Ex-Gympie cop who made Kirra McLoughlin podcast back with new show

Beenham Valley Road co-creator Jamie Pultz has debuted new podcast Tear It Down, “a conversational show about all things mental health”, after taking inspiration from an episode of the same name during BVR’s successful run.

Josh Preston

2 min read

July 25, 2021 - 12:00AM

Beenham Valley Road co-creator Jamie Pultz has debuted new podcast Tear It Down, “a conversational show about all things mental health”, after taking inspiration from an episode of the same name during BVR’s successful run.

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One half of the ex-Gympie police duo who brought listeners the acclaimed and wildly popular podcast about the death of young local Kirra McLoughlin has returned with a new show.

The show has already featured the likes of actor, comedian and former triple j breakfast presenter Matt Okine, as well as popular beauty influencer Brookelle McKenzie, and Mr Pultz says there are plenty more on the way.

Hi BVR’s! I would love if you would come and listen to my new show called Tear It Down. It is a conversational show...
Posted by Beenham Valley Road on Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Mr Pultz said he was also inspired to talk about mental health when a close friend of his was going through significant struggles during the Beenham Valley Road days.

“During BVR I had a close friend who was going through a really tough time with mental health and that kind of inspired me and Tom (BVR co-star and ex-Gympie Times journalist Tom Daunt) to do an episode about our own mental health called Tear It Down,” Mr Pultz said.

“Both Tom and I just shared everything pretty openly. The response we got was amazing, really really positive, people were giving us lots of good feedback. To this day it’s probably the main episode people comment on.

“People were really happy to hear that they weren’t alone. It was really encouraging, I had it in the back of my mind to do the show and I’m really excited to be doing it now.”

Jamie Pultz.

Mr Pultz said he hoped the openness of both himself and his guests would inspire listeners to open up about their own struggles and break the stigma still surrounding mental health in society today.

“It’s really encouraging to see these people who are public figures who want to share their personal struggles,” he said.

“I guess people are more open to talking about it now than 10 years ago. If I was a concreter on a job site I doubt I would talk to my boss about a psychology appointment, I’d just say I had a doctor’s appointment.

“There’s definitely still a stigma there.”

Mr Pultz also recently aired a “reunion” episode of BVR, featuring Kirra’s mother Alison Russell and two of Kirra’s closest childhood friends, to mark seven years since her July 2014 death.

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Deputy State Coroner Jane Bentley last month determined Kirra’s de facto partner Paul McDonald, 39, caused the injuries that killed her – finding he beat and choked her then waited hours to call an ambulance.

But the coroner made no recommendation to charge McDonald with causing her death.