This programme contains
strong language from the start
It's being called
a masculinity crisis.
Your job is to become as
important and capable...
There's a ton of loud
and polarising voices
bossing us on how to behave.
If you feel depressed, it's because
you're a piece of f*cking sh*t
who's not being productive.
I'm James Blake and
I've listened to this stuff
and even reposted some of it.
Looking at that, I would never share
that on my social media now.
It's changing what we believe...
I say, if you don't want to
get your heart broken,
drop the red pill.
..and why we behave.
I haven't choked a chicken
in 50 days.
I've got rare access
into this world -
the so-called manosphere.
So there's this thing here.
It's called the wall of shame.
I want to find out what's
hooking us in...
Masculinity is often,
like, labelled as toxic.
I can feel pride.
I'd never felt pride before.
..and how it's changing us.
I've always felt the pressure
to be a good and successful man.
I've got 78 self-help audiobooks.
The Courage To Be Disliked.
The Chimp Paradox,
which is a really, really
good book, actually,
about controlling your mind
and things like that.
We're increasingly turning to
social media to figure life out.
I first came across this book
because I seen a piece of content
that Andrew Tate had made,
and he recommended a certain
amount of books.
So this book here is called Pimpology
by a former pimp called Pimpin' Ken.
The author talks about how
the p*mps control everything
and it kind of reminds me
of what's happening
with these online influencers.
It's an extreme and shocking
theory on getting power.
His job is to sell her a dream
of glamour, success and
the life she never had.
He's got to look the part
he's playing.
Some of the stuff that the guy
is saying in this book,
I've noticed that Tate repurposes
into his social media content.
This growing industry
of male influencers
are preaching values on fitness,
making money, and women.
They are using clickbait
for attention.
I automatically win
in every scenario
because of how successful I am.
Nice guys finish last
because they never set
the f*cking rule.
One of the most popular is
the UK's Hamza Ahmed,
with more than 2 million
YouTube subscribers.
I want to help f*cking beginners.
I want to help the masses
start getting some
f*cking sales, right?
I want to have a tribe of
f*cking millions of guys
around the world who feel
like I've helped them a lot.
When you look at this,
you're thinking,
well, it's a group to meet,
you know, like-minded people.
It's a group to improve yourself
as a person, become better.
On the face of it,
it's very positive,
but it's very cult-like.
I want to reach out to young men
who are in this cyber world.
I'm joining Hamza's community.
It's called the Library of Adonis.
I just came across this guy, Sam.
He's 16 years old.
Yo, welcome to my life, bro.
I'm Sam.
I'm a 16-year-old from the UK,
dropping out of school
to work on my online business.
And my life, it's absolutely crazy.
So I've got this online...
I want to know what drew Sam here.
Sam cuts his YouTube content
from his parents' home in Coventry.
He's followed Hamza for years
and has quit school to build
a life he's seen online.
So I'm currently making this video
while climbing a tree
to make a point.
If you want to sort of
start a business,
you want to start a YouTube channel,
something like that,
but you're scared of people
at school telling you
that it's cringe or whatever, then
honestly, like, it sounds brutal,
but you're never going to succeed
if you keep giving into those fears.
Tell me a bit about why
you're up the tree.
The whole sort of message
I like to give
is just do what you
truly want to do.
I was 13 when I started watching
self-improvement videos.Wow!
Yeah.Crazy. It was a guy
named Hamza at the very start.
And I'm not scared to say
that he changed my life.
I guess essentially taught me how
to grow up, in a weird way.
Got a little bit of time anyway.
Get yourself some grub.
So this is your dad, Sam?
Nice to meet you, Phil.
Are you proud of Sam? Absolutely.
He's a very ambitious boy, isn't he?
Certainly is, yeah.
Does he get it from yourself?
Er, no. Oddly enough.Yeah.
He's self-taught, aren't you? Mm.
Don't you actually want to be a man?
Don't you want to go through
hardships and really train yourself
because you have to go through...
Sleeping on the floor is just
another one of these things.
If you want to win,
this is what it takes.
I've slept on the floor for about
the past year and a half.
Right. I saw something online
saying about it.
No way. And I tried it, and I just
really, really preferred it.
So basically, this is what you do
at night, then? Yeah.
Get everything moved out
and that's it?
That's where I go to sleep.Yeah.
Let me see. I'm going to have
a wee go at this myself,
see what this is like. Let's see.
Ah. It's quite nice, just kind of...
So do you just lie like this,
just stare at the ceiling?
Or what do you do? I always lie down
on my back first for a few minutes,
because I kind of feel my spine
and my lower back decompressing.
Um... But overnight,
you really do feel it.
Um, yeah.
I don't know if I'd be opting
to do this, to be fair.
Sam's starting to back off Hamza's
guru-like and objectifying lessons.
Can you tell me more about him?
I was one of Hamza's top students
in another paid group he had,
which, like, taught you how
to make money and everything.
But then when he started
switching over
to teaching about casual sex,
I stopped following him as much.
He used to be a
self-improvement YouTuber,
preaching for guys to sort of
get their life together,
get their act together,
mostly targeting guys who sort of
felt like they'd been almost
done in by the system.
Hamza then brings in
self-improvement.
It's this whole new mission for you
where you can improve your
mind with meditating,
you can improve your body
by going to the gym.
He really changed a lot of
our lives with that.
So this is his most
recent video here.
That's the day that Jeffrey
got black-pilled.
He starts watching
all these videos about
the black pill and about
looksmaxxing,
but he doesn't realise that
it's not all about looks.
Adonis.
When Adonis was an ugly...
It's great, isn't it?Who's Adonis?
Is this a character or...?
Adonis is kind of, like,
the epitome of
who you become if you follow
Hamza's teachings.OK.
He had the three things
that makes a man irresistible.
And of course, because
he's an ambitious man,
he also levelled up
his looks as well.
That's how he became
the ultimate man.
Did you ever make any content
in the style of what he does?
Yeah. When I was 14, I just started
making self-improvement videos.
This is my first ever video.
Six months ago, I spent hours
after school playing video games
and fapped two, three,
even four times a day.
And the worst part was, I literally
did not have any friends.
I was not happy with my life.
