Skip to content
Artwork for Keeping it Real with Erin and Terry
Society & CultureRelationshipsExplicit

Keeping it Real with Erin and Terry

Magic Door Studio

Entrepreneur Erin McGregor and musician Terry Kavanagh pull back the curtain on what modern family life actually looks like behind a polished feed. Honest conversations about marriage, mental load, money, parenting an autistic child, and the pressures couples feel but rarely talk about. Funny, reflective, no gloss, and globally relatable.

New episode every Thursday. Produced by Magic Door Studio.

Play
  • 13 episodes
  • Avg 46 min
  • English
  • #13
    August 6 · 47 min

    Episode 13 - Your comments - Autism parenting

    In this week’s episode, Erin and Terry look back at the many comments left by autism parents following the release of Episode 8, “what happens to Harry when we’re gone”.That episode touched a nerve with so many SEN parents all dealing with the same terrifying problem of how to prepare for a future where they’re not around anymore to take care of their beautiful children. Emotionally raw and angry in parts, the episode reflects the feelings of our viewers. Feelings that only families living in the situation can truly understand. Terry takes a strong stance on the severe shortage of adequate support from government services, and the well meaning but ultimately unhelpful comments from friends and others who just don’t get it. Erin brings her usual conscientious approach and insights, as always, wearing her heart on her sleeve and calling it exactly how it is.Tell us in the comments: SEN parents, what’s the one thing you wish people said to you instead of ‘I don’t know how you do it’? New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe to get them when they’re hot! #KeepingItRealWithErinAndTerry #Autism #SEN #Marriedwithkids #Hardtruth

  • July 30 · 49 min

    Episode 12 - Hot Takes - Keep it or Cut it out!

    No specific topic this week and no guest. Just hot takes, two very different opinions, and nowhere to hide. Keep it, or cut it, and neither of them is allowed to say ‘it depends’! Erin and Terry go through the lot. It starts with a harmless warm up round; then veers through dangerous territory for any couple; the house, the airport, screen time, food, dating, and going out, big occasions, little occasions, marriage and weddings, sex, intimacy, parenting, and their friends and social lives. In true Erin and Terry style, both have strong opinions loosely held. This episode is hilarious and real in equal measure. Spoiler, they do make it through to the end with their relationship stronger than before, so long as Terry keeps his damn feet off the new couch!! Tell us in the comments: whose side would you be on, and which hot take would start the biggest row in your house?! New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe to get them when they’re hot! #KeepingItRealWithErinAndTerry #HotTakes #MarriageReality #RealTalk #UnpopularOpinion

  • #11
    July 9 · 57 min

    Episode 11 - Two Autism Dads - Jake Suleman

    Erin’s off this week, so Terry brought in his friend and fellow musician Jake Suleman, and it turned into one of the most honest conversations of the series. Both of them are autism dads. Terry to Harry, Jake to his 8-year-old daughter Esme. Two totally different kids of the same age. Despite the differences, Terry and Jake share the same lifestyle and same highs, lows, and hard days. Terry shares the moment from a few days before recording that stopped him in his tracks. Harry saying his first word with real purpose. Jake talks about how Esme sees the world: no concept of violence, unable to spot a bully because she assumes everyone talking to her is a friend. They get into how differently Esme hears the world; super-sensitive to sound, picking up songs she can’t stand even when they’re barely audible. And they land on the thing neither of them takes for granted: that their careers in music simply wouldn’t exist without help from their families and their wives holding everything together at home. Two dads, two guitars, and the kind of conversation that doesn’t happen often enough. Tell us in the comments: if you’re raising an autistic child, what’s the moment that hit you harder than you ever expected? New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe to get them when they’re hot! #KeepingItRealWithErinAndTerry #AutismDad #Autism #NonverbalAutism #AutismParenting #AutismFamily #NoGloss

  • #10
    July 2 · 54 min

    Episode 10 – Playing with Fire: Micro cheating and online flirting

    If your partner put a fire emoji on a photo ofan attractive person on Instagram, would you care? Most people have an answerimmediately. Almost no couple has ever actually discussed it. This week Erin and Terry get into the grey areathat every couple navigates but almost none of them talk about out loud. Themicro cheating spectrum, from a liked photo to a deleted DM, and what it isthat actually tips something over the line. What acceptable interaction withfollowers looks like when the inbox is full and people feel entitled to aresponse. The difference between a public reply and a private DM, and why thatdistinction matters more than what was actually said. And the real questionunderneath all of it: where does each of them genuinely draw the line, not thepublic answer, the actual one? Plus: why deleting messages is always theconfession, regardless of what they said. Tell us in the comments: fire emoji, flirty DM,or deleting messages. Which one would actually bother you most, and does yourpartner know? New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe to getthem when they’re hot! #KeepingItRealWithErinAndTerry #MarriageReality#MicroCheating #RealTalk #RelationshipTruths

