Pop star Olly Murs opens up about the reaction to his new physique after some said they preferred his ‘huggable dad bod’
When new dad Olly Murs proudly showed off the results of a 12 week health kick, the last thing he expected was a vicious bodyshaming backlash. Cruelly, he was told women preferred his “huggable dad bod” to his new honed physique, and he was told his muscles made him look “aged and too lean”.
But after three months of “beast mode” weight training and boxing sessions to get him fighting fit for his current tour, Olly says, defiantly: “I’m in the best shape of my life in my 40s.”
The singer explains: “I didn’t get my body out there for people to judge it – I was just doing it for my own tour, and for my own laughs with my fans, and for looking good. I wanted to feel good. I wanted to represent myself at 40 on the biggest tour of my life, celebrating 15 years and being the healthiest and the fittest I could be.”
Olly’s wife of two years Amelia agrees. The former bodybuilder, who is mum to his one-year-old daughter Madison, and is expecting their second child, supported her husband, who she describes as being in a “great place mentally and physically”.
Becoming a father incentivised him to get in shape – not just to lose his ‘dad bod’, and he looked to his idol David Beckham for inspiration. He says: “Being fit in my 40s was always a big thing. But also, being fit with my daughter and making sure that I’m the best I possibly can be.
“Part of me was like: ‘I don’t want to have a dad bod in my 40s.’ And David Beckham’s always been someone I’ve always looked at and thought that as a dad, he’s always looked super cool, super fit. You all have to have people in life that inspire you. And he was definitely someone that inspired me.”
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The backlash came as a shock to him, and he admits: “I get that it all can be a bit tongue-in-cheek at times, but I just thought it went a little bit too far. I was a bit surprised by it all.”
Wife Amelia leapt fiercely to his defence, hitting out at the obvious “bodyshaming”, and pointing out that the criticisms essentially said: “How dare you get so fit for your tour, so that you can give your fans the best show, be full of energy and a true showman.”
Speaking now, Olly says he is touched by her solidarity: “My wife’s amazing. She gets it because she had it for years – she is in the fitness industry herself, so she understands that body shaming. Every time she put a photo up on social media of her body, people would hammer her.”
During his 12 week plan, former Team GB boxer Harvey Horn coached him in boxing, while he also underwent an intensive weight-lifting programme with personal trainer Rob Sully.
Olly’s image overhaul comes after battling multiple knee injuries that have stopped him working out in the past, including a 2019 operation to reconstruct his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) which left him bedbound and unable to exercise, and he put on two stone, reaching 14 stone 3lbs.
Olly has had to juggle tour plans around his family time, and admits he felt “guilty and awful” that he had to return to the stage with Take That just 48 hours after Madi was born.He said on Father’s Day: “Nothing compares to seeing her little face light up when I come home from work.”
But a brief trip home to visit an aquarium with Madi in May sparked chaos, as Olly picked up a respiratory infection and lost his voice. Days later, he was forced to abandon a gig in Glasgow after 30 minutes on stage to avoid causing permanent damage to his vocal cords.
He groans: “I blame it on Madi, a little bit – my little bubba.
“Because my dad warned me when I became a parent, he said: ‘Be careful, kids give you everything.’
“So I went home literally for one day – it was the only day on tour I went home! And Madi came in my arms, she was spluttering everywhere.
“So I think that’s what was the cause of it. You know, these things happen. Maybe it was a bit of COVID, who knows, but it was an infection in my voice.”
Last week, he led the crowd at BST Hyde Park in a laddy rendition of Sweet Caroline while he took part in the PDC Darts championships, playing in a duo with pro player Luke Humphries which he said was “nerve-wracking but a bit of fun”.
Olly and Luke were beaten by former footballer Dion Dublin and pro Nathan Aspinall, and the singer after his match loss: “I came, I threw, I quit… darts is for the pros! I’ll stick to singing.”
Olly spoke while competing at the PDC darts championship at BST Hyde Park.