But then I found self-improvement.
I started working out, building
a physique I am proud of.
It changed my life entirely.
So, Sam, what was the
response to the video?
People didn't actually know
about it at first.
I used a fake name.
It blew up on TikTok and then, like,
my whole school found it.
And I was off school at the time
and my friend sort of just
messaged me saying, like,
"Everyone's laughing
at your TikTok."
I physically just like
jumped up out of it,
and I was just going,
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no."
Everybody just started
making fun of me.
It was almost like
I'd been outcasted.
Eventually they kind of
gave me this nickname,
which was Sigma Sam.
I'm like, yeah,
I am different than you,
and I'm glad to be.
It seems a little isolating
to do that. It is.
It was very, very lonely, I think.
So in the real world,
who are your friends?
I don't have any friends
in real life any more.
Manosphere gurus advise you
to reject anyone
who doesn't share the same values.
You don't realise how much
you are influenced
by the people around you.
Sam's cut off real-world friendship
to build his own online community.
Today, lads from India,
Pakistan, France,
Turkey and the USA
are getting Sam's feedback
on their websites and channels.
I've really started
liking this style
because I'm always, like,
the analytical kind of guy.
I really love this.
You've just explained perfectly
why you started doing this.
Do you think the about page is good
in terms of, like, the layout?
It looks pretty amateur.
What would make it look
less amateur?
Like what Hamza used to do
with his old videos,
it's, like, maybe "Top seven tips
to get girls" and everything.
And we'd all click on
the video like, "Yeah, yeah."
And then inside the video,
it'd be like,
"Oh, yeah, you've got to meditate."
You hook them in with
the dopamine and then
give them the real advice
they actually need to hear.
That's sort of how we go about it.
Sam disagrees with Hamza's
opinions on casual sex,
but he's following his advice
to live his life online
and find like-minded lads.
Women are master manipulators.
Women have ruined society.
It is men versus women.
For all the talk of brotherhood,
there's a lot of time spent on
women and relationships.
Inside Hamza's community,
it's more than sex talk.
He's selling a five-hour
red pill course
about dating on a man's terms.
I want to get you to the point
where you can be
and you are the red pill
alpha male,
where you can f*ck
hundreds of girls.
When a guy only speaks to
one girl at once, he turns...
It's, like... It f*cking
ruins your brain.
Don't take her emotions seriously.
Literally think to yourself
that women are just
grown-up children.
I'm in the community here.
Let's see what this is.
This guy called Shane.
He said that Hamza's red pill course
is literally 100% correct.
"Hamza was right.
This red pill game is real.
"Lead, act with intent, be dangerous
and women will feel it instantly."
It worked for him.
He's got what he wanted out of it.
22-year-old Shane is a criminology
graduate living in Liverpool.
He's been in the manosphere
since his late teens,
and says he took the red pill
after a recent break-up.
Shane's applying the
influencer's teachings
to the real world of dating.
Shane? Yeah.How are you doing, man?
How are you? Yeah, I'm good, man.
How are you?
Yeah, I'm good. Nice to meet you.
How are you getting on?
You doing a bit of training?
Yeah. Yeah, man.
You're a big lad. Yeah.
What height are you?
6ft 6.6ft 6? Yeah, yeah.
See, I'm not this small, guys.
I'm actually 6ft.
Man who accept mainstream ideas
about romance are called blue-pilled,
while the red pill rejects those
norms and puts men first.
I've heard of the
terminology red pill.
Can you tell me a bit
more about that?
Without being too crude and vulgar,
I think it's essentially living
your dating and sexual life
to your kind of preferences, right?
Whether that is monogamy,
whether it is you want
multiple sexual partners,
it's essentially living
true to yourself.
That's what I take it as, anyway.
Do you believe in all of it,
or do you think that there's areas
of it that aren't quite right?
No, I believe in, like, 90% of it.
But the issue is people being
unfaithful and obviously,
social media these days
and all sorts of issues there.
And I think the red pill is
almost like a shield to that.
It's like, OK, well, if you don't
get too emotionally invested,
then, you know, you can avoid
all the heartbreak,
cheating, all that kind of stuff.
Is that not kind of, like,
unfulfilling, though?
Like, to feel that way?
That, "Right, I can't actually
give any of myself
"to this person because
they're going to hurt me?"
True. You could say that.
You could say that.
But at the end of the day,
I say, if you don't want to
get your heart broken,
drop the red pill.
Are you talking about this
from experience?
Like, has there been
a past relationship
or something like
that has hit you like this?
Yeah, I was literally what Hamza
would call the blue pill guy,
the blue pill beta male,
so to speak.
Can you explain what that is,
the blue pill?
Yeah. It's the traditional,
normal way
of doing relationships,
the monogamy.
You know, you settle down with
a woman, you get married.
I was the gentleman,
took her on the dates,
bought all the gifts,
the flowers, etc.
That's one of the most
important things I've learned.
No-one kind of respects
the nice guy.Yeah.
No-one. Not men, not women,
not anyone respects it.
Are you on dating apps at the minute?
Yeah, yeah. I'm on Hinge, yeah.
Tell me a bit more about that.
How's that going?
Yeah, man. Well, I think the main
thing about Hinge is, for me,
the level of attraction since
I've got into self-improvement
has skyrocketed.
This is, you know, the first one
before my first fight.
Yeah, yeah.
And obviously, just some prompts.
So, "The way to win me over is
arch your back, not your attitude."
Yeah, I think that's really funny.
Do you get, like, people
reacting to that?
Yeah, generally quite good.
Obviously, there are some people
that are like, "Oh, my God."
Because the girl I'm seeing now,
when she saw these prompts,
she was like,
"I was so attracted to you,
"but the prompts put me off a bit."
This is the power Hamza talks about.
Like, you've got to position
yourself as being the red pill guy
and then women want you more.
What's your situation?
THEY LAUGH
Right now, I'm seeing
a girl that I like.
She's, again, into fitness,
into the gym.
We have so many shared interests.
Beautiful girl. Amazing.
Sounds like the golden ticket.
Mm-hm.Yeah.
Of course, you know, um...
Explain that to me.
What does that mean?
The issue is, like, obviously
I've seen the whole, like,
red pill course, innit?Yeah.
