Alex Robb needs to have a bit of self-respect. #WhatHappenedThatSummer
Alisha_Lea
I can’t believe AJ was playing Nicole and Alex like that, and so brazenly #WhatHappenedThatSummer
KellyBlake4
How cute are Pea and Zak? #WhatHappenedThatSummer
J_oshAnd_erson
I have such a sense of impending doom. I know it’s because we know what happened next, but I’m still on tenterhooks waiting to hear all the details. #WhatHappenedThatSummer
SarahSmith675
I was at that Manchester show! I was twelve years old and my mum took me. I cried for weeks when he died. #WhatHappenedThatSummer
LiisawithtwoIs
Gutted. I had tickets for one of the London dates which obviously never happened. #WhatHappenedThatSummer
KevKing9
Roll on next week! #WhatHappenedThatSummer
6
EPISODE 6 – 20 JUNE 1996
Danny: Welcome to episode six ofWhat Happened That Summer?I’m Danny Drake, and this podcast is a forensic investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of pop superstar AJ Silver in 1996. I just had confirmation that ‘Ice Cream’ is at the top of the download chart for 2025 and Silver’sGreatest Hitsalbum has gone double platinum.
AJ Silver died in a rollercoaster accident while staying at Wildworld theme park in West Wilding, near Birmingham, England, and the Hunter family, who owned and ran the park, were later fined £500,000. We’ve been talking to the Hunters and the Campbells (AJ’s family), as well as AJ’s manager and crew, about what happened in the run-up to the accident. And now we’ve arrived at that fateful day.
If you’ve come straight to this episode, it might be useful for you to know that sixteen-year-old Pea Hunter is in a relationship with AJ Silver’s brother Zak, and AJ himself has allegedly been sleeping with both local girl Nicole Waddington and Alex Robb, Pea’s best friend. Yes,thatAlex Robb. The stay itself has been fraught with issues, from late-arriving shower and toiletfacilities to staffing issues to John Hunter’s alleged drinking problem. It’s also worth noting that AJ Silver hasn’t made himself hugely popular with a number of people because of his behaviour.
So without further ado, let’s look at what happened that day.
Cathy: I remember it was a glorious day. A Tuesday.
John: I was a bit under the weather.
Cathy: John was hungover. He was like a bear with a sore head.
John: I think I had the flu.
Pea: I went down for breakfast and Sebastian was eating peanut butter on toast. I asked him if he wanted to hear about the show the night before and he said, ‘Not really.’
Sebastian: I really didn’t care that Pea had been to the show. To be honest, I was surprised she’d gone at all. It wasn’t her kind of thing. It felt like she was changing to cling on to Zak or something and I didn’t like it.
John: The kids were arguing over breakfast. That wasn’t really unusual. I made a pot of coffee and started to go through my day in my head. I had a lot of paperwork to do, so I was planning to base myself in the office with Cathy.
Cathy: John and me in the office together was always problematic. It was too small for two people, and we just worked totally differently. I was tidy and John was chaotic. So when he said he was going to base himself there for the day, I tried not to roll my eyes.
John: We were two weeks into AJ Silver’s stay, and I was counting down the days until they were leaving. I knew it wouldbe worth it, in the end, when we got the rest of the money, but it had been a pain in the arse.
Pea: I had a couple of exams coming up later that week, so I was heading into school to revise. I met Alex on the corner, as I always did. He looked tired. I probably did too. It had been a late night. But there was something else, too. He seemed touchy and off with me, and when I tried to broach the subject, he stopped walking and looked at me and said, ‘Let’s not pretend that things are the same as they used to be between us.’ I was shocked by that. I knew me seeing Zak had had an impact on things, but I didn’t think it was a serious problem. And then I made it worse by saying I knew he had a crush on AJ and that it must be hard to see him with Nicole of all people. He put one hand up, a few inches from my face, and told me that I didn’t know what I was talking about. And then he stormed off, faster than I could walk. I walked on, alone, pulling my cardigan off and shoving it in my bag because it was warmer than I’d expected. Alex would calm down, I thought. By the time I saw him at break, he’d be back to normal.
John: I’d just set myself up when the phone started ringing. Cathy picked it up, and I guessed within about a minute that it was her sister, and she started filling her in on every last thing that had happened in our lives since they last spoke, the way she did. It was so bloody distracting. I was trying to work out some figures. I did a few sighs, hoping she’d get the message.
