You’d be forgiven for thinking that radio presenters had already reached their creative potential by livening up the morning commute of drivers across the country, but that is not the case.
About ten years ago, Nova 96.9 presenter Michael “Wippa” Wipfli realised that he had a saucy, undiscovered talent, just waiting to come out.
The talent was unearthed when E.L. James’ landmark novel Fifty Shades Of Grey hit shelves.
“I didn’t read it,” Wippa tells B&T, adding “My wife read it to me.”
Whilst listening to the controversial novel, Wippa started to have a series of revelations.
“Some of it was extraordinarily wild. That’s probably when I tapped it and understood the size of the market that was chasing a fantasy, I think what it is in this world too is escapism.”
Armed with his revelation, Wippa decided to give James a run for her (sizeable) money.
At the time, I thought, how hard can it be? How hard could it be?” Wippa says.
His debut erotic novel The Far Too Personal Trainer was born.
‘What could that possibly be about?’ I hear you asking. Well, thankfully Wippa gave us a sneak preview of the plot.
“It is from the point of view of the personal trainer,” he begins.
“He’s 26 – a good-looking guy. And he trains these women. And all of a sudden these women – who haven’t been feeling great about themselves, he makes them feel good. And the next thing you know, they hit on him. And that’s where one thing leads to another…”
In terms of what the spice entails, Wippa says it is “pretty safe” compared to the exploits of Christian Grey which generally played in the BDSM area of erotica.
“We don’t have any cable ties and I’m not going to up the market and Bunnings”. There will be more “traditional methods” and no “foreign objects”.
Nonetheless, it will be “confronting” he adds.
If there is anyone that is likely to be confronted by the novel it is likely to be Wippa’s own nearest and dearest, namely his mum and his wife.
“I spoke to my mom yesterday and she said ‘I want to read it’. I said ‘Forget about it’. She said ‘Well, can I ask the question? Is there a storyline?’”.
To which he responded, “It’s a proper story. It’s not like some cheap tacky home video where there’s no story”.
And what about his wife?
“My wife has read part of it. She was laughing. She said yes, it’s good”.
When asked if the book is based on real-life situations, Wippa says “no” but adds “I did know a personal trainer and he had some phenomenal stories. And part of those might have been the inspiration for what’s actually in this book”.
Thankfully, all the smut is for a worthy cause, with part of the proceeds going to the Cooper Rice Brading Foundation.
Cooper Rice was a young man diagnosed with bone cancer. He died just 18 after a heroic battle with the disease in which he inspired many.
He was a “great man”, Wippa says. “unfortunately, he passed away and I continue to work with the foundation.”
