Freya Spiers made the jump into broadcast work in 2018 at ECS Season 5 and the FACIET Major, both in the OVO Arena Wembley. Last week, Freya returned to Wembley, for the second time since ECS ceased operations in 2019, as one of the most established desk hosts and interviewers in esports.
During BLAST Open London Finals, Freya took to X to talk about how special it felt to be back where it all started. Since she started in 2018, she has worked on five Majors, and on IEM Katowice and Cologne four times each. Later in the interview, Freya spoke about how “It is nice to look back and say, ‘Hey, it did work out, and the dream is still living.'”
During the BLAST Open London Finals, Freya sat down with UKCSGO to talk about the changing landscapes of Counter-Strike, what it means to be back in the arena where it all started, and whether we will ever see her at an EPIC.LAN.
How does it feel to be back at an event in the UK?
It feels like it has been a long time because we have been to a lot of different places. We were here last year, and it is pretty mental to see the change in the landscape.
We had this graphic brought up on the desk, players that made it here that played last year, and it is almost a completely new landscape. Seeing a UK player have a chance to win an event on home soil is a sentence I never thought I would get to say.
Does this changing landscape help refresh your role as a desk host?
It is really nice when we have these repeat locations, and being able to tie back to last year. This year, there was no way Spirit could defend their title. Last year, we were here; the NAVI conversation was completely different.
It is really refreshing to have a pretty big underdog in M80 make it to the playoffs. Which is what is really fun about these open formats, finally, we got to see one of these teams that went through the gruelling qualification system in their region, actually push through. The VRS implications for that were massive as well.
Freya, Pimp and voo at BLAST Open London Finals
It would have been really nice to have the story of Spirit here to defend their title, but there are so many interesting replacement stories. There are some really interesting legacy players making their return and making a name for themselves. Dephh as well, talking to him, still online back in the studio, the only big stage he played on was here [The OVO Arena Wembley] with Complexity in 2018.
You were also there.
Yeah, it is wild to think about. It feels like a long time ago, but it also feels like yesterday.
That leads me to something you even posted earlier. This arena was where it all started for you with ECS Season 5 and then the Faciet Major. Being back here after seven years with so much that has changed, does that invoke any feelings other events might not?
Yeah, it is funny because we have little emotional attachments to each of the places we have recurrent visits to in the calendar. Cologne and Katowice were my first 10k+ capacity arenas. Certain arenas are hallmarks in the calendar for that.
London was one that, when ECS went away, I was pretty sceptical we would ever return to, and if it was ever going to be in the OVO Arena, then the SSE Arena. There are a lot of arenas you can choose from in London. I thought that when we wrapped up ECS Season 7 back in 2019, this was the last time I would be here, so it is really nice to return, and the crowd is still going crazy. Just here for good CS.
It is a nice moment of reflection because there are so many events, and they are back-to-back. I just came off the back of a stint that was two months on the road, which was amazing. But there isn’t much time to look around and smell the roses. Coming back to London is one of those opportunities.
It was my first ever event, my first time ever doing anything on stage, period. Then it was my first desk host opportunity the year after. There are always those firsts you go through, and it is amazing to reflect on that. Also, the people who have helped you along the way.
It is a completely different crew here now from the FACEIT guys before, shoutout to James Bardolf, he is in the crowd. [laughs]
It is a pinch-me moment. I feel the same emotions I felt back then. It is really funny, this is actually the room where we did makeup, this was the first time I came into makeup ever. I was sitting there shitting myself, thinking, “I don’t know if I can do this.” The makeup artist was so nice and said, “If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.” That was always the attitude I had, so it is nice to look back and say, “Hey, it did work out, and the dream is still living.”
The CS calendar is so unique because it is so busy and so packed, but working here makes you reflect on the overall sense. Especially considering you have had such a long career since ECS Season 5 and the FACEIT Major.
100%, particularly because we had such a long break between coming back here. In 2018, I basically had three months of living here between ECS Season 5 and the FACEIT Major, and then the year after was the penultimate season of ECS. It wasn’t until 2024 that we came back for BLAST. It is really nice not only for me to get that reflection moment, but for the UK crowd to get what they deserve.
We might not show up in terms of the full teams yet. We did have two British players/coaches, which is a feat in itself.
The crowd has always shown up, even when you go back to the iSeries days. RIP. UK CS has always had such a great community, even if it doesn’t transfer into the professional scene. CS really does have a home in the UK.
Do you have any favourite memories from a UK event?
My own favourite is the ZywOo on stage interview moment, of the “How are you feeling”, “No, no, no”. It is crazy to see how far he has come in that period of time. From super not comfortable speaking English, very reserved, but now shows a lot more personality.
voo, Pimp and Freya at BLAST Open London Finals
That must have been very tricky for you because this was your first time hosting, and that is a hard position to be put in.
