The Moving Mission
Discussing the importance of moving, its impact, inclusion and benefits for both physical and mental health.
The Moving Mission
Jacks journey from becoming an amputee into TikTok stardom
In this episode, we are focusing on Jack's incredible journey as 'The One-Leg Dancer.'
We discuss the days of TikTok live sessions, where Jack's awesome dance routines not only captivated thousands but also brought light and laughter during the challenging times of lockdown.
We also revisit the iconic kitchen dance floor, share hilarious behind-the-scenes stories, and reflect on the impact of these live sessions. As always, this episode is a celebration of the joy of movement, the power of a positive mindset, and the infectious energy that dance can bring into our lives.
You can follow Jack on his TikTok account HERE
Stay tuned for more stories, and remember, no matter what, keep moving and smiling!
Remember to give us a follow, and let us know your feedback!
Hello, and welcome to the moving mission podcast with me, Amory Martin from
Jack Wells:Delhi Dance and me, Jack wills, the one that dancer Join
Anne-Marie Martin:us as we discussed the importance of moving impact
Jack Wells:inclusion and benefits for both physical and mental health.
Anne-Marie Martin:How are you? So today's episode, we're actually going to focus on Jack as the one leg dancer because I remember so many of your lives, being in on them, moderating them trying to moderate so many funny moments. I just thought it'd be great just to talk about that. Yeah, yeah, there used to be a bit of a experience in they got not to start with, you'd be like, right, I've got 80 People watching everyone's calm. And then 1000s of people will be in then all hell will break loose. And it'll be so funny watching it because you'd sort of like hop up to screen. Yeah, I could tell you a check in numbers, and then you're hopping back again.
Jack Wells:Yeah, we both used to have a tendency to do that. Yeah, it was never about the numbers, though. Never about the number about the numbers. But you just like to see what your work and we've I think
Anne-Marie Martin:is the key. Know the level of energy. Exactly. There
Jack Wells:was a little bit of that. Because if you did have 40 people in and it was already half hour reason that you was I think you used to do the whole Oh, we might cut today's short.
Anne-Marie Martin:After a long time, it was still short. Yeah, but no. Never people were worth my energy jet.
Jack Wells:Exactly. Even if it was just me sat there. You still exact trying to get me up and dancing. Yeah. But But yeah,
Anne-Marie Martin:when did you start them? I can't even remember.
Jack Wells:I don't I didn't go live. So when I joined Tik Tok in March 2020, whenever it was, I didn't go live for a long time. It wasn't kind of something I was prepared to do it. But I think it was something else that I realised could be quite popular. So it was pretty, it's probably a good six months, I'd say from when I joined tic toc to starting doing the lives because I did we
Anne-Marie Martin:I think mine wasn't until like the January where it was winter. I was starting to feel the effects of I need to move in and I said I'm gonna do these moving mission dance lives. I
Jack Wells:might do wasn't thing because it was like a lockdown thing. But I don't know. Second lockdown, then.
Anne-Marie Martin:Mine was second lockdown. But I'm trying to think when yours were I don't
Jack Wells:I've never used to do live site like what they become the star. I did used to go live but not to that extent. That was
Anne-Marie Martin:the I was your inspiration.
Jack Wells:I actually remember one of the lies I do remember was what was it? I was asked to in be involved in a charity Live, which is where I've got the Ironman costume, the kind of famous I am costume. And it was superhero based. So everyone had to pick a superhero. And once I gave him the list, the kind of ones that are taken I say, Oh, I've Ironman bought myself one of them. I want them outfits called morph suit. So Right. And I'm offsuit. And I wasn't even dancing. I was just on this live waiting to go live because it was kind of the July thing. Yeah, waiting to go live and this person. And I just had lots of numbers in it was just like it was like I think certainly we've we've younger kids that would watch lives and stuff like that. I think it was just, it was just seeing something they were familiar with. But sort of like you'd start getting the comments of, oh, I didn't realise Ironman and lost his leg and all that sort of stuff like and then to be fair that then progressed to end game where oh my god, no, is Ironman has been in Texas.
