Podcast queens Lise Carlaw and Sarah Wills have revealed their brutally honest rule that has now sparked one of Australia’s hottest party movements – that every woman needs an ‘ugly friend’.
The podcasters have turned their deeply relatable friendship philosophy into a full-blown cultural phenomenon, with their all-female Disco Club events selling out around the country as women ditch the male gaze and reclaim the dance floor.
And at the heart of it all is what Lise cheekily calls the ‘ugly friend theory’ – the idea that every woman deserves one person who has seen her at her absolute worst.
‘Sarah and I have this theory that every woman deserves what we call an “ugly friend”, in the sense that you need one friendship in your life where the other person will see you at your ugliest,’ Lise tells this week’s Stellar Magazine.
‘We’re talking worst angle on a video call, no bra, eyebrows that haven’t been done in God knows how long. That’s Sarah for me. We’ve managed to bottle that energy for Disco Club.’
That raw, unfiltered friendship energy has become the foundation of Disco Club – a judgement-free, women-only party series.
Podcast queens Lise Carlaw and Sarah Wills have revealed their brutally honest rule that has now sparked one of Australia’s hottest party movements – that every woman needs an ‘ugly friend’. Both pictured
It is fast becoming a safe space for women who are exhausted by traditional club culture.
Sarah said for many attendees, the nights mark the first time they have ever stepped onto a dance floor surrounded only by their girlfriends.
‘This could be, for some women, the first time they’ve been on a dance floor with solely their girlfriends,’ she said.
‘If we’re casting our minds back to when we were at the clubs, the whole purpose was for the male gaze.
‘You’d go with your girlfriends, do a lap, see who’s here. You dressed up, honestly, to attract people. Now we aren’t interested in that.’
Instead, Disco Club flips the script on nightlife, giving women permission to show up exactly as they are.
‘When you give women permission to wear whatever they want, they shed those prior experiences with clubbing,’ Sarah added.
From glitter-splashed dance floors and throwback anthems to arms-around-each-other sing-alongs, Disco Club has become less about who you might meet – and more about how good it feels to move your body without judgement.
The podcasters have turned their deeply relatable friendship philosophy into a full-blown cultural phenomenon, with their all-female Disco Club events selling out around the country as women ditch the male gaze and reclaim the dance floor
With tickets continuing to sell out and more dates tipped for next year, Carlaw and Wills are now calling on women to make 2026 the year they dance like no-one is watching.
Read the full interview in this week’s issue of Stellar Magazine.
In September, Carlaw stunned fans as she revealed her genius parenting hack.
The mother of a teenage boy shared the unlikely Bunnings item that helped her unlock a ‘genius’ parenting trick.
It only costs $10 – and it’s found at Bunnings – It’s a wireless doorbell.
Podcaster and former radio host Lise Carlaw said she bought the item because she had grown tired of constantly yelling out to get her teenager’s attention at home.
In a clip from the podcast segment – titled ‘The $10 Bunnings Hack that Saved My Parenting’ – Lise confirmed ‘I’ve purchased a doorbell.’
The host and co-founder of Disco Club said the item she’d bought was the Arlec Premium 38 Sound Battery Powered Wireless Door Chime, which is available at Bunnings for $9.99.
In the TikTok clip shared to their @liseandsarah_ account, she described how she used the doorbell, which comes in ‘two parts’ – the push button and the freestanding chime unit.
‘One part lives up in my kitchen, and the other part lives in [my son] Remy’s bedroom.’
Co-host Sarah Wills initially reacted with confusion to this revelation, asking why her business partner’s 15-year-old son would require a doorbell installed in his bedroom.
Her relatable response instantly struck a chord with parents of teenagers everywhere.
‘Calling out to him all the time was starting to grate on my last nerve. I’m sick of the sound of myself,’ Lise said.
The host explained that her son – like many other teenagers – was an avid gamer who frequently sat in his bedroom with a ‘big headset on’, revealing she used the doorbell to communicate with her son without raising her voice.