So obviously, in my head
it's like, is the
grass greener somewhere else,
type of thing?
So how long were you dating
your current girl?
Oh, it's been about
two to three months now.
And how long into that did you
start the conversation about,
"Right, listen. I want
multiple girls," or whatever?
Like, yesterday.
THEY LAUGH
Nah, nah. Like, two days ago.
Really, yeah?
Two days ago, and it's still
something I'm debating.
Yeah. But I did bring
it up still, you know?
Because I think it's fair to her
for me to be honest with her.
How did she react to that?
Obviously, wasn't happy.
Of course she's going to get upset.
I don't want to hurt her feelings,
any of this, or whatever.
But, yeah, it's just kind of
figuring out what I want.
If she said that to you...
If she said, "You know what, Shane?
"I just don't know if
I'm a one-man woman,"
how would you feel about that?
It sounds hypocritical, but, yeah.
No, I would not be happy at all...
Yeah. ..to be fair.Yeah.
And that's how, like, problematic
this kind of thing is,
right, the red pill?
I can see the level of influence
that Hamza has on Shane.
And Shane puts a lot of his success
to date in life, in general,
down to Hamza.
And I just don't see how
that reliance on this
random guy on the internet
is sustainable long-term.
In the manosphere,
beta males are shamed.
We're conditioned to believe
that being alpha
means working harder, looking better
and reframing our mindset.
Bigger biceps and a monstrous back
will give you more
confidence and respect
than you can ever handle.
It starts with daily discipline,
like going to the gym,
to the more extreme
and obscure advice,
like stop w*nk*ng.
Been on semen retention
for over 100 days now,
and my life has become
a lot more incredible.
When your d*ck gets hard,
you don't have to use it.
On my way to meet Jack,
who seems to have a lot to say
about this space.
So we'll see how that goes.
Yeah, you said it.
I do have the best hair
in Northern Ireland.
Jack's 27 and lives with his parents
in a village in Northern Ireland.
He dropped out of uni after a year
and is working in construction.
He's midway through a 100-day
semen retention challenge.
I haven't choked the chicken
in 50 days.
No w*nk*ng, no sexual intercourse.
No interactions with any females.
Goodbye from the f*cking Jackedman.
Woohoo, baby!
Hey, Jack. Hi, James.
Good to see you.
Thanks for having me up. No problem.
Come on in to the man cave, sir.
57 days on a semen retention
journey today, you know?
You're 57 days...? 57 days,
no masturbation, no sex.Seriously?
Oh, 100%, man.
Going for 100 days straight.
If you can control your lust,
your sex drive,
you can control your mind.
People don't realise it.
Every time that you masturbate, man,
you're releasing your masculine
energy and your testosterone, like.
Masculinity is often, like,
labelled as toxic.
You know, it makes young men
ashamed to be, like,
ambitious, courageous, aggressive
because they've been told to man up
and be strong, protective providers,
but then they're also told to
get into their feelings
and their emotions and all.
So they're being sent mixed signals
and it confuses a lot of
men, you know?
I haven't actually played this in a
long time, so we'll give it a whack.
That'll be my excuse
if you beat me here.
Jack's also got forthright opinions
on how other people should behave.
Beta males not holding
their women accountable
for their actions.
Let's get into it.
If you're in the happy relationship
that you always, like,
portray online,
then why does your woman
feel the need
to post seductive photos online?
Do you ever think of it like that?
Like, why is she doing that?
If she's in this happy relationship,
surely she wouldn't want to be
showing off her body
to anybody else.
You're obviously very passionate
in this video.
I am. It is definitely something
I believe in, you know.
However, could I have worded it
a bit better?
Yes.Well, you got, what,
240,000 views in that video.
240,000. I think it was 500 likes
and then 1,000 comments.
And the biggest one was
the insecure one, like.
They called me insecure, but
I haven't got anything
to be insecure about.
Is there an element there of
maybe people just think,
why does he care so much?
If you're in a healthy relationship,
like, surely having respect
out of your partner...
Now, this goes for men and women,
not just women.
Men have to do it too, you know.
Woman empowerment is not
posting seductive photos online.
Woman empowerment is saying,
"No other man's going to see
my body except my partner."
People think I hate women,
like, I'm a misogynist.
I don't.Do you have a girlfriend?
I used to have a girlfriend.
I had a girlfriend for about
a year and eight months or so.
I actually noticed when I walked in,
you were doing the little
Andrew Tate pose.
Yeah, it's his pose, but
I looked it up, you know,
and it shows control.
It shows you're in control
of what's going on
in your environment.
Would he be one of the guys
you follow, then?
100%. I've been following him
since probably Covid.
I don't worship the man,
but I crave what he represents,
which is, like,
confidence and ambition
and drive and discipline
and leadership.
Men need to stop feeling
sorry for themselves
because nobody's coming to
save them, you know, like.
You're either successful
or you're invisible, like.
I feel like there is a lot of
pressure on young men,
including myself, to be
successful or feel invisible.
Sam has the same desire for success.
He's booked a trip
with his online friends.
They all have followed Hamza
and share similar
values and opinions.
In 24 hours,
they are meeting in person
for the very first time in Lisbon
at what they're calling
their Adonis House.
Tell me about this trip
you're going on, Sam.
I'm meeting up with four of
the guys in Lisbon,
all of whom are doing
online business
in this sort of space as well.
Most of us met in Hamza's old group
before we all mostly left that.
I mean, the name of it is
Adonis House,
and Adonis is, like, Hamza's term.
So can you show me some of the guys
that you're meeting out there?
Yeah, of course I can.Great.
So Vincent is by far my best friend.
I've known him for over two years.
I met him through my
self-improvement community.
He's a 17-year-old from the US.
He's trying YouTube, and he's on his
own self-improvement journey.Great.
You should do things
that hurt every single day
because that's what makes you grow.
You should hate your body so that
you have the motivation
to get nice and strong.
It's going to be epic,
finally meeting in real life, yeah.
Aside from Vincent,
who else is in the house, then?
So there's Matthew, South African.
He has a sales job.
Then there's Arvo, the Estonian.
And then finally there's also Gray,
who's also from the US,
and he runs faceless
YouTube channels.
