your messages and uncover the gloriously unhinged tales sent in by the Bloomin' Legends nation.

🐑 Byron and the dead ram – a group of teenage boys find a decomposing sheep floating in their swimming quarry and send the youngest in to deal with it, with truly horrifying results

✈️ Flight Lieutenant Willy Welsh – a six-foot Rand pilot who earned a DFC and bar for his complete disregard for danger flying Halifax and Whitley bombers

🔥 The five sisters of Erith – all named after plants, all blonde, all under 5'5", and they formed what's believed to be the first all-woman fire brigade team in Britain during the Blitz

😂 Randy George – a former Chief of Staff of the US Army with possibly the greatest name in military history

If you love funny true stories, listener tales, childhood disasters, wartime legends and comedy podcasts, this bonus episode of Bloomin' Legends is for you.

Got a story that can top this week's madness?

📩 Send it to: bloominlegends@global.com

📲 Follow us on TikTok & Instagram: @BloominLegends

🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bloominlegends

Listen to all episodes on Global Player, download the app, or visit www.globalplayer.com

Bloomin' Legends is a Global production

Produced by Ben Fairclough

New episodes are released every Wednesday & Sunday. Subscribe to never miss an episode!

Podcast Name: Bloomin Legends - Shakespeare

RX Date: 9th June 2026

Producer Edit Start Date: Producer edit finished

YouTube TX Date: 24th June 2026

Edit Progress Summary (from Producer):

(Brief description of how far the cut has gone. Include timeline state, what’s been removed, rearranged, or left in. Anything weird/unusual too.)

Suggested Thumbnail Text:

• The Bard was a con man?
• He couldn't even sign his name
• HOBNOB, SEMI-SKIMMED, ELBOW, GUST (all words he invented)

Suggested YouTube Title:

• Was Shakespeare a Fraud? The Theory Nobody Talks About
• William Shakespeare: Did He Actually Write Any of It?
• William Shakespeare: 1,700 Words, 6 Signatures & 7 Missing Years

SharePoint Link to Assets:

Edits in Elements Bloomin Legends folder - in the:

POD_2026_06_09_BLOOMIN_LEGENDS

Project Session:

POD_2026_06_02_BLOOMIN_LEGENDS_FULL_EP_BEN

Episode Bio:

He's the most famous writer in the English language, the inventor of over 1,700 words we still use today, and a man so legendary he's known simply as The Bard. There's just one problem: almost nothing is known about him, only six of his signatures survive, and none of them suggest an educated hand.

In this episode, Johnny Vaughan and Gavin "The Woodman" Woods tackle William Shakespeare, the glove maker's son from Stratford who became Britain's greatest cultural export, and one of history's most debated figures. Johnny has a mind-blowing theory about who Shakespeare really was and what he actually did, and it might just change how you think about the most celebrated writer in history.

🎭 The mystery of Shakespeare – how so little is known about someone so famous, including 7 "lost years" where he vanished completely

✍️ The greatest writer who couldn't write? – only 6 signatures exist, all different spellings, none showing an educated hand

🧠 Johnny's controversial theory – was Shakespeare a "memory lovie" who collected and compiled plays from touring companies rather than writing from scratch?

🗣️ 1,700 words invented – from "eyeball" to "hobnob" to "advertising," the everyday language Shakespeare gave us

💰 The dodgy businessman – grain hoarding during a famine, a shady dad, and a monument that originally showed him holding a sack of grain, not a quill

If you love history mysteries, English literature, conspiracy theories, legendary figures and comedy podcasts, this episode of Bloomin' Legends is for you.

Got a legend you want us to cover?

📩 Send it to: bloominlegends@global.com

📲 Follow us on TikTok & Instagram: @BloominLegends

🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bloominlegends

Listen to all episodes on Global Player, download the app, or visit www.globalplayer.com

Bloomin' Legends is a Global production

Produced by Ben Fairclough

New episodes are released every Wednesday & Sunday. Subscribe to never miss an episode!

A Dutch resistance fighter with a taste for fast cars, a grandad who held a 40-year grudge, and a family tradition of driving so wildly it terrified everyone in the passenger seat.

The Extra Legendary Bit is where Johnny Vaughan and Gavin “The Woodman” Woods dive into your messages and uncover the gloriously unhinged tales sent in by the Bloomin’ Legends nation.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

🚗 The Opa who drove like a lunatic – one listener nominates his extraordinary Dutch grandfather, a wartime resistance fighter who loved fast cars, held epic grudges and terrified the family behind the wheel

⚔️ A proper wartime blooming legend – from forging papers and sabotaging the Nazis to being shot while escaping, this grandad’s life sounds too wild to be true

🏎️ Johnny’s own family of speed freaks – Johnny shares stories of his dad and grandad treating the A1 like Le Mans and turning family visits into unofficial time trials

📮 More extra legendary listener stories – including the sort of grandparent madness that becomes family folklore forever

If you love funny true stories, listener tales, mad grandparents, fast cars and wartime legends this bonus episode of Bloomin’ Legends is for you.

Got a story that can top this week’s madness?

📩 Send it to: bloominlegends@global.com

📲 Follow us on TikTok & Instagram: @BloominLegends

🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bloominlegends

Listen to all episodes on Global Player, download the app, or visit www.globalplayer.com

Bloomin’ Legends is a Global production

Produced by Ben Fairclough

New episodes are released every Wednesday & Sunday. Subscribe to never miss an episode!