From rock bottom to seeing life story on stage in Liverpool theatre musical

Michael Cullen went from sleeping tough in Liverpool to elevating £1m by doing charity walks in all weathers in simply his swimming trunks. His story is now being celebrated in a stage musical.

Simply as Clark Kent turns into Superman when he alters into his well-known pink underpants, Michael Cullen transforms into Speedo Mick when he pulls on his tight blue trunks.

“I acquired a little bit inkling of what Superman appears like when he places his knickers on,” Cullen laughs.

“I do really feel totally different after I’m in my Speedos. One thing occurs. There is a change. I get a little bit bit extra fearless.”

Speedo Mick does not have Suerpman’s tights and cape – only a pair of strolling boots and, if it is chilly, an Everton FC scarf and woolly hat.

He has criss-crossed the British Isles bare-chested for charity come rain, shine or snow. His most excessive problem was strolling between, and up, the tallest mountains in England, Scotland in Wales in mid-winter.

“Minus 18 on the prime of Ben Nevis. I walked to the highest of it and survived it. I by no means acquired hypothermia,” he marvels.

“So one thing occurs after I put my Speedos on. I get a totally totally different state of mind. I am simply so decided to get by the day with out placing my garments on.”

In images, Speedo Mick typically pulls a tough-guy bodybuilder pose for the cameras. However that bravado is a part of the character.

Sitting in a rehearsal room the place actors are making ready for a musical that can inform his story, Cullen, 60, is absolutely clothed, softly spoken and delicate.

He first pulled on the Speedos to swim the English Channel in 2014, regardless of by no means having had a proper swimming lesson till he booked the help boat.

“It was miraculous that I acquired throughout as a result of I used to be coaching with males who had been born in a pair of Speedos,” he jokes. “They had been sooner swimmers than me, higher swimmers than me, their approach was a lot better than mine.

“However I had one thing that they by no means had, and that was a dedication…” He trails off. “I am simply getting a bit emotional… a dedication and a will to finish one thing of that magnitude.”

That dedication comes from “the identical place that my negativity comes from”, Cullen believes.

He suffered “a number of turmoil” throughout his childhood in Liverpool, utilizing and abusing drink and medicines from his teenagers, and changing into homeless.

“I simply acquired misplaced in all of it, to be sincere,” he says. “It was a tragic life. It was horrible and it was torturous, and I used to be doing it to myself. However I simply could not cease.”

He lastly acquired clear in 2001, and resolved to show the negativity in his life into one thing constructive.

“It used to carry me down for an extended, very long time, however now it propels me ahead. That is my engine. I suffered for a really very long time, and now I simply do not need to do this any extra.”

After defying expectations and a shoulder damage to swim throughout the Channel, Cullen “needed the world to know that this had occurred”.

So he ordered a pair of blue trunks with the identify of his beloved soccer workforce on the again, and “went to all of the matches after that with ‘Everton’ emblazoned on my bum”.

“The followers had been so beneficiant,” he says. “I might have gotten ripped to shreds at any level. However they had been all applauding and passing cash, and placing it in my bucket, and placing it in my knickers. There weren’t very many different locations that you might put it!”

His scantily clad presence began elevating smiles and funds at away matches, too.

“I had a entrance row seat so far as seeing all of the generosity, all of the kindness, and all of the love that individuals might give,” Cullen says.

“There’s a number of negativity happening on the planet, and I used to be simply seeing all this positivity. It was making a large distinction to me, in addition to everybody else.”

Searching for new challenges, extra money and greater reactions, Cullen launched into a collection of more and more formidable charity walks – to Everton matches in Wembley and Lyon, then 1,000 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s Finish.

In 2021, he traipsed for 5 months and a pair of,000 miles between London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Dublin and Belfast; earlier than climbing Ben Nevis, Snowdon and Scafell Pike.

Onlookers did not at all times welcome the sight of a middle-aged man in skimpy swimming trunks, nonetheless.

“There was some actually adverse stuff as nicely,” he provides.

“I acquired spat at, pushed to the ground, had a pint thrown over me, acquired thrown out of some pubs after attempting to go in to get a little bit of meals.

“Which was humorous as a result of I hadn’t had a drink for 16 years and I used to be nonetheless getting thrown out of pubs.”

Speedo Mick’s 2023 stroll took the quantity raised for charities supporting psychological well being, deprived younger individuals and homelessness previous £1m.

However that was his remaining main outing. “I knew I solely had a sure timeframe for me to hold on doing it in my Speedos. You possibly can’t be doing it if you’re 80.”

And regardless of their comparable style in underwear, Speedo Mick is just not Superman.

The gruelling challenges took their toll, having “a large detrimental impact on my psychological well being and my private relationships”, Cullen admits.

Each mission has been adopted by “an enormous comedown”, he says. “After the final one, I hit the bottom at 1,000mph and I ended up in a clinic as a result of I had an enormous breakdown.

“Trying again now, I wasn’t managing myself. It appears like I paid a large value by doing all that stuff. It was an excessive amount of for me. It was all an excessive amount of.”

The stage present, which opens at Liverpool’s Royal Court docket theatre on Tuesday, has given Cullen a brand new focus.

On the floor, it’s a few “complete hero” who “took on a lot of massive life-affirming duties and accomplished them and raised tons and many cash”, says Boff Whalley, previously of rock group Chumbawamba, who has written the music.

“However the actual story is why he needed to try this, and at what value was he doing that.

“It is saying, ‘He is such as you, he is acquired issues and he is struggled with addictions and psychological well being issues, and this was his method of discovering a method by these’.”

The present’s author John Fay agrees. “He is a really inspirational and charismatic man. He can stroll right into a room and simply make individuals smile. And the stamina of the man, and the issues that he is achieved, can appear superhuman.

“However an important half about him is that he is extraordinarily human. He is acquired his personal fragility. He is like everybody else on the planet.”

Liverpool actor Paul Duckworth is enjoying the title function, and says Speedo Mick is “an area legend”.

“All of us have our complexities and our vulnerabilities. He is a really considerate, very delicate man.”

In addition to trying to seize Cullen’s character, Duckworth should pull off the Speedo Mick look.

“There’s only some moments [in the show] when he will get to throw on a T-shirt, as a result of most of his achievements had been all completed in his Speedos,” the actor says with a touch of trepidation. “There’s nowhere to cover.

“It was fairly a shock after I put them on the opposite day. Michael was the one one who noticed me in them. In Mick’s phrases, ‘You have to personal the knickers. You have to personal the Speedos, mate.’ I am attempting to get that mentality.”

The present is the story of an eccentric, big-hearted however fallible character, though Cullen had reservations about placing it on stage.

“I used to be a little bit bit anxious over the truth that I am making myself weak once more, as a result of I am telling everyone about my private life,” he says. “They are going to see a totally totally different aspect right here.”

Nonetheless, he hopes the present will begin conversations about dependancy, psychological well being, overcoming challenges, and restoration.

“However the largest message I hope individuals take out of it’s that it is OK to be you, all of you, no matter’s gone on in your life – it is OK to be you, and to take hope.

“Take hope from this story since you by no means know what is going on to occur. I’ve acquired a play about my life on on the Royal Court docket theatre, and that is a win proper there. It is superb.”

Speedo Mick The Musical is on the Royal Court docket in Liverpool from 3 June to five July.