HarperCollins converts The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast to book

HarperCollins has acquired a book from James Haskell, Mike Tindall and broadcaster Alex Payne, based on their podcast The Good, The Bad & The Rugby. 

HarperNonFiction publishing director Ajda Vucicevic bought world rights directly from the authors. It will be published in hardback, e-book and audiobook on 24th October.

The Good, The Bad & The Rugby: Unleashed, is the first official book from the hosts. The publisher says it “sees them go behind the scenes of the hugely successful podcast to pull back the curtain on some of their most outrageous antics on tour. It will detail everything you need to know or wanted to know about their lives on and off the pitch.”

Payne is a rugby broadcaster and a live event host who began his television career as a presenter on the “Rugby Club”. He then travelled to New Zealand as the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour reporter. Haskell is a former rugby player and the author of What a Flanker and Ruck Me (HarperCollins). He retired in 2019. Tindall, now an MBE, retired as a rugby player in 2014.

Vucicevic said she is “extremely excited and honoured” to be working with the trio on “what promises to be the book of this autumn for all fans of rugby and beyond.”

Haskell said: “Having already published numerous bestselling books on my favourite subjects - me, health and fitness, and me, I’m delighted to now be sharing (a few) of the pages telling the story of the GBR rollercoaster ride alongside Mike and Alex.

“Fans can expect stories from behind the scenes, inside the velvet ropes, the highs and the lows and the incredible moments and events that have built GBR into the show it is. And of course, there’s more of me.”

Payne added: “Having been captain of the School Spelling Team in 1993, the opportunity to put the old skipper’s armband to good use was too big an opportunity to turn down. I’m regularly told by Mike and James that my ideas are mad and unworkable but not even I can fathom how GBR - a show that requires vast amounts of editing, recutting, redacting and vetting - could commit itself to print. The lawyers are once again on standby."

Tindall said: “I have no idea how this book deal was signed without my knowledge, but in the spirit of GBR - ‘One in, all in’. Hopefully it is the perfect stocking filler or birthday present for those who love their rugby, or who’ve enjoyed our journey over the years. And thank you to the editor, who frankly deserves an MBE for services to tidying up word salads. I’ll be having a word.”