Entertainment
Mr Motivator ‘can’t go anywhere’ without fans stopping him 30 years after joining GMTV
Mr Motivator might be the icon we all remember from his energetic workouts in colourful unitards on GMTV in the 90s, but the fitness star’s fame is still going strong, 30 years later
The fitness expert, whose real name is Derrick Evans, has been spending the coronavirus lockdown getting the nation moving with online classes and admits he still gets stopped in the street ‘non-stop’ by fans.
He told Metro.co.uk: ‘It’s non-stop. It’s so crazy, I can’t go anywhere. But the thing is, I make time for everybody, because I’m blessed because here we are nearly 30 years later, people still embrace me.’
‘What it proves is that the formative years for people, every single one of us, is the years between four and 12. That’s the time you can influence people in a really positive way. And if you want our future, our kids’ future, to be assured, you need to empower them from those early because things remain with them.
‘All the people that give me work today, I cannot think of one person who gets on the phone and goes, “I don’t even know who you are”. They come on the phone and they go, “I remember getting up. I remember my mother putting you on, I remember working out with you and doing Power Rangers and timeout.” That’s what happens all the time, so I am honoured.’
Mr Motivator, 68, admits that having to wear masks in public has helped him go about his daily business a bit easier since the pandemic began, but his positive influence has proven even more important at a time when the world is going through so much.
He explained: ‘It’s really been important that we remember that if we just spend a bit of time thinking about people other than ourselves, the world can be so much of a better place and I really feel honoured to be in a position where I can give a kindly word to people and it could make their day.
‘Because the thing is, all of us are fighting internal battles that no one knows about. We need to remind people that you’re there, if they need to call you up, if they need a virtual ear to listen to them, that you’re there and that they’re not alone.
‘I think we need to really embrace that because there are lots of people who struggle and last year was a very difficult time.’
Another value that Mr Motivator has always championed is the inclusivity of his workouts in a world where Instagram influencers often leave people feeling like they will never live up to an unattainable level of perfection.
His classes comprise people of all abilities, with his wife Sandra showing modifications to the workouts to make them achievable for those with lower levels of fitness or physical impairments.
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‘That’s how it should be,’ Mr Motivator says. ‘It should not be just a special class for you because you have a condition. No, the teacher should be good enough to make sure that they engage everybody and provide alternatives.
‘So that way, if all you can do is move one arm, you move one arm in class, but you still have a smile on your face.
‘If you only got partial movements in the upper body, you can sit in the chair and you’ll say “Oh, my goodness, I feel so good. I can feel my body glowing.”
‘Younger people forget, we’re all gonna get older and we must embrace that.’
Mr Motivator, who is famed for his brightly coloured workout wear, has recently been putting some of the world’s top athletes through their paces for Smart Energy GB Fit For The Future campaign, putting Nicola Adams OBE, Greg Rutherford MBE and Kelly Smith MBE to the test with outdated equipment.
He says: ‘I kicked their butt, I was the big daddy. I didn’t have to physically do what they did, I just used my words to destroy them mentally. It was great fun.
‘The best bit for me was Greg riding the Pennyfarthing bike – it was a sight to behold. And Kelly Smith using old-fashioned golf clubs, I mean they probably did hit but nowhere near as far as you can hit the ball now.’
The campaign showcases the importance of upgrading your equipment at home, starting with smart energy meters. He adds: ‘Updating your equipment improves your performance and it helps the environment which is the important thing.
‘We’ve got to embrace greener energy, we got to embrace the fact that we’re moving into using more wind and more solar and we need to get up to date. For years, I’ve been telling people get up off your butt and move your body.
‘When it comes to upgrading to a smart meter, it takes nothing more than just pressing a button, and you’ll get the benefits in the long term.’
Mr Motivator is part of the Get Britain Energy Fit For The Future campaign, encouraging everyone to do their bit to help modernise our outdated energy system by getting a smart meter – paving the way for smarter homes and more integration of renewables. Find out more here.
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