The Body Coach Joe Wicks creates positive outcome from childhood trauma in emotional documentary

Fitness expert Joe Wicks reflected on the unexpected positive outcome of growing up with parents who suffered from addiction and mental health issues.

Wicks, 36, known as The Body Coach, began posting fitness and cooking videos on Instagram in 2014 before becoming a successful TV presenter and author. He found further fame during the Covid-19 pandemic with his popular PE With Joe live workouts.

Wicks spoke about a new documentary 'Joe Wicks: Facing my Childhood', which looks back at his experience of growing up.

"There’s stuff locked inside you as a kid that you suppress and you don’t want to confront.

"I found it really difficult doing this documentary," Wicks said.

"It was, in my head, going to be about other families, mental health in the UK - ‘how can we improve that?’ but it became a really personal thing. "All of those experiences I’ve been through have shaped who I am today.

"It’s given me that drive and empathy to want to help others and even share this story.

"There’s a reason I’m doing it - I want to help to others," he added.

Wicks’s mother suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder and an eating disorder, while his father was a heroin addict and struggled with depression.

Although he is close to his parents – both of whom have now worked through their personal struggles – he revealed he is conscious of his own approach to parenting as a result of his upbringing.

"I think as a child, what I’ve learnt from this is when you have that kind of thing going on, my mum and dad, I was trying to care for them and my brother was trying to care for me," Joe explained.

"You can become really withdrawn or a carer… I look at [my kids] and think, ‘I can’t imagine them having to deal with those emotions.’ It was really difficult, it’s an emotional documentary," he added.

Wicks has two children, Indie and Marley, with wife Rosie, who he married in 2019. The couple are expecting their third child in September.

In 2020 Wicks was made an MBE for services to fitness and charity.

Joe Wicks: Facing My Childhood will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on May 16 at 9pm.

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