"People are proud and don't see it as a s****y little town. I don't. You look at the sun rises and sunsets you get here - you could be in the Costa or Barbados."
The observation is from Sean Bingham, owner of Breaking Waves Gifts shop on John Street, Porthcawl. I asked him what he thought of his town for a good reason. This week a comedian called Porthcawl a "s***hole where rats go to do drug deals". Footage was circulated of comedian Thanyia Moore making the comments during a stand-up Comedy Central Live show earlier this year.
The 39-year-old comedian said she "wasn't lucky enough to be in Cardiff" while doing TV work in Wales and that being in the town was "like taking a sheep and putting it in Notting Hill Carnival." But she praised her experience of leek and potato soup at a Porthcawl restaurant and has since emphasised that her comments were a light-hearted joke.
The video received mixed reactions from those who'd seen it with lots of people jumping to Porthcawl's defence online and others agreeing, so I decided to visit the town to ask people there whether they agreed and what they felt about the town they called home, and one of the people I met was Sean. You can get more Porthcawl news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Read more: The Welsh seaside resort that has been promised so much and is still waiting for change
Speaking to us on the street outside his shop, he pointed across the road to his new sister shop, The Rusty Cauldron, which opened its doors last weekend. Sean grew up in Porthcawl and said he, like many, were proud of what was happening there.
"I'm proud of my town. Somebody's taken the mick out of it [and you] move on. Somebody could take the mick out of any subject matter. She said she's visited several times and loves Porthcawl. She's probably been down places like the fairground, and [said] yeah it looks like a s***hole. You do take the mick out of those grotty little places. Every town's got them. Porthcawl's got them, every town does. If someone went to Swansea they'd say it about Swansea, or Cardiff."
Sean started the business during lockdown and said it was now thriving. "We've been here two and a half years, we opened the second shop last Saturday. Porthcawl's always got good footfall unless it's pouring rain. But other than that, if it's a sunny day the town gets quite busy. You'll rarely find an empty shop in Porthcawl.
"You get some stunning views here. We've got beautiful beaches. This comedian's obviously only used it as a gag, and obviously it's going to rile people up purely because she is talking about their town. If she said it in Cardiff, people would have been exactly the same. It's just another gag."
'You'd only ever be lonely here if you wanted to be alone'
Karen Taylor, 69, is originally from the Valleys and moved back to Wales from Essex several years ago with her partner Kevyn. She said she disagreed with Ms Moore's comments entirely.
"I think she's had a very different experience to me," she said. "But then Porthcawl isn't a place I'd choose to live in if I was young. I chose not to live in Wales when I was young because you want to live in London, be out clubbing all the time. Porthcawl hasn't got that. It has a very high percentage of people near my age. We like things a bit calmer, I suppose, to live in. And then go to Cardiff for our entertainment."
Karen said that although Porthcawl lacked in entertainment, it had other charms which she felt drew visitors and people wanting to live there. "What it's got going for it is every day I wake up and I walk along that seafront. Even when I lived in Southend, it just wasn't the same.
"We have the seafront, we get dolphins coming in regularly, and it's lovely to be able to get up, walk along there and pop to the cafe. We like a quieter life. We had that halo sun last summer - just a phenomenal sight. Lovely cafes, surfing."
Karen's partner Kevyn Field, 66, is originally from Southend and said he had always felt a close sense of community in Porthcawl since moving there.
"Having moved from Essex and lived there for 40 odd years, people are a lot more stand-off-ish in the south-east," he said. "They're a lot more insular, shall we say. I've been here five, six years now and probably have more friends - I don't mean associates, but friends - here than I ever did in 40 years back there. So I can't possibly concur with that lady's views. If it was only a fleeting visit I think she's got the wrong end of the stick.
"It is a dog walker's paradise. There is a problem with dog litter - that is probably the only downside in my opinion. You get [drug problems] in every town."
Karen admitted she was worried about how her English partner would be welcomed when they first moved. "I really thought 'oh, blimey, how's he going to fit in?' But you'd only ever be lonely here if you wanted to be alone. That's why it's great. Everybody talks to everybody.
"We walk down the street and someone says hi to Kevyn. I ask how do you know them and he says 'oh, he's in the pool team' or 'golf'. You know everyone. We'd be walking along the seafront in the summer and visitors just start talking to you, or you start talking to them. They love coming here."
