Mr Motivator: TVbosses were racist to me
DERRICK Evans, TV’s Mr Motivator, says he suffered racism when he starting out in the entertainment industry.
The 67-year-old, who was born in Jamaica but moved to Leicester in 1961, said it took him a decade to get his big break as TV bosses openly told him white audiences wouldn’t accept him.
Writing in Radio Times, out today, he said: “When I walked into my very first job interview the guy said to me, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were black?’, and I replied, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were white?’
“When television came along it took me 10 years to get a break as an on-screen fitness trainer. Every time I went to the studios, the guys would say, ‘Look, for a white lady with two kids, a black guy on TV would never work’. But I kept on persevering.”
The father of four eventually found fame in 1993 with his fitness routines and promoted healthy living as Mr Motivator on the breakfast show GMTV. His energetic routines spawned a series of fitness DVDs, including the best-selling Bums Legs & Tums in the mid-Nineties.
He was so popular he was even asked by the then prime minister Gordon Brown to spearhead an NHS public health programme in 2009. During the coronavirus lockdown he has enjoyed a renaissance with his home workouts appealing to new audiences.
The daily struggles of millions have reinforced his deep sense of justice.
He said: “We can do without haircuts or those new shoes but what we can’t do without are four simple things – a roof over your head, your health, food on the table and, most importantly, love – be that for yourself, each other, or even the simple thought of another loving you.”