  • #9
    June 25 · 53 min

    Episode 9 - Man Down: Andropause and What Men Won’t Admit

    They did the menopause episode. This is the other side. Because men’s bodies are changing in their 40s too! Testosterone drops roughly one to two per cent every year after 30, and the symptoms look like depression, burnout, or just getting older. Most men never find out what it actually is. So this week Erin and Terry get into andropause. What it is, what it does to mood, energy, libido, and body composition, and why the vast majority of men who have it never talk to a doctor. Plus the body image pressure that’s been quietly building on men the same way it built on women. Gym culture, the before–and–after pics, the supplement use that’s really about fear of ageing and not feeling like enough. And what all of it does to a relationship when nobody in the house has the language for what’s actually going on. It’s not a sad episode. It’s an honest one. And it’s long overdue. Tell us in the comments: men, have you ever felt your body or energy shift and said nothing about it? Women, did you notice before he did? New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe to get them when they’re hot! #KeepingItRealWithErinAndTerry #MensHealth #Andropause #MaleBodyImage #RealTalk

  • S1 · E8
    June 18 · 46 min

    Episode 8 - After Us: What happens to Harry when we’re gone

    Most parents of children with additional needs have not made a formal plan for what happens after they’re gone. Not because they don’t love their child. Because sitting down and doing it is one of the hardest things you’ll ever have to face. This week Erin and Terry face it properly. What the conversation actually involves. The cliff edge that comes at 18 when school ends and the adult disability services system, already stretched to capacity, has to take over. The three things that need to be planned: who makes decisions for Harry under Ireland’s Assisted Decision-Making Act, who cares for him day to day, and how he’s funded in a way that protects rather than removes his entitlements. And what it does to a marriage when two people try to have this conversation together without falling apart. It’s not a legal advice episode. It’s an honest one. The fear, the avoidance, the grief, and the small steps that make it possible to keep going. Tell us in the comments: have you started this conversation in your family, and what finally made you face it? New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe to get them when they’re hot! #KeepingItRealWithErinAndTerry #AutismParents #AutismIreland #FuturePlanning #RealTalk #NoGloss

  • S1 · E7
    June 11 · 53 min

    Episode 7 - Going Inward: Finding peace in the chaos

    Erin has been going on retreats for years. Silent retreats, breathwork, mindfulness. It’s not a phase, it’s part of how she functions. Terry got into mindfulness, did the work, and then came back the other direction. Genuinely. This week they get into what going inward actually does, and whether it survives contact with real life. What Erin gets from retreats that she can’t get anywhere else. What Terry found when he was in it, and what made him walk back out. The gap between the person who goes away for stillness and the person who comes home to a full house and a packed week. And whether two people in the same marriage can be at completely different places on this without it becoming a problem. Plus: They read back over listener comments from Episode 3, money and power dynamics. Tell us in the comments: have you ever tried a retreat or mindfulness practice? Did it stick, and what brings you back to yourself when nothing else is working? New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe to get them when they’re hot! #KeepingItRealWithErinAndTerry #Mindfulness #SpiritualRetreat #RealTalk #MarriedLife

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E6
    June 4 · 39 min

    Episode 6 - Work Life: When home life can’t wait.

    Between them, Erin McGregor and Terry Kavanagh have a clothing brand to run, pantos to rehearse, gigs in different countries, brand deals, photoshoots, etc etc etc. And running through the middle of all that: a son with significant additional needs whose appointments, therapies, and school days don’t move for anyone’s diary. This week they get into the real cost of two parents working when home doesn’t get to pause for it. The gap between what the audience sees and what’s actually running behind it. The schedule collisions. What happens when one of them is away. And the thing that’s hardest of all: you can’t give two things your full self at the same time. So you’re always choosing even when you’re pretending not to, even when one of those things is your kids. Plus: what it’s actually like to run a business from the same house where you’re also trying to be a present parent, and whether either of them has figured out where the line is yet. Tell us in the comments: when your public life and home life clash, which one wins, and are you okay with that answer? New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe to get them when they’re hot! #KeepingItRealWithErinAndTerry #PublicLife #AutismParents #RealTalk #WorkingParents