Anne-Marie Martin:And all it is yeah. But on to that. What did it what was the main name? You used to get called all the time?
Jack Wells:Cool, I think call blocks when your core code
Anne-Marie Martin:was Yeah. Would you summarise
Jack Wells:what it was? But yeah, he's like, yeah, he's a he's a Roblox thing where they there's they've only got one Lego thing. Yeah, it's like, that's where
Anne-Marie Martin:you can tell when you've got a big crowd and
Jack Wells:I then had the Deadpool outfit as well. And again, it was the comments of awful you can kind of heal himself and all of this. So yeah, I understand that. I'm not actually dead. Paul. He's a made up parents.
Anne-Marie Martin:Yeah, I mean, but you used to get what was the biggest number that it was Sunday morning. That was
Jack Wells:the top of my head. I think it might have been five and a half 1000
Anne-Marie Martin:At one time, but I mean the overall
Jack Wells:hundreds to ourselves and or mental.
Anne-Marie Martin:And most of the time, it was positive, wasn't it? And you'd get oh yeah. Oh my god. Yeah, amazing what you can do Oh, you brighten my day and your days. But I do just want to touch on some of the some of that not really bad troubles. Some of the people that just thought they were being funny. I mean some of
Jack Wells:the comments Yeah, you get the kind of the peg leg and all of these days what
Anne-Marie Martin:is it an American super market? I hop
Jack Wells:jokes that you know, I've never heard before the scripts or you know, the live. Yeah. Why did you think of that? But yeah, yeah, it did. It did just get a bit weird. To be honest. Yeah. But I
Anne-Marie Martin:mean, it was. And then you'd get people really lovely people of like, oh, blocked. So on a tick tock live, you have like moderators. And I was wondering Jack's moderators, along with a few other people. And they'd be like, motivated, you need to block these people. And I used to come and go, who won I know jack and jack doesn't care. So don't waste your energy trying to block people. But to you have to understand he starts in back from his screen. You can't even see all this to be honest.
Jack Wells:The further the live went on, the more sweat there was dripping. I could be this close to the screen and could not see a thing. So if he whatever comment was going in there that I wasn't taking any notice. Because I couldn't to be honest. Yeah,
Anne-Marie Martin:exactly. I mean, that was the height
Jack Wells:of 111 clip that I've actually got. And I think I did put it on tick tock. So one weekend, I decided to stream not only on tick tock but on YouTube as well. I use my laptop to do it. And what what I didn't realise was how much more pared down the image of the YouTube video was than the phone. So I used to have a habit once the live had kind of gone already for like a half hour and I was getting pretty knackered by this point, I'd have a tendency to kind of take myself off screen, get a bit of a breather, and then come back. Well, on the YouTube Live, you can literally see me step outside of my kitchen, like, puffed out. It's only when I looked at bowels. Oh yeah, no, you can see that part of the kitchen. Gone Too to the you know, answer door or something. Whereas in fact, I was just trying to get some energy
Anne-Marie Martin:period behind the scenes. Yeah, everyone loves scenes in front of the scene. Totally, totally. But I mean, the numbers were mad Worldnet in the engagement, then. And I think that's how, you know, so many accounts blew up. Yeah, in that time,
Jack Wells:you just don't get stuff like that. Now, do you really know, it's
Anne-Marie Martin:definitely a lot, a lot harder. But I mean, your account is thriving, still. And I know you're pushing it even a lot more. And it was at some point during that, that we decided to create the account together.
Jack Wells:Yeah, I think we both realised that we could kind of reach people in a in a similar way, and in the way we did with our lives. And obviously, like you said, where we met through lockdown, and there was no kind of meeting up it was everything was kind of interacting through tic tock so we did do the odd live together and stuff like that. But I think once we kind of met our we was always going to do tic TOCs together. Yeah. And I think that just then developed into kind of actually this could work actually as a page rather than just our when we meet up we do one on yours one on mine. It was actually like, this could actually be a thing, you know? Yeah, yeah, it
Anne-Marie Martin:was when it Yeah. But it was definitely I remember not wasting, but spending valuable time watching.
