Working out the demons: Joe Wicks shares his family’s story to champion the mental health benefits of exercise
While many of us hate the idea of exercise, Joe Wicks’ chirpy demeanour has inspired many of us to wrap ourselves in unflattering tight clothing and leap around our lounges in the name of healthier living.
Joe, 36, was a force to be reckoned with in the online fitness world before March 2020. His devotion to HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and healthy eating won him an army of fans who made his Lean In 15 recipe books bestsellers, while a short but sweet Channel 4 programme in 2016 introduced him to a wider audience.
But it was his PE With Joe Youtube videos, which began during the lockdown, that turned the fitness enthusiast into a national treasure. These weekday workouts became a godsend to parents, giving children something to do for a few minutes every morning while also burning off the energy they might otherwise have struggled to expel. As news of his efforts grew, mums and dads joined in, as did, seemingly, everybody else. While some cynics might have questioned whether his sweet nature was real or just for show, he proved he was a genuine, all-round nice guy by donating all the profits made from the videos to the NHS, a total of around £500,000. Dubbed the nation’s PE teacher, he was made an MBE in the Queen’s 2020 birthday honours. He collected his medal from Princess Anne last month.
Throughout his career, Joe has promoted the idea of exercise as not only being good for the body, but for the mind too – it’s a subject he’s passionate about.
Now he’s opening up about his own experiences in a new documentary, co-executive produced by film-maker Louis Theroux.
“I was one of the hundreds of thousands of people who flocked to Joe’s online workouts on that first day of PE With Joe back in March 2020,” says Louis. “I’m a true believer in Joe’s mission of improving your mental wellbeing through exercise and it is a complete thrill and privilege to be able to spread the word further in this documentary, while also showing a side of the nation’s favourite PE teacher they have
never seen before. This is a dream project for me.”
Joe and his brothers grew up in Surrey with parents who had mental health issues – while their mother suffered from acute obsessive compulsive disorder, their father battled heroin addiction.
In the documentary Joe is seen speaking to both of his parents about their difficulties, and says: “When you are a kid all you want is your mum and dad to be happy, so when they are not it’s really hard to deal with that.”
“I’ve spent a lot of time helping people improve their physical health, but as a child that grew up in a home with parents that struggled with their mental health, I know that this is just as important, especially given what’s happened over the last year,” explains Joe, who has two children with wife Rosie and another due in September.
“I’m passionate about exploring it and I want to use my own experience to connect and help families today who are in similar situations to the one I was in. I also want to share the message that exercise can be a really powerful tool in helping to boost our mental health.”
Joe Wicks: Facing My Childhood, BBC1, Monday, 9pm