Born in Epsom in 1985, Joe Wicks studied Sports Science at St Mary’s University in Twickenham, and after working as a teaching assistant, became a personal trainer. An appearance on the Channel 4 game show, The Bank Job in 2012 and his growing social media presence led to huge success selling healthy-recipe books and his online Body Coach fitness programmes. During the Covid pandemic in 2020, his ‘PE with Joe’ workouts attracted millions of viewers, and he was awarded an MBE later that year. He lives in Surrey with his wife, former glamour model Rosie Jones, and their four children, Indigo, six, Marley, five, Leni, two, and seven-month-old Dusty.
Here he looks back on the moments that changed his perspective on work, love, family, money and health.
My dad was a heroin addict and my mum has OCD, so I worry about him relapsing, or her getting depressed and being lonely. Because of my parents’ mental health issues, I was a young carer. That’s why I use my energy positively. I want people to think differently and nudge them in the right direction.
My motivation stems from my childhood. My mum was a very loving, nurturing people-pleaser and always put everyone else in front of her, and she suffered because of that. Ultimately, it’s just in my DNA to be kind. If I can help other people, it makes me feel great.
I grew up in a council estate on benefits. We had no money and the food we ate was really unhealthy. So, when I think, “why am I doing this?” it’s because I’ve experienced what it’s like to be on a fully ultra processed diet. My mum couldn’t cook – she had no confidence.
I didn’t let anyone in school know that my dad was an addict. I thought if I said anything, there was a real fear that the social services would take us away, so we never talked about what was happening.
When my dad was doing drugs, I always felt on edge. I was just always anxious. He’d disappear to rehab for months, so I’d always be thinking, “is he going to be here or not?” and “how is that going to affect my mum’s mental health?”
My mum’s OCD meant it was like living in an IKEA showroom. She wanted the house to be completely spotless, so it was tough being a kid and not being able to make noise and leave any mess anywhere.
Growing up, I would just physically exhaust myself so I didn’t have any weird bottled-up emotions. PE was my saviour and my therapy, so when I got home, there was nothing that could be said, or nothing that went on in the house that could bother me, because I was like, “Oh, I’ve just run 10 miles.” I just kept thinking, “I’m mentally strong,” and it kept me on the level, and that’s what I’m trying to teach my kids now.
I was a 10-year overnight success. I was running a personal training boot camp and then, just as Instagram and YouTube Live took off, I was just there at the right time with my energy and love for exercise and food. People thought that I had a strategy of, “if I get followers, I can get a book deal. If I get a book deal, I’ll get a TV show, then I can sell products” – but it was never a vision.
I loved being in a park with 20 people, but when I realised 1,000 or 100,000 or a million people were seeing it, that was a massive buzz for me.
Years ago, I asked Jamie Oliver, “why are you still so driven? Why aren’t you slowing down?” He said, “When you’ve got an opportunity, when you’re connecting with people, you’ve got a responsibility, and you can do so much good with it,” and I’m at that point now. I know what I do has an impact on people. That gives me motivation.
I don’t have a therapist. I don’t feel the need. Exercise has always been my therapy. I might have had a really long day and I’m really trying to be patient with the kids and they’re pushing and pushing me, and exercise is always my go to. It always has been. I’m quite consistent with my emotions because exercise is my default. I wake up and no matter how I feel, I run or do a workout or a HIIT session, so I’m constantly boosting my mental health.
If you removed all my Instagram followers overnight, I’ll be fine, because I’ve got Rosie and my kids. A lot of people’s self-confidence is linked to their followers and their brand partnerships and the income they make, and when that declines, how does that make them feel? Whereas my foundations are family and friends – the same group of friends that I’ve always rolled with.
I met Rosie just before my first book Lean in 15 came out, so she’s been with me the whole journey. Having that base and having someone that you love and trust means that I didn’t get tempted to be out clubbing all the time, or go to red carpet events. I didn’t get sucked into fame. Even now, I don’t ever go to those events. I’m just not into it.
I’ve got four children, but I want one more. My kids are six, five, two and seven months but we’re not done. We’re going to have a little break and then we’re going to have one more. Is Rosie on board? Yes, she is. She loves it. We both love being there for the kids.
I’m blessed Rosie works full-time as a mum, which gives me the freedom to be The Body Coach. It’s enabled me to do filming or podcasts. From the moment I met Rosie, I didn’t want to be away from her. I was thinking about her when I wasn’t with her and when I was with her, and it’s still like that today. I might have bought financial success to us, but Rosie’s brought stability.
Success with kids is that they want to hang out with you and when you walk through the door, they’re buzzing to see you, which I know won’t always be the case. That’s one of the reasons we home school them because I know that when they hit a certain age, they’ll pull away and their world will become about their friends and partners. But that’s part of life’s cycle. After that, you’ll pull them back in and you’ll be close again.
The arguments I have with Rosie are quite childish – although they’re rare. We do silent treatment. A day will go past, or two days, and we’ll get to the third day, and be like, “what’s the point?” Then you realise that when you break the barrier and you talk, it’s actually really nice so then you apologise and say, “let’s try and learn from it.”
We don’t have conflicts and shouting matches in front of the kids. That’s what my experience was as a kid and I don’t want to be a shouty parent. If there is any, it’s a two-second thing, and we apologise.
If my success ended tomorrow, I’d be really proud that I got four million cookbooks into people’s homes, because that’s probably 15 million people cooking well. I’m proud of ‘PE with Joe’ over lockdown too. I’m proud to have got the UK moving and exercising as they might not have done any exercise for three months otherwise and they would have really struggled.
Money has given me the freedom to be with my family but I’ve never been driven by it. That’s the most successful part of my life; that I have time with my family and kids, and I’ve been able to support my wider family too. Even if it’s taking a little bit of pressure away – even if it’s 20 per cent less, that means a lot.
I was never been taught about money, saving and being sensible, or having a little pot where you just put a little bit away, but I’ve learnt that it’s important to think about your financial future. Even if it’s £20 a month it adds up and compounds over time.
Joe Wicks is supporting ASDA’s Rollback Initiative, which sees the prices of 4000 family favourite products discounted by an average of 25 per cent
Comments
Leave a Comment