A personal trainer from Lancashire has landed the gig of a lifetime after being asked to coach Happy Mondays star Bez for a new online fitness class to rival those of Joe Wicks.
Andrew Naylor from Preston, who owns and runs Fit Forward, will be shaking his maracas alongside Bolton-born Bez, real name Mark Berry, in a series of new fitness classes which will be shown on YouTube.
Famed for his onstage antics as part of the Madchester-era band, Bez, 56, hopes to lose his lockdown weight and help motivate others, in the series entitled Get Buzzin’ With Bez.
Mr Naylor said: "An old friend of mine from school had asked me to get involved in a project about getting Bez fit and I thought to myself, this could be a massive job on my hands but I’m willing to take it.
"Given his past and how he has lived this will be a big positive on his life - I help people so how could I say no?
"He was really easy to work with to be fair, he listened, took instruction well, and we had a good laugh in the process, so I would say he was an ideal client."
Mr Naylor will be putting Bez through his paces, working on his mobility and focusing on low impact strength exercises to slowly build him up to peak fitness.
The 37-year-old added: "Over the coming weeks those exercises paired with a good solid diet plan will see some great results.
"I was initially going to coach him for just four weeks but we are looking at more like three months now as we want to maximise all the results for him and try not to squeeze everything into a short space of time.
"Essentially our aim is to show people who are over the age of 30 that it still is possible to train and get results, because that’s what we do at Fit Forward, we help over 30s, primarily mums and dads, get into the best shape of their lives."
Unlike the online classes from fitness coach Joe Wicks, Get Buzzin with Bez will see the Madchester legend following Mr Naylor's orders, as well as visiting a psychologist, learning yoga and trying hypnotherapy.
Bez said: “I’d like to think I’m somewhere between Joe Wicks and Mr Motivator.
“I’ve started this new year seriously unfit, with a fat belly and creaky hips, and I can’t stop eating chocolate.
“Last lockdown I got unfit, fat, lazy and into some seriously bad eating habits.
“This year, this lockdown, I need to sort it out sharpish.”
Bez won Celebrity Big Brother in 2005 and stood unsuccessfully as a candidate in the 2015 general election.
Happy Mondays, fronted by Shaun Ryder, was one of the leading bands in the Madchester scene of the late 80s and early 90s, along with groups including The Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets.
Visit Fit Forward on Facebook @fitforwarduk.
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