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E5
    May 28 · 41 min

    Episode 5 - Sex & Menopause: Terry doesn't get it

    Erin asked thousands of women how often they’re having sex. The results were so far from what anyone would post on a grid that she had to bring them to the podcast. This week she and Terry get into the full picture: what menopause actually does to a marriage, the libido changes nobody prepares you for, the things Terry didn’t understand until Erin explained it, and the relationship between what’s happening in her body and what comes home as mood, distance, and rows. Terry also shares the effects of aging on his own sex drive, and opens up about Andropause, the lesser-known male version of Menopause. Plus, the survey results. All of them. And what they say about healthy marriages in 2026! Tell us in the comments: how honest are you with your partner about Menopause? New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe to get them when they’re hot! #KeepingItRealWithErinAndTerry #Menopause #Perimenopause #MarriageReality #RealTalk

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E4
    May 21 · 49 min

    Episode 4 - Autism Dad: Terry's journey with Harry

    Terry sits down with Erin to talk about Harry. The autism diagnosis. The day Erin told him. What he thought it meant, what it actually meant, and the long road from there to here. He takes Erin back to the early signs, those scary first few years, and the questions he didn't know how to ask. They get into where he and Erin weren't on the same page, and how they found their way to it. And Terry says the thing he finds hardest of all: how it feels to never hear his nonverbal son call him Dad. It's not a sad episode. It's an honest one. The good, the hard, the moments that wreck you, the ones that make you laugh. If you're parenting an autistic children, or loving one from any angle, you're not on your own listening to this. #KeepingItRealWithErinAndTerry #Autism #AutismDad #NonverbalAutism #AutismParenting #AutismFamily #AutismAwareness #NoGloss

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E3
    May 14 · 38 min

    Episode 3 - Money & Power: When one partner earns more

    Not so long ago, women in Ireland couldn't open a bank account. Couldn't take out a loan. Couldn't keep their jobs once they got married. Now Erin earns more than Terry most weeks. Somewhere between then and now, something shifted, and most modern couples are still figuring out what to do with it.This week we sit down with money. Not the spreadsheets and savings tips version. The version that's actually running underneath every relationship. Who controls what, blue jobs versus pink jobs, who's tracking the savings, and whether the person doing it actually chose the role or just ended up with it.We get into what happens when one partner earns more, what it does to a man if it's not him, what it does to a woman, and the bit neither of them wants to admit they're feeling about it. The thing that gets talked about in Ireland but rarely talked about properly.Tell us in the comments: in your house, who's really running the money? And is it the person you'd expect, or the one who just ended up doing it?New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe to get them when they're hot!#KeepingItRealWithErinAndTerry #Marriage #AutismParents #RealTalk #HomeMaking

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E2
    May 7 · 37 min

    Episode 2 - Mental Load: Terry on trial

    This week Erin puts Terry on trial for the thing every household quietly fights about... who actually tracks what's going on. The appointments, school stuff, the where-is-it-now, the do-we-have-milk. The invisible, unpaid job of running a house, and what it does to a relationship when one person feels they're carrying more than the other. We get into the funny side, the things Terry asks for that are sitting in his eyeline. Then the serious side, why it's not really about the things that have gone missing. It's about the default homemaker role, the resentment that builds quietly underneath, and the fact that in 2026 most couples are still pretending this is a women's complaint when it's actually a household design flaw. Plus: the rules we now live by, and whether Terry actually manages to follow them! Tell us in the comments: what's the one thing your partner can't find that drives you completely cracked? New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe to get them when they're hot! #KeepingItRealWithErinAndTerry #Marriage #AutismParents #RealTalk #ManProblems

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E1
    April 29 · 38 min

    Episode 1 - Perceptions: You think you know us

    Erin McGregor and Terry Kavanagh kick off Keeping it Real by pulling back the curtain on the life people think they're already watching on social media.The myths. The mean comments. The pressure of feeling like you can't make a single mistake in public. They take it all on with the kind of brutal honesty most couples save for the kitchen at midnight... and laugh through the bits they can.It's the first episode of a show that redefines the no-gloss truth about marriage, parenting, and public life. So they're starting where it matters: with the assumptions you've been making about them.Comment below: what's the one thing people get completely wrong about you or your life?New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe to get them when they're hot!#KeepingItRealWithErinAndTerry #Marriage #AutismParents #RealTalk #InfluencerLife

    • Transcript
Showing 1–13 of 13 episodes