JM: I came back from London in January 2004 and my family
and friends were scattered across the world. I was the only person
I knew and I was lonely. My parents had divorced, I had broken up
with my fiancée and my grandmother was sick and I needed to feel
happy. I went out to a party one night and a completely random
person came up to me and gave me a hug. I felt like a king! It was
greatest thing that ever happened. Six months later, on June 30, in
Pitt Street Mall, I decided to give away free hugs. It was kind of
creepy walking up to a stranger without any form of introduction
and I didn’t want to harass anyone so that’s why I held up a sign.
My first hug was from a little old lady, really similar to the
clip. I’d been out for 15 minutes and I was terrified. But I had
hope that maybe one person out there would take me up on the
offer.
JG: What do you do with yourself when you’re not giving
out Free Hugs on a Thursday afternoon?
JM: Oh I just have a little job around the corner of my
house – nothing spectacular. I walk away from work and it’s all
just gone. I don’t want to say where because I’m trying to keep
work out of this whole thing—they’re really excitable! It’s very
quiet around here—I live in Roseville, near Chatswood, in a quiet
little area, nothing much goes on and that’s the way I like it.
It’s like a little refuge. I went to university four times and I
always do really well and I don’t feel challenged. Giving free hugs
is one thing that I’ve gone back to week after week without fail
because I know I’m doing something. It doesn’t matter that the
money’s not there and that it’s not a career path, what matters is
that it makes a difference to somebody’s life just for a moment.
Life ambitions? I’ve never had an answer!
JG: So are you worried about how this fame is going to
affect your life?
JM: It is going to be different but the important thing
for me is being able to be kept grounded and keeping my job. The
spotlight will shine for a while but it will fade in the end. It’s
exciting but my life is just going to carry on as it always has and
as it always will. If I became a rich and famous hugging celebrity
I would still be doing the same thing I do every week. I would
still be hugging because I have everything I need, what more could
I possibly want? I have a house to live in, food to eat. My
housemates didn’t really know I did this either, they kind of had a
few ideas. It wasn’t the kind of thing I ran around boasting about.
I’d always avoid the TV crews when they came to Pitt Street. I
would run away and hide.
JG: Is that why you go by the pseudonym Juan Mann?
JM: I keep my real name to myself because my family,
friends and work didn’t know and I guess the whole thing about a
different name is that it’s not about me, it’s about how it makes
people feel and think. I used to say to my friends, “I’m just one
man! What can I do?!” I did feel that I was looking for something
that was a little bit more than what’s out there, I had to do
something.
JG: Do you get recognised even when you’re not in hugging
mode?
JM: I cut my hair about a year ago because I was getting
stopped at petrol stations while I was buying milk. It wasn’t good
for work. It’s a bit like Superman and Clark Kent! This has grown
beyond anything I ever thought was possible. What started out as a
way for me to get a smile out of strangers has turned into this
social theory of peace and humanity. I want to go on Oprah to say
thank you to everybody. you can be going hungry on your el-cheapo
noodle diet (all in the name of following the rock star dream, of
course) and the next, getting ready to appear on Oprah.
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