A 50 cent piece, a kid jumping on a bed, and an 18 year old who had been left alone with someone else's son for the very first time. Matty got the coin out. Then the boy looked up at him with tears in his eyes and said: let's not tell mummy.

Matty Acton is one third of Stav, Abby & Matt on B105 Brisbane breakfast. He met his now wife when he was 18 and she was 22, with a three year old son. His original position was that he did not want a serious relationship with someone who had a child. He has now spent his entire adult life as a parent.

That three year old is 24. He married at 20 and he is a father, which makes Matty a grandfather at 37. He talks about what that did to the way he sees himself, why he loves telling people about it, and the stigma that still lands on anyone who has children young. He also has a 12 year old son and a nine year old daughter, so the house now runs two sets of rules: one for his kids, and effectively none for his granddaughter.

In between are the parts nobody puts on Instagram. A major crash out in front of his son's mate on a Sunday morning, over what time the bikes had to be home. Moving a kid to a new school every two years for a radio career, and the one move they decided not to make. Finding out your son is proposing while you are in line for your fourth bottle at a food and wine festival. And what he says he has actually learned across three kids and every one of his adult years, which is smaller and better than any of it: they just want to know that when they put their head on the pillow, someone is there who loves them.

Plus the dad joke round, which Rob and Marcus handle badly.

Chapters

00:00 Cold open: a 50 cent piece and a secret
00:45 Welcome, and a guest who is a granddaddy
02:15 Pop, Papa or Bob: what the grandkids call you
03:09 A major crash out in front of his mate
05:15 Three kids, 24, 12 and nine, all different
06:21 What every kid actually wants
08:31 He was 18, she was 22, her son was three
11:52 Meeting the kid: friend first, dad later
13:31 The night he babysat alone for the first time
15:29 Was that the moment you became a dad?
17:03 Moving house every two years for radio
20:22 The phone call: he is proposing at 20
23:15 Advice they don't want, and listening instead
24:30 A grandfather at 37, and the stigma of it
26:21 Granddaughter rules versus kid rules
28:14 The dad joke round

Our guest

Matty Acton co-hosts Stav, Abby & Matt, the breakfast show on B105 Brisbane, alongside Stav Davidson and Abby Coleman. He became a stepdad at 18, has three children, and became a grandfather at 37.

Instagram: @mattyacton
TikTok: @mattyacton
X: @mattyacton
Facebook: @MattyActon
Listen to Stav, Abby & Matt on B105 Brisbane: listnr.com/stations/b105

Read more on Man of Many

Why We're Launching 'Daddies', A New Podcast About Modern Fatherhood
100+ Best Dad Jokes, Ranked by Cringe/Pun Level
We Asked Aussie Men How Life Is Going. This Is What You Told Us
10 Best Dad Blogs for New Parents
The 2025 'Adolescent Man Box' Report
Paging Doctor Dad: Real Fathers, Real Stories, Real Advice

What to listen to next

Gay Dad, Single Dad
How Your Brain Changes When You Become A Dad

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Find us

Instagram: @daddiespodcastau
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Facebook: @daddiespodcastau
Threads: @daddiespodcastau
X: @daddiespodau
Watch the full episodes on YouTube: youtube.com/@manofmany
Listen on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/id6804513711
Find us on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4JqZSIBvqU33N5LGJ3b46S
Everything else: manofmany.com/podcasts/daddies

Credits
Hosts: Rob Stott and Marcus Hurley
Producer: Amelia Navascues
Videographer: Jordan Yankov
A Man of Many production. New episodes every Thursday.