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Joel Corry: It took me 10 years to become an overnight success

In a world exclusive, the chart-topping DJ opens up on his record-breaking highs and heart-breaking lows as he shrugged off his reality TV baggage and overcame record industry doubts to become one of the biggest names in music, but reveals that success has not come without serious sacrifice
Joel Corry
Joel Corry

Joel Corry is a DJ, producer and television personality. A former physique athlete and fitness model, he rose to fame as a cast member on MTV reality television show Geordie Shore before leaving the show to focus exclusively on music. His breakthrough hit “Sorry” reached number 6 in the UK charts in 2019. His debut studio album “Another Friday Night” was released in October 2023. Follow Joel on Instagram, Spotify, TikTok, YouTube and X. Visit joelcorry.com

Joel Corry: Full Exclusive Interview

TV star. Celebrity boyfriend. Fitness cover model. Joel Corry has been known for a number of different things in the decade since he burst onto our screens in MTV’s reality television programme “Geordie Shore”.

But since his breakout summer in 2019 Joel Corry has been known around the world as a chart-topping, globe-trotting DJ whose poised to assume his place in the pantheon of global legends, alongside Calvin Harris, David Guetta and Tiësto, whose music has us moving in our millions.

From the outside, thanks to social media, it seems success has come easily to Joel. But is that really the reality?

As part of our Under The Skin interview series, Unfiltered editor-in-chief Joe Warner, who has known Joel Corry since he was a physique athlete working as an ambassador for sports supplement brand Optimum Nutrition, flew to Ibiza where Joel has a weekly summer residency at Ibiza Rocks, to discover exactly what it’s taken – after more than a decade of setbacks and sacrifices – to finally arrive at his moment in the sun.

In an open, honest and raw conversation, Joel reveals the heartbreaking moment his mum – his biggest supporter – openly questioned whether he had what it takes to get the top; how it felt to drive halfway across the UK to do gigs and have no one show up; the struggle to convince record bosses he could be taken seriously as a DJ, as his reality TV background hindered rather than helped his career get off the ground; how he’s had to sacrifice romantic relationships, and his fears of leaving it too late to have the family he craves, to put his professional ambitions ahead of his personal dreams; how his friends and family have had to accept a backseat in his jet-set life; his strategies for dealing with an insane travel schedule that includes weekly transatlantic flights to DJ in Europe and the US; how he maintains his shredded cover model physique year round despite living in hotels and out of a suitcase; and much more.

Watch the whole film above, or the five individual chapters, starting below with part 1 and Joel sharing his nightmare experiences as an unknown DJ.


Joel Corry: I’d DJ to empty pubs

In the first part of our exclusive Under The Skin interview, Unfiltered editor-in-chief Joe Warner discovers how Joel Corry’s early career setbacks crystalised his desire to never stop until he achieved his dream.

Joel Corry: I had to question my talent

In the second part of our exclusive interview, Joel Corry reveals to Unfiltered editor-in-chief Joe Warner how he bounced back from a heart-breaking conversation with his biggest supporter that questioned whether he had what it takes to reach the top.

Joel Corry: My success came at a cost

In the third part of our Under The Skin exclusive interview, Joel Corry reveals to Unfiltered editor-in-chief Joe Warner how his breakthrough summer of 2019 was everything he’d wished for and more, but how success has come with incredible sacrifices to his personal life.

Joel Corry: The gym keeps me sane on my insane schedule

In the fourth part of our Joel Corry exclusive interview, the superstar DJ details how his love of fitness and training helps he maintain a healthy balance to manage an insane weekly work schedule that includes multiple transatlantic flights, late nights, hotels and living out of a suitcase.

Joel Corry: To have success you have to be selfish

In the fifth and final part of our exclusive interview, Joel Corry explains that personal sacrifices are inevitable when you pursue a “selfish” ambition of achieving all of your professional goals, and how his friends and family have had to adjust their hopes and expectations to support Joel through thick and thin.

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