Joe journeys back to his turbulent youth...
WHILE grinning Joe Wicks was bouncing around every morning on our screens in lockdown, trying to get us all to do burpees, encouraging positivity, it’s hard to imagine this is a man who had ever faced emotional turmoil.
But Joe grew up in a turbulent, unstable home, with a mother suffering from severe OCD, eating disorders and anxiety, and a father with depression and a heroin addiction.
After Joe became a national hero with his PE With Joe workouts, he received millions of messages of thanks but he never expected parents to tell him about their mental health.
He says: “I do relate to it. My mum and dad were up and down all my life.
“My mum had severe OCD and my dad was in and out of rehab. It was madness. I remember being the child in that scenario and just being so upset and confused and lost. It was really tough.”
Over three million children are living with an adult with a mental health problem, a concerning figure – and Joe wants to understand how his childhood affected him.
“It must affect me more than I think,” says the father of two, who is expecting a third child with wife Rosie.
It’s an emotional journey for Joe as he has candid conversations with his mother, father and brother, unearthing some long-suppressed memories.
Joe also visits Our Time, the UK’S only charity dedicated to working with children of parents with mental illness.
It raises questions about his own childhood and how it forged his identity.