Jack Wells:It was good. But I remember alive. Going back to that one where our first wrestlers Ironman. I didn't have a play in this back then. But I think you had a lot of influence on the playlist. Because I think there was a live where I didn't know like, what's on what's on shopper mix. And you had a lot of suggestions. And I think a lot of them were better. Ya know, you kind of always think you know, you know, best, but I did. I think I did ask for it immediately. So I'll let you off on that one. But But yeah, I think you are quite a big influence on the playlist. I'll tell I think by I think Ironman helped at the same time. It was weird life.
Anne-Marie Martin:Yeah. But I mean, talk me through the playlist then. Because it you mix it up every now and again. But you ended up with quite a core playlist that almost
Jack Wells:do the same to the point where I'd know exactly what song was coming on next, because I use it very much like I'd have an iPad and be like, well go search for next song. This was just press play and just led to that. So Yeah,
Anne-Marie Martin:so what what did you always start with?
Jack Wells:I always started with a song called wake up bow, which is the World Cup. It's a beautiful. Yeah, because I did it in the morning and it was like, Come on, wake up. We're going for this. Then I was a bit of Jason Derulo in there a bit of Jessie Jai. Yeah, there was a Nicki Minaj in there. And Vengaboys Vengaboys was like, kind of coming to the end. And then always finished on hit the road Jack Yes, when there will be four hit the pro Jared one called Goodbye Jason Derulo. Where it's time to say goodbye and all that. It was like building up I was just finished from class, they were slightly slower songs because after Vengaboys you just really want to just sit down and not do anything. So it was a moment to kind of go, God I'm still alive, but I haven't got a dance around like a nutter and you
Anne-Marie Martin:almost got to plan it out. Like a wedding DJ, you are thinking
Jack Wells:yeah, exactly. Yeah, well, what's gonna get everyone up and then calm down. Go get another drink Yeah, come back in. I don't know how are you sure that I
Anne-Marie Martin:honestly I mean how long was some of your lives?
Jack Wells:I think they normally average at about an hour
Anne-Marie Martin:an hour hopping on one leg. Yeah,
Jack Wells:that's why there was a lot of sit in the workshop come in very handy. I think I used to get through quite a few days of water
Anne-Marie Martin:work torque, torque is about wet so where did you set your lives then
Jack Wells:so it was always a kitchen thing. And that was more because of not that sound really bad because I always had the music loud. So wherever he was in the house, you could hear it just as kind of a way where I could have a room which wasn't getting in the way of just watching telly or it did anyway because she couldn't hear anything. So yeah, it was in the kitchen but ended up getting a very good I've done most of mine in the kitchen to start with To be honest, all of my tiktoks were in the kitchen, various different angles, but the angle that I ended up getting with was a nicely corner part of my worktop where I found it very easy to push myself up sit on the side and that was my little resting place perfect dead centre screen and before
Anne-Marie Martin:we go into the kitchen a bit more because I think we want to end on that one point I want to bring up so that you can address as well. So on your lives on some of your videos. There is a difference people between the front and the back camera of a phone just talk about the sort of comments you would get if you had filmed one on your front camera and one on the back.
