There are two things you notice when you first meet Eric Sedeño: his smile and his laugh. It has become a part of his online brand because almost all the videos he posts on TikTok, where he has over 1.2 million followers, feature him smiling or laughing at himself while doing something ridiculous, like playing dress-up with wigs, or making hilarious jokes.
Sedeño became known online first for his craftiness with DIY projects—and a fan-favorite tie-dye era—and then increasingly for his comedic skits. But after capturing the attention (and hearts) of his ever-growing fan base, the New York-based content creator has decided it's time to expand his brand with a new venture: his very own podcast.
On September 4, Sedeño, a Texas native, will release the first episode of that podcast, Wild Wild Web, via the LGBTQ+ pop culture podcast network Confetti Cannon. In the official press release for the project, the show is described as "his very own digital rodeo." And each week, he will be wrangling his famous internet friends into sit-down conversations on a Western-themed set, where they'll discuss their rise to social media stardom and delve deeper into their most significant online moments.
In the first episode, he'll talk to burgeoning TikTok star Vanilla Mace, and he says that he has a few additional episodes recorded already. But he doesn't want to spoil the fun by revealing who else he'll have on. He can say, though, that he's hoping to get some big names, and that Brittany Broski, Trixie Mattel, Quinta Brunson, and Amy Poehler are just some of his dream guests. But at the top of his list? Ariana Grande.
The 28-year-old influencer sat down with Out to talk about this new(ish) media venture and what he sees for his career going forward.
Eric SedeñoBrendan Wixted
When asked about how the idea for the podcast came about, Sedeño explained that the name and the concept—to give audiences a peek behind the curtain of how their favorite creators rose to fame—just came to him during a conversation he was having with his manager over coffee.
"If you really think about it, you don't really know everyone's internet origin story—like when they fell in love with the internet, how they got started, or what their first big video was," Sedeño tells Out. "So I thought it'd be cool to sit down and ask them."
That segment of the show will be called "origin trail," a pun that Sedeño can't help but giggle at and then ask, "It's good, right?" After I agree with him, he goes on to say that the rest of the segments have fun names and that the biggest takeaway he hopes listeners get is a new understanding of their favorite creators.
Sedeño is getting back in the saddle of podcasting after his first attempt at the medium dissolved. Back in 2023, his podcast Gay & Afraid ran for 29 episodes before it was met with substantial obstacles that ultimately led to its cancellation. One of those obstacles was that the podcast was filmed in Los Angeles, which meant he was travelling to California every six to eight weeks to record multiple episodes at once and then flying back to New York, only to repeat the process. "If I had done it week to week, I think the podcast would have grown so much more, or had more opportunity for me to learn, evolve, and change with it," Sedeño says.
But on top of the grueling schedule, the production company he worked with, BRAT, let go of his producer and brought in a new person whom Sedeño felt didn't believe in the show. Eventually, Sedeño says, he felt it got to a point where no one could manage the show anymore, so it just stopped. "I was really sad about it," he says. "I felt like I failed. But more so, I felt like I couldn't manage that experience."
With his new podcast, Sedeño is in full creative control. And it shows.
Eric SedeñoBrendan Wixted
The promotional videos for Wild Wild Web are highly stylized and feature Sedeño's silly, quirky humor juxtaposed against a dusty, gritty Western backdrop. So even from the start, his passion, creativity, and experience working as an art director in advertising before he became a TikTok star really shine through.
"I came up with a concept, I've done all the graphic design, and I hired my old, original producer," Sedeño says, referring to his collaborator on Gay & Afraid. "This is like a new version that's bigger, better, and much more well done. Plus, it's based in New York."
Sedeño's optimism is infectious. Even when speaking about one of the tougher moments in his career, he's still gracious with himself. As he sees it, his first podcast was "a stepping stone" to get to where he is today, and he looks at what he's done as a content creator—especially in the early days, when video ideas didn't always pan out the way he wanted them to—in the same way.
"You have to flop to fly," Sedeño says, adding that every day he repeats the motto, "I'm lucky that good things happen to me often."
As a content creator, one thing Sedeño is always thinking about is expansion, and last month, he signed with United Talent Agency in an effort to build his career into other sectors of entertainment. The 28-year-old says he's open to new opportunities as they come and is pursuing various means of diversifying his résumé. For now, Wild Wild Web, which he calls "a labor of love," is his baby. Though, he's also hoping it will give him a pathway to pursuing other creative endeavors, like creating longer-form content, working in TV, hosting a red carpet, or even doing stand-up.
"I think it will open doors because I feel like it shows a different side of me," he says of Wild Wild Web. "I want to be more of a multi-hyphenate—not just an online creator, but someone who can make entertainment in all forms."