Sam, what does it mean to you
to be going here?
It feels like it's almost
the start of a new chapter.
For so long,
I've been giving up the
offline relationships with people
in school and people wherever,
and basically betting
everything on this working.
What are your biggest
worries about it?
That I don't think
I might fit in that well.
I think that's the
biggest worry I have.
There's a lot riding on
this Lisbon trip for Sam.
These are the only friends
he has in the world...
..and he's not the only one
who has changed his life
because of what he's being
taught online.
Shane's trying to balance
having a relationship
while still following influencers'
prescriptive teachings.
This oneitis bullshit
happens to guys
when they start forming
a bit of a connection.
Having multiple women is
a cheat code to life.
Red-pillers adamantly push that guys
must avoid catching feelings
and date multiple women.
But Shane's having doubts.
We chatted briefly about the
girlfriend situation last time,
and you had a bit of
a case of oneitis?
Yes, yes.Is that still the case?
I would say so, but maybe,
like, even worse.
We had, like, a deep kind of chat
about this the other day,
and I was like, "Yeah, you know
what? I will just kind of see you."
I'm still going to keep some
red pill tendencies,
like, I don't know, just being the
masculine guy, being the provider
and she's still being feminine
and submissive and all that.
She has to remain submissive?
Not that. Not that at all.
I think it's just her
remaining feminine.
Are you opening up to her
about personal things?
I'm almost, like, in two heads.
One of them's like,
yeah, it'd be great to
show affection, do all this,
you know, open up to her.
But another part of me is like,
yeah, but I'm a man.
No-one cares.
I need to f*cking get on with it.
But it's just these
f*cking influencers, isn't it,
just like, getting in my head
or whatever.
Especially when you listen
to kind of the same people
over and over again.
It's very influential, isn't it?
Yeah. Because you were
saying things to me like,
you feel this way,
but influencers are saying this
and it's creating that
contradiction for you.
Mm-hm. Mm-hm. Yeah.
So it's kind of scary, isn't it?
It is, yeah.
Because a lot of these influencers
like Hamza are usually right.
I'm not saying they're always right.
Hamza, the odd thing or two,
he's not right about.
But seven, eight times out of ten,
he's normally bang-on.
So it's like, oh.
Should I take his advice
or should I listen to myself?
Shane said that the things
that the influencers are saying
is different than how he feels,
which has created
a contradiction for him,
but it seems like he's finally
going his own way with it.
It's a big day for Sam.
He's off to Portugal with his dad
to meet his online mates
for the first time.
They've called their Airbnb
Adonis House.
The plan's to hang out
and build their online businesses
in YouTube, sales and coaching.
We're on our way to meet
the guys. Mm.
How do you feel about that?
I'm scared it might be a bit
cringe meeting Vincent
for the first time
or something like that.
And I don't know.
So many thoughts going
through my head,
as you can probably tell.
I'm not sure how this is
going to go for Sam.
I really hope he isn't disappointed.
We're here.
Yo, can you see us?
To your left.
Yo, what the f*ck?
THEY LAUGH
Oh, my God.
How do we get up?
He said he's coming down.
All right.
This is absolutely crazy.
What's going on, man?
How's it been? Oh, my God.
This is so weird. It is weird.
It doesn't feel like real life.
It's pretty weird.
Yeah. It's pretty weird.
What the hell?
Well, it's been a long minute.
It has been. Two and a half years.
Yeah, you look different
in real life. You do too.
You look a lot bigger. Yeah?
Shall we?
Well... I'm kind of lost
for words a little bit.
This... Is Adonis House.
..is Adonis House.
THEY GREET EACH OTHER
Nice to meet you. Good to see you.
It feels like, I don't know,
like a movie or a video game.
I don't know.
It's all coming together. Yeah.
It's pretty cool.
Setting goals is a key element
of the manosphere.
The lads have their own chart
to track progress
with forfeits like runs
if they miss them.
So there's this thing here.
It's called the wall of shame.
Vincent has failed to complete
his video script.
Matthew didn't do 60 dials.
Gray failed to complete three scripts
and he let down his friends
and himself.
Do you have a wall of shame?
No, I don't have a wall of shame.
I keep it all in here.
I guess it's about keeping
people accountable and
things like that, you know?
It's a very extreme way of doing it.
What do you guys think
young men are searching for?
I think a lot of young men
are lonely.
That was one of the big reasons
I started this,
because I didn't know
people like me.
I didn't know people who were
into the same type of things.
I met Sam.
He likes the same things I do,
and that's kind of why
we bonded together.Mm-hm.
So do you think there's a problem
with loneliness for men?
I would say so.
I would say a lot of
young men are quite lonely.
Mm-hm. Why is that?
Um...
I think it's shallow relationships,
honestly.
Like, people don't have, like,
deep conversations.
They don't talk about things
they want to talk about.
I am still really intrigued
to find out more about
what the guys get up to,
what they think about things,
what their opinions are on things,
and just how far into
this community are they?
Next day at the Adonis House -
eggs are cheap protein
when you're fuelling
your Greek god gains.
So how many eggs did you get? 48.
How many guys is that for?
Me.
THEY LAUGH
Do you ever take them just raw?
I do.
How many's in there?
Just four. I can't really fit
more than that. Only four.
Cheers.Cheers. Enjoy.
What do you think of that, Sam?
Mm.
There you go.Tasty?
Yeah. I'll try one.
You're going to go for one?
Rocky Balboa. Right.
Just one gulp.
Feeling good?
I don't know how I feel.
It doesn't really taste of anything,
to be honest.
I think I got it straight down
without tasting it.
We are heading to an outdoor gym.
It's all about discipline.
It's a test for Sam, as he's more of
a rock climber than a weights man.
So how do you think
you're going to find this?
I think it'll be a bit of
a challenge,
especially with these guys too,
all being older and stronger
than me.
And they all work out, too,
and I don't.
So definitely the weakest
by far here, but we'll see.
The guys have travelled
thousands of miles
to be surrounded by the manosphere.
I want to know more
about their motivations.
Why do you guys think the manosphere
exists as a thing?
It feels like to do what
you feel is right as a man
is to be the minority
and it's to be under attack
in a sense,
especially on social media.
