I think we can all agree, if we could wish for one person to give us advice, it would be Ovie Soko. His calm, wise and goofy demeanour has won fans over since his appearance on ITV2’s Love Island in 2019. In the years that have passed, Ovie has been on a mission to help people feel better about themselves. His 2020 debut book, You Are Dope encouraged us all to have courage and self-believe, and throughout his career, he has stumbled into the role of this generation’s 'agony uncle'. With a unique ability to instil confidence in others, whilst also giving the unfiltered truth, Ovie just has a way with words.
Now, we can all hear and even receive his words of wisdom directly in his new Amazon Music podcast ‘Ask Ovie’. The twice weekly podcast will invite listeners to submit their voice notes detailing their dilemma or situation. Alongside a string of well-known special guests, the professional basketball player will give listeners advice on these real-life scenarios from friend zones, infidelity, mental health and cancel culture.
Ovie’s hope is that it brings people together. He tells me enthusiastically down the phone, ‘I think this kind of podcast will be a reminder of [our shared experiences], this person that lives across the country or maybe across the world – they're going through that too.’ In a strange post-pandemic world where we have never felt more isolated, Ask Ovie is a perfect way to feel connected to others.
Since his podcast is all about people asking him questions, we decided to ‘Ask Ovie’ some of our own. As usual, he dropped some gems...
Congrats on the new podcast. Why did you decide this was a project you wanted to take on?
Ovie: Thank you. A podcast is something I've had interest in doing for a while. I used to run a little Instagram stories question session every once in a while, a little dilemma thing, just for fun. A lot of people had a lot of questions, so it's something that I knew was needed. I knew it could be very helpful for people. Doing it the right way was always very important to me, now it's happening.
From the the outside looking in, you come across as a very confident and secure person. Have you always been confident?
Ovie: I think confidence is something that takes time - it takes time to build it. I don't think I've always been the most confident person; I think I've struggled before. I've seen it especially in my basketball career, there have been times where I might not have believed in myself. I haven't bet on myself, like I should.
I didn’t expect that, how have you overcome self-doubt?
Ovie: I think it’s just the way my life has panned out. I've had to be brave before the confidence really kicked in. We touch on this topic throughout the series. We will explore the idea that everyone isn't always going to be as confident as they may seem. It's important to be brave and to take a leap of faith. I think the more you put yourself out there, the braver you are in certain situations you may not be ideally comfortable in. As you get these small wins, I think you'll naturally turn into a more confident person.
Many people credit you for creating content that is authentic and true to you. Do you think that's the reason why you've remained so popular after Love Island?
Ovie: To be fair when it comes to popularity, it's nothing but opinion. I think it's really nice and it feels good that people appreciate you being yourself. I would like to think that was one of the reasons why people may take to me a little bit more.
I think it's important to show people that you can be completely different from everyone else around you and that's still cool. You don't always have to fit into what's going on around you or what is considered the standard behavior - just be you.
Now Love Island is over - do you have any advice for this year's islander's on staying true to themselves?
Ovie: I would say it's very important to have a circle around you that you're very familiar with. You definitely don't want to all of a sudden find yourself in a circle with a whole bunch of faces that are new. That's been a huge thing for me, I've had the same group of friends around me from before the show. That's not to say that there aren't great opportunities that you should definitely go after. I'm just saying, be very, very aware of the people you allow into your circle, because you have to be wary of what people’s true intentions are.
What has your experience been like with trolling and how do you remain mentally strong?
Ovie: People have said some not nice things to me that I have definitely caught. However, I'm not new the world of people voicing their opinions loudly - because I'm from a sports background. If you remember what happened to Sterling, Rashford and all of the black England football players at the Euros. They did an unbelievable job in representing this country and we all saw how that panned out. So, as you can imagine, coming from the sports world, you have to grow thick skin quickly.
However, I just choose where I put my attention. You just can't invest too much energy into people’s opinions within any social media space. You do have to separate it and know when to switch off and say, Okay, let me come back to reality and back to the circle that surround me. Go back to the people who truly care about me and really know me - know me more than anyone could through pictures or a video clip.
Has being on a dating show made you more open or more private with your relationship?
Ovie: I keep certain aspects of my life private. If something means a lot to you, you shelter it and you don't give people the choice to have an opinion that could be nasty. Ultimately, I have chosen to be in this space and maybe my partner might not necessarily want to be in the public eye. I have to respect that and that’s why when it comes to dating, I choose to shelter it. At the end of the day, when you want to grow something, I think that it's very important to protect it. There's a reason why a seed is very deep in the soil. It’s covered because you need to give it time to grow stronger before it’s tested by the elements.
You delve into the concept of cancel culture in your podcast – do you think cancel culture exists?
Ovie: It's definitely something that's there - it actually exists. But I think it's part of the social media beast. I do think cancel culture is something that doesn't allow people to be human or make genuine mistakes. I have this conversation with Jordan Stephens on the show, which you will hear and it was a really dope conversation. In my eyes, saying we should cancel someone is basically saying, ‘Alright, because we think we now know who you are, you can't be a human being.’ And that's not saying that some people haven't said or done, really messed up things, not at all.
The way people in public eye make mistakes is the same way everyone else make mistakes - but it’s just behind closed doors. It's easy to point the finger. The more responsibility we take as a whole for our own actions and not be as quick to throw the stone, will do us all a bit of good.
What do you want people to take away from this podcast? What do you hope they learn or feel listening to it?
Ovie: First of all, I just want people to enjoy listening to the podcast. I want them to be able to put in on during their commute to work, school, or just while they are going about their daily business. I want people to hear different takes on issues that are much more common than we might believe. I think another thing that social media does is it tends to isolate people, because you can put so many filters and you can edit everything to such a perfect standard. It can lead a lot of people to have this false belief of, ‘well, damn everyone's life around me is flippin’ perfect.’ In reality, every single one of us is dealing with shit. Every single one of us has our own struggles. Every single one of us is on this continuous battle to try and better ourselves. All of us are going through things, no matter how good you think people’s lives are. Beyoncé's going though shit - you may laugh at that, but I promise you she’s going through tough moments too. If we really knew what the person across from us on the train are dealing with, if we knew other people’s personal struggles, we would all be a lot more empathetic and understanding.
What’s next for Ovie?
Ovie: Next is a move to Japan. I have a bunch of mixed feelings. I'm excited and a bit nervous. It's a bit overwhelming. However, I'm intrigued and ready to learn about the culture out there. I'm going for basketball - I’ve got a job to do, I’ve got to take care of business. Ultimately, it's a blessing, man. It's an amazing opportunity to play for the Shiga Lakestars. Another drop of my Everlast collection is out now, which is absolutely incredible. I'm sure it's going to blow people's minds. So yeah, my life is a blessing right now.
Ask Ovie is out on now on Amazon Music