The nation's P.E. teacher, Joe Wicks, has opened up about his recent worldwide success thanks to his online YouTube fitness classes, revealing that he has been amazed by the worldwide response and so moved that it has caused him to have a little breakdown.
Talking on Russell Brand's podcast Under The Skin, the father-of-two said: "I've had an incredible few days, I am on such a high and I've been running on adrenaline. I’ve been doing this live workout every day for the past 6 days on YouTube, I had no idea it was going to go global but I’ve been doing national and international PR at midnight for Australia, I've been all over the shops."
© Photo: InstagramHe added: "I haven't really stopped for a moment to breathe in and acknowledge what I am doing and I am feeling really sensitive at the moment, feeling very vulnerable."
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The star, who broadcasts his fitness classes live every morning at 9am from his living room, then opened up about having a breakdown after reaching 20 million views in just six days.
"I feel overwhelmed, I feel amazed by the response and the love the people have shared. It really is global. I've been in Australia, Asia, South America, even Jamaica, India, Pakistan… there's people messaging me every day. That's overwhelming, if I stop and acknowledge it… We've had 20 million people view the videos in the past six days. It's making me feel quite proud. I did have a little breakdown the other night."
© Photo: Getty ImagesJoe, 33, also opened up about his dad's drug addiction and his chaotic life growing up.
"My dad Gary has been in and out of rehab with addiction. I had a really manic, chaotic home life. It wasn't settled and calm and I wasn't encouraged to go to university. One thing I will say though is I always had love, my mum and dad's love."
Despite his dad's problems, Joe revealed that they are close. "I do love my dad, we have a great relationship now but there were years when he was absent and it was my mum that raised me."
Praising Russell for helping him understand his father, he confessed: "I learned something from you Russell, when you said about addiction… when you're dealing with a drug addict out of depression you really want to push them away but what you need to do is hug them and bring them closer because the antidote is connection. I don't judge him for being an addict, he will always be an addict, he relapses all the time.
"Now, I am there for him and loving him for who he is," he added.