There's not many strong men
in most young men's lives.
Before I found Tate,
there was nothing good.
Like, I was just lonely,
depression, all that sort of stuff.
And I found a spark.
Like, something was lit for me.
"Wait, I can run?"
Like, "I can push myself
into something?
"I can feel pride?"
I'd never felt pride before.
So what do you guys
think the vacuum is
that the manosphere is replacing?
Lack of in-person
communication, mostly.
I saw that first-hand because I was
in university right during Covid,
and I think that kind of
paved the way
for a figure like Andrew Tate
to get so popular
because everyone was alone
and isolated in their homes.
Keep it going. Up!
It's like an older brother
that has the imperfect answers.
But it's something and it's
layered with so much hope,
which is everything that
a guy needs at that point,
even if it is maybe
an imperfect answer.
I want to get an idea
of how online content
has influenced this group's
attitudes to relationships.
What do you guys think the
modern view on relationships is?
I think that most people think
they should be the same and
also equally important.
I don't agree with that.
I think men and women are different,
but giving opinions on these things,
you're immediately labelled -
"Oh, you're sexist."
A lot of women are earning a lot of
money and things like that. Yeah.
They don't necessarily need us
to provide for them
in that way any more.
No.Where do you think
that leaves us as men?
I think a lot of men,
I'd say myself included,
it's just a downside.
The dream is kind of to
take on all of the stress
and then her just not have to think.
Yeah. That's when women really
can get into their feminine
and they really can just be loving.
The guys are letting me
into what they think,
being honest about their fixed
attitudes on a woman's place.
I personally know some women
that are CEOs and...
Yeah...I don't think they want
to be in a position
where they're not thinking or...
I think for most women,
they're forced to go down
the same path as men
where they're forced to study
and they're forced to get a job
to provide for themselves
and everything.
I think for them,
it really takes away
from their authentic femininity.
They've been basically
indoctrinated to believe
that they have to become
a lawyer or a doctor,
even if they don't want to do that.
And in some ways,
women are also stuck in the system,
the same way men are.
I think women aren't taught
how to be women
in the same way men aren't
taught how to be men.Mm-hm.
Their mothers had to work jobs,
and so daughters aren't taught,
"Hey, this is how to be
a loving, caring woman."
Do you guys think that women
are unhappy with how things are,
or do you think it's just men?
I believe they are too.
Obviously I'm not a woman,
so my comment isn't going
to be backed up
as strongly as me
commenting on myself,
but I do believe they are.
I would say that the sort of
system nowadays with school,
everyone being given the same jobs,
I do believe that is making
women unhappy too.
The older lads also have strong views
on what women need.
So who sets that bar of
what man's good enough?
Throughout history, women
have always been the drivers
of natural selection
within humanity.
If women are deciding
who's a good man,
why are we, as men,
collectively following
only male influencers
and what they say?
There's a saying within
the red pill space,
that - and this is going
to be a little bit crude -
but you can't learn to fish
from a fish, right?
You learn from the fishermen,
not the fish, right?
I knew you were going to say that.
But also, um...
..women know what they want,
not what women want.
Is that not suggesting that a man
knows more about women than women do?
So men know how to poke
and press the right buttons to get
a specific result out.
I wouldn't say that men
would understand women
better than women do.
I think that men know how to gain
women better than women do.
Have you guys really felt
what love feels like?
Yes, I think so.
Well, 1,000%.
I think that probably both of us,
we've come to the point
where we've had that experience,
and we're almost ready
to look for it again.
How does heartbreak drive
your entry into this world?
I think I'm here entirely
because of my heartbreak
and some of my failures with women.
You come out of those emotions,
you have an intense desire
to be better than you are,
and I think that a lot of guys get
into the space for that reason.
Thanks for sharing that, guys.
What I heard in Lisbon
is playing on my mind.
I'm conflicted.
I admire the lads for their
work ethic and ambition,
but I'm trying to get my head around
their opinions on women
and relationships.
The guys talked about heartbreak.
That's something I can understand.
At 32, I envisioned I'd have
a wife, I'd have kids.
Building your own family is
a massive part of being a man.
I was in a five-year relationship,
so I nearly had that,
but still respect her to bits,
you know?
But it didn't work out.
We had an argument on the phone
while I was away.
Then I got back here
and just basically,
I remember just going upstairs
to the walk-in wardrobe room
and all her stuff was gone.
And I just, like, sat on the floor
and just was, like, in bits.
Didn't really have a lot of friends
who were very supportive of me
when I came out of it,
so I didn't have anyone
to talk to about it.
So I was just getting up,
trying to work as much as I could,
and then just sitting on my phone
and, like, doomscrolling.
And you're just consuming, consuming,
consuming, consuming.
The producers have asked me to
go back through my posts
during my break-up.
I'm shocked at myself.
If 100 people pick up
a sandwich and go, "No!"
And I pick it up off the floor
and go, "Yes!
"Finally, the best sand..."
That's not how the world works.
Your value as a woman
comes from the fact
that people want you
and cannot have you.
PRODUCER: Do you see where the
sexism is in that video?
Yeah, I see where the sexism is,
because you can't say that about
just, you know, women.
I can't believe that I actually
did share that.
But back then,
my head was in a very different place
to what it is nowadays.
The Reels were served up.
I didn't notice that gradually,
they were shaping the way I thought.
A lot of women have slept with
10, 20, 30, 40, 50 people.
They're dating multiple people
at the same time.
You don't get courtship
if you're not a traditional woman.
I agree. Period. Yeah, for sure.
And most women are
not traditional women.
I felt pretty lonely
and isolated then.
And I think, you know,
looking at that,
I would never share that
on my social media now.
But I obviously wasn't thinking then.
It's almost like a different person.
You know, I'm looking at that going,
wow, like, I don't even know
if I'd like that guy.
As I keep looking through
the content,
I'm starting to see how the different
messages are subtly intertwined.
What turns you off from feminism?
It's all about demasculating men,
I believe,
and I think it's resulted in the
destruction of the nuclear family.
There's a spiral here.
It wasn't about the break-up.
I was just hurting
and this content gave that a voice.
