Six things we learned from Giorgio Mammoliti’s insane interview with Dean Blundell

Dean Blundell made a forced retreat after losing his morning radio show earlier this year, and it seems as though as though he’s taken his favourite in-studio guest along for the ride. Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (yes, the guy who wants to turn to the Toronto Islands into a red-light district) made some memorable appearances on The Edge 102.1’s Dean Blundell Show, and now he stars in the latest episode of Blundell’s new podcast.

The interview is almost 50 minutes long, but here are the six essential takeaways.

1. Mammoliti is heterosexual and proud
Somehow, in the first five minutes of the interview, Mammo manages to assert his heterosexuality twice. “We’re both okay with our sexualities,” he tells Blundell after the radio host compliments his appearance. And then, later, during a discussion about strip clubs: “Look, I’m heterosexual, and I’m proud of that, too.”

2. Mammoliti blames some of his weird behaviour on brain damage
Mammoliti had brain surgery in 2013, leading to some predictable jokes about about whether misfiring neurons could have been the cause of all of his erratic behaviour over the years. Mammoliti says that may actually have been the case. “I’ve even said a few things that were a little off the wall over the last number of years,” he tells Blundell. “And I attribute it to what was going on in my brian, absolutely.” (He doesn’t blame his brain for the Toronto Islands/red-light district thing, though.)

3. Mammoliti has always suspected Ford of being an addict
Mammoliti is a complicated man, and what he says can’t always be taken at face value. With that in mind, it’s hard to know what to make of his comments about Rob Ford’s drug use. “I’ve always known that he had an addiction,” Mammoliti says at one point. He denies ever having seen the mayor use drugs, though, or drink to excess. Regardless, he suspects that drugs may have been at the root of a famous incident in 2002 when Rob Ford hurled racist slurs at him on the floor of council. “When he called me a Gino boy, he was high on something,” Mammoliti says. “My view today is, I think it was consistent to the crack.”

4. As a councillor, Rob Ford broke down crying in Mel Lastman’s office
Following the “Gino boy” incident, Mammoliti claims Ford met with then-mayor Mel Lastman to discuss his behaviour. Things apparently didn’t go well. “Lastman told me [Ford] was pretty out of control in his office and moved to a fetal position in the office, based on an uncontrollable kind of, ‘what do I do now?'” Mammoliti told Blundell. According to the Star, Lastman admits to having met with Ford, but denies that the future mayor ever assumed the fetal position.

5. Mammoliti was offered information about Ford in exchange for $5,000
Mammoliti also claims to have been approached by “an addict” with information about Ford’s drug use. This addict apparently wanted $5,000 in exchange for the details. Mammoliti says he didn’t pay up. “I’m not that type of guy,” he told Blundell.

6. And Mammoliti apparently considers himself an entertainer
The podcast ends with a friendly exchange of compliments. “I’m proud to be not only a colleague in business, obviously—in this entertainment business—but, as a friend, as well,” Mammoliti tells Blundell. Yup, that’s what these two guys have in common. They’re both pure entertainment.