Josh Cavallo: gay football icon swaps A-League for the National League North
He's been chatting about the move with Hits Radio Pride ahead of the new season, which kicks off this weekend
"It's super exciting, because it's a fresh chapter in our lives - and I'm actually just about to pick my fiancé up from the airport," explains Josh Cavallo, ahead of a brand-new football season... and a life in a brand-new country.
He's been in the UK for just a few weeks, and is one of Peterborough Sports' brand-new signings for 2025, moving from the Australian A-League's Adelaide United to the sixth-highest tier in the EFL.
And Hits Radio Pride has been catching up with him, as the first openly gay male footballer to play in a top-flight league officially makes his debut this weekend.
As his career gets started in England, Josh has been making waves Down Under, with his talented skills on the pitch landing him a spot on the Under-19 and Under-20 national squads for Australia.
After being scouted at the age of 15, he's clocked-up more than 100 appearances in his senior career, starting out at Melbourne City before heading in 2021 to the new A-League side Western United and finally Adelaide, where he remained until the end of the season.
It's close to his heart, with the Coopers Stadium the place where he proposed to his fiancée Leighton Morrell, but in an emotional post on Instagram back in July, he confirmed 'it's time to leave the nest', saying how the sport he loves so much has led him to a brand-new life halfway across the world.
'I'm a footballer and I'm gay'
You might never have seen him on your telly, or watched him play the game, but you will probably have seen his video, which has racked up billions of views on social media of Josh sharing his truth... that he's gay.
At the time just four years ago, back in October 2021, sharing such a deeply personal part of his life - and speaking those six simple words - made him the first openly out top-flight soccer player in the world.
Confirming the move away from his home, Josh said: "I never imagined that living my truth would unlock doors from the pitch to every corner of my personal life.
"Whether you’ve followed my journey from the beginning or found strength in it along the way, your presence has meant more than words can ever say. Especially to the LGBTQ+ community, you are the reason I never gave up.
"You helped me see that I wasn’t alone and that none of us are. For the boy who once looked in the mirror and questioned why he was different, this is proof that you can find your place in this world."
Time for a new life in the UK...
So, why the UK?
Well, Josh says now's the perfect chance to step his career up to the next level and play in the country his beloved sport was born.
Josh and his fiancé had always dreamed of a move here, and chose Peterborough because it just 'ticked the boxes so well'.
"It's fantastic," he said, "I've had such a warm welcome to the UK, and everything seems to have happened so quickly!
"The most different thing is that my parents are asleep when I'm awake - that's the only thing that's kind of confused me.
"Other than that, though, everything's quite similar to Australia.
"Even down to people's passion for sport on this side of the world, in a way, it really does feel like home."
It might feel similar to his home country, but there's just a few things Josh is still getting to grips with - and it's not the time zone.
He added: "I'm still trying to work out the grocery stores!
"So you've got things like Gregg's, I've seen Sainsbury's, Lidl, too.
"I thought Lidl looked like Ikea to me - it's so funny to see how different it is to Australia!
"And I'm learning so much about the way people speak.
"A lot of people said to me, before coming here, 'bring wellies' - and I had no idea what they were, as we call them 'farm boots' Down Under!
"But I'm soaking the whole experience in - and I'm absolutely loving it!"
'Peterborough Sports made me feel like I'm at home'
For any player in the professional game, choosing where to move after spending years at your former club is a daunting task, but Josh tells us how being gay made him think even harder about where to go, and where he might fit in.
That's what brought him to Peterborough Sports, where, despite admitting how he 'could have gone to higher levels of football around the world', he says he was made to feel 'right at home' here in the UK.
Josh told us: "It really is the culture of this place which brought me here.
"Being an out, gay, male, professional footballer - there's so much I have to consider, but I've really been made to feel like I'm right at home, especially by the Head Coach, Luke Steele.
"In fact, it feels already really that I'm not the newbie.
"It's really like a family here, and I really like that."
Now, Josh might already be fitting in, but there's one thing you can't guarantee here that you can't down in Australia, and that's one thing us Brits love to talk about: the weather.
We might have recently experienced a heatwave - but that's nothing compared to where he used to live.
He added: "What doesn't compare, though, is the heat!
"Every time I've gone into training with the boys, they've been complaining about the heat - but that really has nothing on Oz!
"What it has inspired me to do, though, is show them a bit of my culture - which I can't wait to do sometime."
So, what are Josh's predictions for a side which came 12th in the sixth tier of English football last season?
He's keeping an open mind: "My teammates have been absolutely phenomenal, and this club is a really exciting one - we're doing quite well in our pre-season games, so I'm super pumped for us to get going.
"We've got a super potential to do well.
"I can already se we're so hard working, and I know every single one of them all put their head down, so if we keep doing that, I'm hopeful we can do even better than last year's 12th place in the league.
"It's been a no-brainer to come to this club, and let's see what the season has to bring!"
Football 'needed this', says Josh, after coming out just four years ago
Being a stalwart for anything in life is a big moment, but in the world of football, Josh coming out felt even larger.
He's dubbed it a huge step for the sport: "In the space of football, we needed this.
"Me coming out, like I did, was such an important step - but I know it was just the first step in the sport I love.
"It's not going to fix all of the problems, or change the toxic masculinity which we see rife in football, I know that.
"But I wanted to help to take that step forward, and be that role model for kids to tell them, they shouldn't be afraid to be themselves, or even be afraid to kick a football around."
What's clear, though, is the impact he's made, too, outside of sport.
"There's been so much that's happened in my life that's blown my mind," he said, "Especially the reaction to the things I post on social media.
"I think the most significant impact to me is getting to chat with people in the street.
"Just to have a conversation with people about sexuality, and them opening up about their sexuality, and what this all means.
"It's really touching."
The Eurovision Song Contest... and RuPaul's Drag Race
With Australia now a firm part of the Eurovision Song Contest family, we asked Josh about his thoughts about the show.
You might think he's an avid fan of his home country, but actually reckons the UK's one of his favourites.
He said: "My partner is OBSESSED with Olly Alexander!
"We watched his performances last year, and we absolutely loved it.
"We are fans of the United Kingdom - but we just don't understand why they score so low every year, that's the thing for me, so we have to get that up!
"If I could say anyone else, I also LIVE for Loreen.
"Because we're in Europe now, it would be so cool to go and see what it's all about in person."
And it wouldn't be a chat about gay culture without talking about Drag Race.
Down Under, Josh appeared as a guest judge, fulfilling a long-held dream of being on the show.
He'd always wanted to meet RuPaul, too, who's cited as a big influence in his own journey in coming out.
Now he's 'sashayed away' to the UK, would he want to do it all again, and take a spot on the panel on the British version of the show?
Well, that's a no-brainer.
"That would be the absolute ambition," he said.
"I've watched the US one, I've watched the UK one, as well, and I've actually got a lot of friends who've appeared on the show.
"That would be the ultimate dream if I was to appear as a guest judge."
'You shouldn't let anyone else define who you are'
Josh has got one thing he wants people to remember - and that's you really shouldn't let others control who you really are.
He added: "I was walking that path, I was once in those shoes, and I never had anyone like me to look up to, especially in the world of football.
"Stand strong, do not change ever, and do not let anyone tell you how you should dress, look, walk, or talk.
"My message is you shouldn't let anyone else define who you are and who you want to be."