I think men and women
complement each other,
and they both need each other.
I think, like, what she said there
is really fair.
Do you think feminism is all about
demasculating men?
No, I don't agree with that.
No, I don't think feminism is all
about demasculating men.
You kind of missed the
first statement, which is,
"I think feminism is all about
demasculating men."
Yeah, I didn't even pick up on that.
And I think that probably
speaks to the fact that
I really don't think that at all.
I didn't even notice she said that.
You can see how there's, like,
a window into the manosphere
through content like that.
Oh, definitely.
Like, that window there, I think,
you know, for me, um...
I didn't really fall into
the manosphere
in a sense of
going down a rabbit hole
with that kind of content.
I think that I recovered
fairly quickly from
that kind of mad mindframe
I was in when I had the break-up.
But I think with a lot of
young men in particular,
that kind of stuff is
actually sometimes,
like, their first bit of exposure to
relationships and dating dynamics
and who they're going to be,
which is kind of scary.
Tate tapped into my insecurities.
Jack says he started
watching during Covid,
but I wonder if there's
more to it than that.
I am absolutely ripped
and I am the f*cking man.
Jack's flying through his
semen retention journey.
He's in England working, and I want
to find out what is driving him.
Hi, James.How are you doing, sir?
You all right?
Good to meet you again.
Good to see you again.
Good to see you again.
Have you used it yet? No.No?
So, Jack, what day are you on of
your semen retention journey?
So today is the 80th day today of
the semen retention journey.
And I've never felt more alive
than I am right now.
Like, I've went from a
complete blank canvas
to having nearly an eight-pack,
veins coming out, man, vascularity.
And probably other things.
People have actually said
I've got taller as well, you know.
It's pretty interesting,
but I think that's just to do
with going to the gym
and just my posture in general.
Are you doing this for you
or are you doing this
for female attention?
100% for me.
Female attention isn't even a thing.
All my life has just been chasing
cheap dopamine all the time,
whether it was porn or video games
or alcohol or partying
or whatever, you know.
Was there a moment
when you realised you weren't
the man you wanted to be?
I was probably lost and
didn't really know it, you know,
the more I think back on it now.
And, like, probably
no respect for myself.
From drinking and partying
all the time, you know,
and sometimes it actually
made me feel scared,
because I knew that I didn't want
to do that the rest of my life.
When I first started watching
Andrew Tate,
he made me feel like a loser,
to be honest.
You know, like,
he made me feel that...
That I was just sad of
who I am, you know?
I was that person he was talking
about, like, being a weak man,
you know, and really not
having a purpose in life.
But he also made me
awake to who I was,
and made me start
actually kind of, like,
having respect for myself
and to stop being a loser
and, like, build a purpose in life,
build a body, be strong, make money.
Escape the matrix.
You know, escape the nine-to-five.
When it comes to Andrew Tate,
do you think any of
his views on women
could be dangerous for young men?
I would listen to all the good
messages when he's talking about men
and building themselves up to be
respected and build status,
because that's what
all men should do.
Like, I wouldn't focus on some of
the other stuff he's saying,
you know,
but it's still his opinion.
That man can say what he wants.
And, like, that other thing
about investigations,
he's not guilty of anything, like.
He hasn't been convicted
of anything.
And everything is just -
I believe anyway -
to tarnish his name, you know,
because he's going
against the norms.
He's making men start
standing up and fighting back
against a society that wants
to keep men weak.
That bald-headed man, Andrew Tate,
he's got all the cars, the money,
the girls, the respect,
everything that men want.
Is that what you're really chasing?
Is it happiness?
Is it fulfilment? What is...?
Because they're just things.
You know, what is the actual goal?
I want to be respected by people,
and, like, I want people
to recognise me
and know what I stand for and
my values and everything.
If you want to aspire
to be your own man,
you've got to go out
and do your own thing.
And that's what...
Probably my online coaching
hopefully leads to that.
Jack has decided to share his mantra
and launch an online
coaching business.
I have to film content now
for two hours.
Hair is looking good.
So, yeah, let's get f*cking into it.
I want to have my own thing on
Skool, that app Skool, you know,
where people can join and,
like, get the experience
that I experienced.
You know, like, on how to improve
and find purpose in life again
and teach them all that there
on Skool, where they can
just go in and learn it
from somebody that's actually
experienced it themselves.
I know if I keep going
the way I'm going, man,
the only way is up. I can't go down.
I can only go up.
And that's what's motivating me
and keeping me going.
You know, if I keep sticking at it
and you don't take no for an answer
and you don't accept failure,
then you can't lose.
You can't. You have to win.
Jack's following the
manosphere influencer formula
of coaching others,
and it can be hugely profitable.
The male identity crisis
has become a money spinner
and plenty of guys
are happily cashing in.
Part of your audience
will like you so much
that they'll buy anything
that you try and sell to them.
$820,092 per year.
Basically, like, I'd say probably
about 98%, 99% profit.
My school doesn't just teach you
how to make money.
My school teaches you
how to be above money,
so the money comes to you.
With online coaching taking off,
it's never been easier
to share a course.
It's a world I know.
I tried a different version
of it in 2023.
So I've been in the
digital marketing space
since I was 17,
and I was always getting
people asking me,
"Could you show us how to set up
Facebook ads?" or whatever.
So I decided that I would set up
a group called Dominate Academy.
You have lots of ads running.
I highly recommend that you use this.
It will help you spread
your spend more evenly.
We would film videos teaching
how to set up Facebook ads.
Actually, after about
a month of running it,
I decided to just stop it because
it was becoming infuriating that
a lot of the young lads that came in,
they weren't willing to actually
start at the basics and learn it.
All they cared about was,
"How do I become rich
off the internet?"
That was the thing
that they cared about.
They're being bombarded
with social media creators,
influencers, courses,
things that are telling them -
"Within six months,
I'll change your life."
I can see how easily
people will pay up
if they think it's a shortcut
to success.
It's been less than a week
since Sam got back from Portugal,
where he met his mates
for the first time.
I'm wondering how he's
handling normal life again.
How is being back in the UK?
If I'm being completely
and brutally honest,
it has been sort of, like,
very, very hard
being disconnected
from the guys again.