It taught me a big lesson. It was a really funny moment, and I am glad ZywOo saw the funny side of it. I remember going up to him at the Stockholm Major in 2021, and that was actually the next time I saw him in person, saying, “I need to buy you a drink, I am so sorry for that situation.”
He brushed it off and saw the funny side of it, but some players might not see that. He saw it as being hilarious and watched it back. But that was a moment that taught me that, even if production says you have to go now and everything has to go live, you always need to talk to the players before they go on stage. Just let them know what you are doing, because he had no idea he was going to be approached, which created a really funny moment, but it taught me a lesson. You can’t just bombard people on stage [laughs].
I want to transition to talking to you as a desk host. Can you explain your methodology as a host? It is a unique role where you are setting up the other people to say the right thing and look good.
Interesting, I have never really thought about it like that. I am really lucky because I genuinely do get to work with my friends. When you are up there, it feels much more like a conversation, which, yeah, it is somewhat orchestrated in a way; you have to do that when you have production waiting for you to cue certain things. It is not like they can just pull highlights out of nowhere if you haven’t warned them you want to talk about that.
I am very fortunate to be able to work with some very intelligent individuals, and the personalities genuinely just mesh. You can tell when it is not as authentic, but I have been fortunate in the past couple of years to work with some really emotionally intelligent people as well. In terms of the preparation, it comes down to what the analyst wants to talk about and how production thinks this can be best illustrated.
There is a really interesting theory of writing, and it comes from the writers of South Park. I know it sounds mental. One of my favourite producers I ever worked with showed me this.
The killer of all writing and storytelling is going, “And then, and then, and then.” It has to be “But, therefore, hence,” you don’t want to be checking it off like a checklist. I think just in terms of narrative flow, I aim for. Sometimes you do get those segments when you just have “Here is round 6, 10, 12…” But trying to make sure it is a much more engaging story is important. We aren’t just hitting off a checklist and getting through it as quickly as possible. We all genuinely love the game and want to do it justice in these segments.
A lot of the parts of your role can certainly be overlooked by the community. Is there anything you do as a host that is unknown to the casual fans?
I think the most important part of my role is to make sure nobody knows if anything is going wrong. So there is obviously the conversation you see that is happening between the analysts and me, but then there is a whole other conversation with the producer. Having trust in that producer is the most important relationship of all of them.
Making sure that nobody can see any of that is going on in order to make it look like everything is running fluidly.
This is a funny thing to reflect upon, thinking about the state of tech issues and game issues back in 2018/2019 versus now. It is very rare that anything goes drastically wrong, but that is when the role really comes into its importance. You are paid to make sure nothing looks untoward; you are the last line of defence.
Which is quite scary at times. If something does go wrong and you have to cover it can be quite daunting.
Until it happens, you think it is going to be horrible. And then the worst happens, and you are still up there chatting. Occasionally, there is an audio issue, or your batteries die, or there is some kind of miscommunication. Ultimately, we can always just talk about Counter-Strike and find a solution.
This was a reason why I was hesitant to go from interviewing to desk hosting, because I thought, “Can I actually be spontaneous enough and handle it in the right way to make sure nobody can tell what is going on?”
You mentioned your transition from interviewing to desk hosting. Is this a decision you look back and think, “I made the right decision.”
100%. Bardolf was the first person who pushed me towards this change, and he was also a big reason why I got involved and got my big break and my initial start in Counter-Strike.
I remember he was saying pretty early on that I should transition to a desk host, and that he sees my future there. I was very hesitant originally, not thinking I could do it. And I am glad I held off as long as I did, it was really nice to do my first one in London.
What working with Mauisnake does to a person
But it was a really gradual progression; we were doing Halo and PUBG tournaments for FACEIT at the time. I would then do a lunchtime show at PUBG to get the reps in. It was a really nice way of not being thrown to the wolves.
Feel like you did still get thrown to the wolves by being put into a Major very early.
Yeah, that was nuts [laughs].
Back in the day, when Minors were still a thing, I was working with Pala on the sidelines, shoutout Mantrousse, such a lovely and funny guy.
But at the time, I think it still exists somewhere; we did this fucking song. Which was basically called “Remember the Minors”. It was looking back at everything that had happened at the Minors, and you had to sing this song, and the last line was, “I’ll see you at the Major.”
I was thinking, “They are getting me to sing this, am I doing the Major?” And then FACEIT go “Of course you are!”
I was very surprised. I was being used for pre-match and not many live elements back then, as Pala was much more experienced. But that was how I found out, a hilarious way to find out.
At a HLTV Awards show, we spoke about you coming to play at an iSeries. That unfortunately doesn’t exist anymore, but Kettering and EPIC.LAN is quite literally the biggest it has ever been. Will we ever see a Freya appearance at an EPIC.LAN?
I would love to say yes, but I would need to find people of my level, which is pushing FACEIT level 5. If anyone is out there, I am a P90 player; that is my role, that is all I do.
I can’t believe you remember that. That is so funny.
