Joe Wicks
Joseph Wicks (Joe) (born 21 September 1986), otherwise known as "The Body Coach", is a British fitness coach, TV presenter and author.[1]
His fitness method uses short intense High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT or, colloquially, 'HIT') workouts. Starting off by posting 15-second recipe videos on social media, Wicks grew his brand to become one of the most followed fitness accounts on Instagram and YouTube. His first published cookbook Lean in 15: 15-minute meals was a best-seller in 2015, having sold over 900,000 copies.[2][3] He has created a "90 Day Plan" with workouts and meals with tailored portions to the individual. During the coronavirus pandemic lockdown in the United Kingdom he began "P.E With Joe" on YouTube to try to help children stay active; this livestream had a wide impact and was viewed by over a million users worldwide.[4] He is a Channel 4 television presenter with his own show The Body Coach.[5]
Wicks was awarded a Guinness World Record for "most viewers for a fitness workout live stream on YouTube", after achieving almost a million viewers on 24 March 2020 for his live stream.[6] The award was presented to him virtually due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic
Early life
Wicks was born in Epsom, Surrey to Raquela Mosquera, a social worker, and Gary Wicks, a roofer. His mother is of Italian descent. He grew up on a council estate with his parents and two brothers, Nikki and George[7].
Education
Wicks attended Blenheim High School in Epsom, Surrey[8] and NESCOT technology college in Epsom.[citation needed] He went on to study sports science at St Mary's University in Twickenham.
Personal life
Wicks married model Rosie Jones in June of 2019. Together they have 2 children, a daughter, Indie, and a son, Marley. His maternal grandparents were from the Isle of Man. [9]
Career
Wicks worked as a teaching assistant after completing his sports science degree.[10] After realising it was not his ideal job, he became a personal trainer for the next five years.[10]
Joe received a major boost at the beginning of his business as he received almost £95k from his generous uncle Eddie, which reportedly he paid back within 3 years.[11]
Wicks has been a guest on several UK daytime talk shows, including Good Morning Britain, This Morning, Loose Women and Lorraine.[12][13][14][15]
A segment on Channel 4 named Joe Wicks: The Body Coach aired in 2016 with Wicks as the presenter. As of 2020 there have been 3 episodes.[16]
Wicks launched a range of kitchenware in 2018.[17]
Online presence
Wicks began to gain traction for his fitness and nutrition related content on social media. In 2014 he began posting videos to Instagram relating to workouts and nutrition advice. [18] He has amassed over 3 million followers on his Instagram account.[19]
He launched a website called The Body Coach where he sells his kitchenware and a range of fitness/nutrition plans. [20] [21]
Wicks has been recognised by several major publications, such as Harper's Bazaar, Elle UK and Forbes for his online fitness efforts. [22][23][24][25]
YouTube
He began posting fitness content to his YouTube channel, named 'The Body Coach TV', in 2014. His first video garnered over 6 million views.[26] The channel has amassed over 2.2 million subscribers and more than 128 million views.[27]
On 19 March 2020 Wicks uploaded a video announcing that he would begin to produce "P.E with Joe" videos on his channel.[28] These videos were exercise videos aimed at children to keep fit during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic as schools were closed. Wicks announced on his Instagram that he will donate profits from these videos to the NHS. [29][30]
Books
In 2015, Wicks published a cookbook named Lean in 15: The Shift Plan which sold 77,000 copies in its opening week.[31] He released a further two books in the Lean in 15 series, including Lean in 15: The Shape Plan, released 2016 [32] and "Lean in 15: The Sustain Plan", also in 2016. [33]
Since the success of the Lean in 15 series, Wicks has published several more cookbooks. His upcoming cookbook, Wean in 15 is set to be released in May 2020 and will focus on 'weaning babies onto solid food and recipes for time-pressed parents