I've been struggling with
that a little bit.
So how does it feel, Sam,
to have actually developed
those friendships with the lads?
It sounds sad, but having
friends in real life
is just such an epic thing
compared to just being online.
And it actually sort of got me
to the point where, like...
..I'm now admitting that I did
actually cry a bit when I got back.
I don't know if that'll appear weak
or whatever in another guy's eyes,
but I'm being sort of
honest about that.
Sam's turning to journalling
and artificial intelligence
for advice.
Talking to ChatGPT.
I've got all my journals in it,
and it knows everything about me.
So this is sort of what
I've journalled.
"I get reminded every now and then
"of the trauma that
I still have in me.
"I don't know what it's caused by,
but it's just come back up now.
"I get the same unique feeling
every time. I want to cry.
"I feel like I've been done over by
the world on my situation,
"and I feel mostly like
I can't do anything about it.
"It was so epic being there
with everyone,
"finally having friends
in real life,
"and then it gets ripped away
from me and I'm back here.
"I'm crying now.
"I'm so grateful for Dad
helping so much."
I think it's clear to see how
comforting this process is for you,
to get your thoughts
on there. Definitely.
Journalling, honestly,
it's a superpower.
Sam wants to make money coaching
so that he can travel.
The big problem now
that I'm trying to solve
is that my coaching business
is sort of hard to merge
in with the film-making.
So what did ChatGPactually tell you?
ChatGPT basically told me
to keep them separate.
Just have the coaching
as almost like,
you know, in a strange way,
almost like a guru thing
where I'm just teaching people
how to make money.
And I think I asked it, like,
"Isn't it a bit immoral to sort of
make money in the guru way?"
And it just told me, like,
people are still happy
with the sort of product
and therefore the income
I get for myself
to then fund the film-making and to
fund the travelling and the dream.
Sam's trying to find a way to live
like the influencers
charging $1,000 for his coaching.
He's not alone in wrestling
with real-world relationships
and guidance.
In Liverpool,
Shane's gone back to
Hamza's red pill course
for some dating advice
and has ended his relationship.
Do you see the delusion and the
manipulative nature of most women,
which is they'll literally
string along so many guys,
but they'll try and convince you
that they're not even
speaking to anyone.
And this is the brutal truth.
You know what it is.
They don't feel like they're
even speaking to humans.
How does it feel watching that?
Because to me,
that makes me feel a bit...
It's very pessimistic, you know,
that view of life.
It might be pessimistic.
It might be,
but I just think it's the truth.
Do you think that women
can be trusted?
To give a blanket statement,
I would say no, you can't, really.
So then why on earth would you get
in a relationship if you can't?
I'd rather just kind of, you know,
be on the red pill side of things
and be seeing multiple women
rather than just going for one.
What's happened with
the relationship, Shane?
I just thought it was the best thing
to do for both of us,
just kind of end things there,
and she kind of agreed as well.
How much was the red pill
part of your decision?
Quite a bit, I'd say.
I need to be the type of guy who
does have kind of multiple options.
You're back on the apps? Mm-hm.
Just kind of picking up where
I left off, really, isn't it? So...
The way I kind of see it is,
if you're at the level of man
where you can kind of date
multiple girls at the same time,
then that's kind of fair game.
But it's different for the girls?
In a way, yes.
It does kind of seem like
a double standard,
but when you really think about it,
it's like, no, it's not,
because as a man,
you've got to build yourself up
to attract the girl,
whether that's gym or in business
or in your fashion or looking better
or looksmaxing,
all these type of things
you've got to do
to kind of attract the women
in the first place.
Whereas for the women,
it's like, OK, then,
the guys are wanting
to pursue them already,
so it's just, like,
a yes or no type thing.
So if it's OK for a man
to be promiscuous,
but not OK for a woman
and that defines them,
is that not just sexism?
I would say, first off,
I'm not saying
that anyone can't be or should be.
Again, you do whatever you want.
All I'm saying is to me,
like, my preference
isn't someone who's promiscuous.
I wouldn't want to be
in a long-term relationship
with an overly promiscuous person.
Mm.And that's just because
I'm not like that.
Mm.So I kind of get
what you're saying.
But I do also feel like
if you're promiscuous
and then you want the
non-promiscuous partner,
then that's what
I struggle with, I guess.
You could say that I'm promiscuous.
I just genuinely, like...
And this isn't being sexist,
I just don't see it that way.
I see it as I've got myself
to a certain level where
I can attract multiple women.
That's literally it.
But you're acting on it as well.
Yeah. No, that's fair.
Is that not promiscuous?
Possibly, possibly.
Because if it was a woman doing that,
it would definitely be promiscuous.
Mm-hm. Mm-hm. Mm-hm.
Options make a man high-value,
but it seems that options
make a woman low-value.
If she entertains the options,
100% not a high-value woman,
because a wife-quality woman
wouldn't be entertaining
many men, right?
Mm-hm. I think it's down to
society valuing different things
for men and women. That's it.
That's literally it, yeah.
Shane is committed to
Hamza's Library of Adonis,
paying him every month.
How could anyone sit and
watch this all day, every day?
You'd end up completely
hating yourself
and completely hating women
and dating and, you know, like...
Where does that lead you to?
It leads you to sort of a very
lonely existence, I guess.
And now I want to walk you through
how to be more of the bad boy,
because chance...
KACHING
Just made some money from
a sale from the course, by the way.
So you might want to join.
The influencers capitalise on
their followers' hope for success
and a better sense of self.
If you're not learning the mentality
of a fighter and a champion from me,
if you're not learning discipline,
if you're not learning
motivation from me,
who are you learning from?
100 days is very close,
and most men can't even go
a f*cking weekend
without giving in to their urges.
I've gone nearly three months.
Jack has finished his 100-day
semen retention challenge.
He's now using the discipline
of that experience
to build a new venture.
I feel f*cking untouchable.
How many days are you on now, then?
So we've actually surpassed
100 days, you know.
Great. 103 days today.
Every morning,
I'm waking up with an erection.
It's crazy, you know,
and I'll get about
15 to 20 a day, you know, like.
Is that normal? Is that...?
Oh, man, that would be minimum.
