Anton Danyluk, a former Love Island star, has said that he abandoned bodybuilding due to significant body image issues.
The 28-year-old went on the seventh season of the reality dating programme in 2019, when he was paired up with Belle Hassan until they were dumped shortly before the finals.
He’s now become a gym owner and fitness coach, often providing advise to his one million social media followers.
While he is glad of his change from an overweight youngster, he has recently confessed that he still struggles with his body image.
On Good Morning Britain on Thursday, the former reality star discussed his new BBC documentary Anton Danyluk on figure Shame, saying that even though he looks to have the ‘perceived idea of the perfect male figure,’ he still needs to keep himself in control.
‘I still struggle with body image issues…it’s the pressures of being on social media and in the public eye,’ he said.
‘There is always a pressure to look a certain way.’
While Anton expressed pride in having a platform ‘I could never have dreamt of’ to utilise to encourage others, he has altered his mind about how far he wants to push his body.
‘I have pulled back in a lot of ways,’ he said.
‘I was into bodybuilding, and it was the worst I ever felt in terms of I was always seeking perfection.
‘You always want to be a little bit leaner, you always want to be a little bit fitter. I love my healthy lifestyle and I train and I eat well, but I now enjoy myself more.’
In the interview Anton also spoke about being picked on in school, which he put down to the fact he was ‘mixed race and overweight’, which he said made him an ‘easy’ target.
He also said that, despite his love for football, he finally resigned because he was embarrassed to take his top off in front of teammates in the locker room.
However, once his mother persuaded him to join a gym, Anton stated that it significantly improved both his physical and emotional health.
However, Anton expressed worry that there is now a ‘lot of pressure’ on young guys to appear a specific way.
‘By doing this documentary what I started to realise was that by posting my photos [with his shirt off and in a gym] I could be making young boys feel insecure with their own body image because they feel like they should be looking that way,’ he said.
Participating in the filming inspired him to alter his own social media practises, now ‘adding more context’ around his photographs by posting disclaimers stating that everyone’s bodies are different.
He went on to say that he wanted to remind people that the greatest figure for them was “their own.”
‘I think focus on bettering yourself but to also not compare to other people,’ he said.
He did add, though, that he sometimes felt like a hypocrite since he still performs the same thing “every day.”
Anton remarked last year that he regretted starring on Love Island since it put him in the firing line for trolls.
He said: ‘It’s funny because I was bullied when I was a kid for being overweight and that was the main reason that I physically got into living a healthier lifestyle.
‘Now, all these years later I’m getting bullied in a different form. I don’t think I would have been able to deal with it as well as I do now if I’d never gone through that when I was younger.’
When speaking to Mail Online, he said he’d be ‘lying’ if he said it didn’t bother him at times, but he tried to ignore it and focus on doing good with the platform he’d created.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
Source My Celebrity Life.