Following an online backlash, Thanyia Moore posted online emphasising that her comments were a joke, adding: "Obvs [obviously] I love Porthcawl." Tony 'Mitch' Mitchinson, who works at Breaking Waves Gift Shop, said people shouldn't take the jibe too seriously. "It was a joke - I wasn't offended by it. I think she was on a Facebook group or something saying she'd been to Porthcawl and loved it. There are a lot worse things happening in the world.
"The people commenting that they're offended by it are probably the same people moaning that the council doesn't do enough, about the Christmas lights, the cold etc."
Leigh Harris, who has lived in the town her whole life, said she thought Ms Moore's comments were "absolutely ridiculous". "Unbelievable - I can't believe that," she said. "There is so much happening here. You had the old Saint Nick down in Griffin Park on Saturday night. Porthcawl is Porthcawl. I've been brought up down here and lived in London, the Chilterns. You still come back.
"Everybody knows each other. You can just walk down the street and talk to anybody. The summer months are slightly different, but it is bringing in tourism. Obviously everything changes but this has always been the one street. With Aldi coming in, that's going to affect the greengrocers, everyone."
Leigh said many in Porthcawl would disagree with labelling it a 's***hole', citing attractions like the Grand Pavilion and the historic Elvis festival, which is one of the biggest celebrations of the King of Rock and Roll in the world. "I would never say that. I've never heard of that [drugs]. There are no nightclubs - that would be where I would assume drugs would be. I totally disagree. It's like a community. Everybody is here. Why would you get people coming to perform at the Pavilion if it was such a bad place?
"It's that, the Elvis festival, loads of people go there. It's the lifeboat centres doing events. Everybody backs each other up."
Twenty-seven-year-old Christina Saines, who we speak to on her way back from her lunchbreak, said she disagreed with Ms Moore's comments but felt there were improvements needed in the town. "It could do with a bit of updating but I wouldn't go as far as saying it was a s***hole," she laughed. "I have lived here my whole life and I wouldn't say there is enough to do. It does need to improve, I'll admit that.
"On the high street there are a lot of charity shops so it would be nice to see more businesses set up in the town and make it more shopper-friendly instead of having majority charity shops, who are the only ones who can afford the rates and things."
Christina agreed there was not enough for young people in Porthcawl with some of the few previously popular hotspots having closed down, adding that she often had to travel 30 miles to Cardiff to go on a night out. "1000%," she said. "There are a handful of restaurants and things like that but nowhere actually opens past 12. Not a single one.
"There used to be one but that's just shut down. We had Streets nightclub that used to be rammed all the time. But now there is nowhere. I go out in Cardiff now if I want a decent night out which is a trek. You do have to go far afield. There's Bridgend as well but that's not my scene.
"I would say s***hole is a bit strong. But there could be improvements definitely."
Karen Taylor said that although she liked living there, she felt Porthcawl could do with some upgrading as well as holding onto major attractions like the Pavilion and the Elvis Festival. In September organisers revealed that plans to develop the Grand Pavilion could put the future of the Elvis Festival in doubt. You can read more about that here. The nearby Glamorgan Holiday Hotel has been unused for five years since closing down due to a lack of custom.
"The high street is full of charity shops. You can't forget that in Porthcawl there are lots of young people. I would like the likes of the Glamorgan Hotel turned into club nights for the youngsters - a nice club, wine bar. But in the afternoons they could even do tea dances if they wanted to.
"The two things we need to hold onto are the Pavilion and the Elvis Festival."
Another shop worker, who didn't want to be named, said the plans for the new Aldi, which were announced last year and work on which began in April with 40 jobs being created, would further enhance the town.
"I think the fact our lighthouse appears on just about every news article when the weather is stormy and people make positive comments, I don't think that's a bad reflection on Porthcawl really. It is busy, definitely, and repeat customers. I certainly wouldn't agree with what they're saying.
"They've started having a market with food stalls and crafts here which are proving to be popular. There is local lantern-lighting for children - there is a strong community here. There is a lot of variety - a gift shop, a card shop. We've still got our charity shops but in this day and age more and more people are looking towards those.
"Probably a lot of people would complain that we haven't got one of the big supermarkets here but I think Aldi are certainly going to improve that."
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