I wouldn't be surprised
if it happens here now
in the next five or ten minutes.
That's going to weird me out.
Yeah. But, um...
I will continue to keep
cutting it out, you know,
because the way I feel now,
both mentally, physically
and even, like, spiritually,
I don't ever want to go
back to what I was,
you know, being a sl*ve
to my desires.
Jack wants to be one of
the next generation
of male influencers
sharing his opinions.
I'm going to call this
place Jacked Room.
Obviously, me being the Jackedman.
I don't give a f*ck if you're fat
or you're skinny.
Both scream weakness.
DM me the word "Jacked" now
and I'll show you how
to transform your body
and your f*cking mind in 12 weeks.
There's a lot of competition.
So Jack's paying another online coach
to teach him how to
build his business.
It's costing him 650 each month.
Yes!Looks good. Oh!
Oh, my God.
I'm so excited.
I feel like a child, man.
So you're going to be training
clients in here, then?
That is hopefully the plan.
Got it there, yeah?
Yeah, I've got it.
650 seems like quite a lot of money.
What do you get for that?
It basically just shows you
how to DM people,
how to deal with DMing people,
how to go about it. Um...
As in messaging...?
Sending messages on Instagram,
Facebook, whatever you're into.
So you'll send cold messages.
Like, people you don't even know.
How many would you
be sending per day?
Probably minimum
15 to 20 a day, you know.
And you might only get
five responses, you know,
and sometimes out of the five
responses, you'll get nobody.
People want to see results
instantly, you know.
They don't think long ahead into
the future and their future self,
but that's kind of the message
you're trying to sell.
How did they get you to pay that?
Was it a similar kind of tactic?
It actually kind of was.
I actually realised that after when
I started learning all this stuff,
you know, like, that what
they were teaching me
is what they used on me to
get me into the community,
which is kind of mad.
It seems like it's a lot of coaches
coaching other people
how to be coaches,
to then teach other people how
to be coaches. Is that right?
It kind of is.
But getting the clients
is one thing,
but training them and keeping them
is probably the next thing.
And that's all on you, like.
Just throw it here, Jack?
Throw it down there, man.
That'll be the arm corner.
Do you ever think that constant
chase of improvement
is kind of reinforcing into yourself
that you're just not enough,
that you're not good as you are?
Men should keep thinking
that they're not good enough,
you know, because surely
that should spark a fire in them,
you know, to get better
and become better.
Men are not supportive
to each other, you know.
They just want to focus
on themselves
and aren't willing
to help anybody else.
But where does that change, then,
when you join an online group?
You know, how come all of a sudden
they do want to help each other
and it's different?
Most men probably...
They're not going to do it
for free, you know.
So we're talking about hundreds of
thousands of pounds, maybe millions,
all being made from
young men who are lost.
It's not nice when it sounds
like that, you know,
but, um, that's it, you know.
If you can find somebody
that's going to make you
a better person for free,
you know, you've found a...
Get a friend.
A friend too, you know, but
is a friend going to be there for
you? Like a really good friend,
you know, are they going to be there
all the time to help you out?
How much can they help you?
Because a lot of friends
aren't experienced in
helping men become better,
you know, like.
Ooh!Tell me which way to go.
Just...there.
Right there?
Stop right where you're at, man.
Right. I'll hold it.
Right, we need to light it up.
Come on.Right.
Yeah!
Woohoo!
Ah! That actually looks better than
I thought it was going
to be, you know.
What if it turns out better than
you could ever imagine?
That is the perfect thing.
I'm really proud of that.
Jack believes male influencers
provide advice
that isn't available
in real-world friendships.
It's something Sam decided long ago.
His whole world's been online...
..until now.
I'm actually in Coventry.
It's 1:40am and I'm on my way
to see Sam.
Hey, Sam. Hey, James.How are you?
I'm doing good. How are you?
Good to see you again.
I'm very good, thanks. Hey, Phil.
Good to see you again.
How's things? Good?
Yeah, good, thanks.
So, Sam, why are we here
in the middle of the night
in this coach station?
Well, Vincent's actually going
to be here very imminently,
arriving on a coach from the airport
because he's just
flown in from Miami.
Because we're spending the month
together in the UK.
He's living with me.
And I'm really, really
excited for this.
We're going to be out
in the fields loads.
We're going to be working together,
making loads of progress together
and really spending
some good time together.
So, Sam, what's been happening
with your online stuff?
I've got 50 new members
into my free community,
and so recently I've been
channelling all of my energy
into updating my free course
on there to help them even more.
And I've got a big sale
for $1,000 since then,
and that's really sort of set me up
and made everything
pretty nice recently.
Vincent! Well, well, well.
There he is.
How's it going? How you doing?
Not too bad. Not too bad.
Good to see you again. Yeah.
How does it feel to be
in the UK with Sam?
I'm quite excited, actually.
I've heard good things about the UK.
I like the architecture, history.
It's nice reuniting.
We've got a cool month ahead of us,
potentially longer.
And you've had this real bout of
jut being completely alone. Yeah.
Does it feel like that could be over?
Oh, yes.
It finally feels like
everything's culminated together
and this big problem of loneliness
and not having friends
is finally over.
The manosphere promises brotherhood
and self-improvement,
but often it teaches criticism -
of women, of weakness, of feeling.
Under its influence,
Sam, Shane and Jack
have all found purpose,
but they're also evidence
of how our search for answers
can be manipulated for profit.
People talk about lost boys.
Maybe we need to find our way back.
What happens next is up to all of us.
♪ Amen, in Jesus' name,
yes, I declare it
♪ Any little seed I receive,
I have to share it
♪ Bruddas wanna break me down,
I can't bear it
♪ But heavy is the head
with the crown, I still wear it
♪ You can't hold me down,
I still cope
♪ Rain falling down at the BRITs,
I'm still soaked
♪ Try to put a hole in our ship,
we'll build boats
♪ Two birds with one stone,
I'll k*ll both
♪ Pray I never lose and pray
I never hit the shelf
♪ Promise if I do that you'll be
checkin' on my health
♪ If it's for my people,
I'll do anything to help
♪ If I do it out of love,
it's not to benefit myself, ooh... ♪
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Men of the Manosphere (2025)
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