Jack Wells:So the problem was so we've ticked a lock you feel on the front camera camera it mirrors the image so where you can see this logo here this would be back to front so all mirrored so therefore it looks like you're missing a different link go back camera it just does it normally as you would see if he was looking at me so therefore I'm then I must be green screen in something I must be edit in the video it's not actually an amputee this guy yeah just hops around for now it is law in my life doing this stuff. I don't know if you remember when I broke my front camera or it was really blurry. Do you remember how bad that was really bad. So I then started filming loads on my back camera. And I think I even did a live once with my back camera and you come in and he was like, Jackie This is so wrong your kitchen
Anne-Marie Martin:you're so used to be it was like this iconic setup. Yeah. And then you do it I really
Jack Wells:didn't. But that was the that was the reason that the first video started being used in the back camera was purely because my front camera was all blurry. And there is
Unknown:that
Jack Wells:distrust stuff. Yeah, but unfortunately it was sort of unfortunately that was when a lot of my videos start going viral to the point where now I occasionally upload old videos and then the next hour I upload a new video and they're like right yes they used to lose you lost your right leg no natural left like what is going on? Because a lot of people if you film something on your phone normally as a video I don't think it does the whole Mirim I don't think it does. So it was very confusing for people that didn't know what Tiktok film was like
Anne-Marie Martin:but just amazing that they would think that you agreed
Jack Wells:to it just doesn't it doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense. They thought that I had a general like Warner Brothers style editing software where I could make myself look like an amputee. Yeah Oh, if I did my in my kitchen yeah, as you do, like I wasn't in the kitchen maybe I was in a studio. And that was actually just all camera people behind the scenes. It's all a facade. Yeah, no, it's actually that kitchen still exists somewhere next to the coreset
Anne-Marie Martin:talks on how you're doing it now in front of me with with my it's
Jack Wells:mad, isn't it? I
Anne-Marie Martin:can't believe that you're actually
Jack Wells:that's why we have to film this from this angle. So you can't see both of my ladies. leg around with me. Just to act with the whole facade of it.
Anne-Marie Martin:Oh, that'd be a lot of effort just for
Jack Wells:anyone that's met me in real life knows I'm empty. And yeah, luckily, I can take a joke and it's all good. Yeah,
Anne-Marie Martin:and I think your positive attitude to, to everything you've been through and you know, the work that you do is testament.
Jack Wells:Yeah, no, I think so. And I think even going back to the comment thing on videos and stuff, I think once people realised that they were trying to get a negative reaction maybe me that they didn't get that Yeah, I think a lot of people will then turn around actually described as having a great time and let's just either sit and watch or you know, Scotland and do something else. Exactly.
Anne-Marie Martin:I think, you know, see the comments after time that those that could see so don't let it affect you know, it's not affecting Jax that don't affect Oh,
Jack Wells:everyone choose to get oh, afterwards from people like, oh my god, I was trying to block people and I couldn't do it. quick enough and all of that. But
Anne-Marie Martin:it feels broken because
Unknown:I'm a numbers guy.
Anne-Marie Martin:No, but definitely it just feeds the trolls. It just feeds the negativity, doesn't it? So yeah,
Jack Wells:I haven't done I couldn't tell you the last time I've done a dancing live. Well, you have had brain surgery as well. But even before that, I don't think I've done one for not properly like full on the playlist is there. I
Anne-Marie Martin:just think everybody went back to their lives, didn't they? When we brought out of lockdown, I stopped doing my live so you didn't do as many of yours. Because we're all back at work. It was
Jack Wells:for an hour off and last thing out for the day. Most of the time, to be honest. But
Anne-Marie Martin:I mean, let's talk the kitchen then. Because kitchen is no longer iconic but it's
Jack Wells:studio it's now been turned EastEnders scene. But yeah, now obviously, those that don't know, me and my partner ended up selling their house and stuff. So when you leave somewhere else that kitchen now doesn't exist and unfortunately not thinking it through the new kitchen at the house. Just just doesn't cut it for hives. I don't think I'm gonna have to find a whole new area somewhere. Because the main thing is I do need somewhere to sit. Yeah, you need that little core now to tell anyone that has shopped around for an hour is a lie, because I don't because I need to see it. So part of the facade Oh, yeah. Yeah, I don't. But yeah, so yeah, that is a hurdle I've got overcome of if I ever wanted to win the blinds. How's it gonna work? I didn't take a picture of the kitchen. There. But then you definitely green screen. People really would be like, No, it the green screen suddenly cuts off and I'm in a different kitchen. Oh, I told you. I told you. So yeah, I'm
Anne-Marie Martin:gonna risk that one. I don't think you have to relaunch it again. It's gonna be a whole
Jack Wells:new thing. Yeah, yeah. But I think there's a lot of people that Now follow me that would have never seen one of these lives. Yeah. Quite a following property since the last one. Yeah, they don't even they've only seen half of what I can do. A playlist would almost feel like a new one. I think. got full reinvent. Yeah, but it wouldn't be a new one. It still be the same. Sorry.
Anne-Marie Martin:Yeah. Oh, he would do the reset. But just mix them up in a different order. No, no.
Jack Wells:Because the famous is set on my phone. No, but I'm saying it would feel because there'll be no people that have never seen it before. Oh, I see
Anne-Marie Martin:what you mean. Go into a new order. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just regurgitate the same old crap. It's
Jack Wells:because it works. It was it was quite daunting. Exactly. It used to get in. So many so many viewers get Yeah, make sense when you risk a lot by changing the playlists. I think you found a couple of times when you went live that you realised I've messed up here. The song I've chosen is not going to get anyone in because it's too slow or it's too.
Anne-Marie Martin:I did have to mix it up a bit because I'd wanted to explore a different routine but it didn't work. There was a few where it was just like yeah, this route till you didn't have 1000s I remember I always have a regular version.
Jack Wells:Why wait for the remix everyone? Yeah.
Anne-Marie Martin:And I think that's the other thing as well when you, you must find it same in your lives as well. Energy breathe energy, knackers. You're out there, and you've got a good tune on and the comments are coming in. You're watching.
Jack Wells:It wasn't, it wasn't solely because you're obsessed with wall. Unless there's 1000 people in there, I'm not doing this. But there was something about having that amount that made you just go, this is amazing. I can't actually believe it's not on. I'm actually doing like a concert for me. I'm gonna start hiring out venues and start doing this property live in front of
Anne-Marie Martin:you. But imagine right now it was 205
Jack Wells:and a half 1000 That it was that I that slide that is a small venue. Like there's, there's a lot of famous people that are just be like, if I could do that, that'd be
Anne-Marie Martin:a little bit different. Watching you on a screen for free than actually paying,
Jack Wells:well, maybe maybe I could do like a virtual experience, like go to a venue but I'm in a different room. And they all have to log in on their phones to watch for that to pay to be
Anne-Marie Martin:there is a discussion on the TV this morning about conversing with your teenager. And as parents, are we so lazy now that we will send a text to it, you know? Yeah. Sometimes, and somebody made a really good point, if he's upstairs with his headphones in. I don't want to be shouting and bellowing like a banshee up and down the stairs. But
Jack Wells:it's just you saying you've not bought your washing now. So exactly.
Anne-Marie Martin:So it was all funny. And then somebody was texting someone else didn't say that's the thing. You know, I think we're all back into the reality of it. And, you know, seeing gigs and concerts, but that's quite a funny concept. If you're like, yeah, so I know you've paid to be here and see me but actually
Jack Wells:I'm just gonna go into my kitchen. Put my green screen on because if I'm on stage live, obviously, you're gonna say you can see to Kent Yeah. Oh, reminiscing about the life. So thanks for bringing I think
Anne-Marie Martin:it's just so funny to when you start remembering some of them comments and the experiences you feel like a lifetime. Yeah, it's a good laugh. But
Jack Wells:yeah, I'd do anything to be called CodeBlocks. Again, tell me back to them. Time's
Anne-Marie Martin:up. That no core blocks. Let's tie this up. So thanks again for listening to another episode of the moving mission. And we look forward to chatting to you all again soon. See you soon. Thanks for listening today. We hope you feel inspired to get moving. And don't
Jack Wells:forget to give us a follow here if you enjoyed today's episode and check us out on all other social media at the moon mission.