To think that Joe Wicks is not a hero?

[Cheeseandlobster]

Dont get me wrong, I like him and do one of his hiit sessions every day. He is a great trainer and motivator and he has raised a lot of awareness of the benefits of exercise. But a hero he is not. What he is, is an astute man who spotted an opportunity to make a lot of money during lockdown.

He raised 500k for the NHS through t shirt sales. But he also made 10 million for himself. I saw numerous comments about him being a national treasure as he got up every morning to do a 30 - 40 minute PE session for the nation. Even with planning weekly costumes, making props and planning the exercises (though often he winged it) this does not necessitate a full days work I am sure. I did the sessions on top of an 8 - 10 hour working day as did many others which is much harder.

It just annoys me when I see him being hailed as a hero when I doubt he would have done it without being able to make a ton of money for himself and to raise his own profile

God forbid a parent ask the other parent to take noisy children elsewhere while working!
Maybe I should have a go at my DH who asked me to take DD out for a walk while he recorded an interview for work in our dining room (as it has the best light!)

And god forbid anyone should make money while doing some good for others! The old saying "no good turn goes unpunished" is spot on here! He did a good, fun thing for kids and adults, he still needs to make money! Does that overtake the fact he raised a lot of money for the NHS?! And he's a public figure, of course he's going to be offered jobs off the back of it, isn't that how it works when you're a public figure/celebrity?!

And every NHS member of staff who worked throughout lockdown was paid a wage, does that make them not worthy of being called a hero?!

Mummyoflittledragon He was knackered by the end but did you see he did a reunion session yesterday? He said that after he stopped them he said he started to feel really low because the sessions had given him some routine and he really missed it. So he did a one-off yesterday to raise more NHS funds and to cheer himself up. What a selfish so-and-so, eh? [Being sarcastic, but not aimed at you!]

There is a lot of bitterness toward him in this thread.

People love to hate. Especially behind the comfy confines of their ipad.

But I am allowed an opinion.

I’ve seen this used a lot lately when what is actually meant is “I want to have a bitch at someone”.

Joe provided a lot of families with a routine, regular exercise and a chirpy start to the day during lockdown and that was certainly valuable even if you don’t want it to be described as heroic.

Some people are more effusive with praise than others.

And some people want to snuff out other people’s candles to make theirs seem brighter.

He has silly hair. And he’s definitely not a hero.

Why do people want to dislike successful peope so much?

He's achieved loads in a business with very few (no?) barriers to entry, literally any of us could have done it, but we didn't.

[quote Cheeseandlobster]@Longwhiskers14 yet again. I strongly suspect you are either a family member of his or at least know him personally. Look at what I have said
Astute business man
Great motivator
Raised awareness of the benefits of exercise.

All positive things.

I have also said.

Not a hero. I stand by that.

Talked over his wife a lot - that's an observation others made too.

Pretty balanced and not a mean bashing thread. Like I said, I have done his hiit sessions for months. I enjoy them and I find him a good trainer but it doesn't make him a hero[/quote]
I'm not a relative, a friend, a business associate or anyone even remotely connected to him. Never met the man. I'm just someone, like you, who did his workouts and benefited hugely both mentally and physically, to the point I am in the best nick I've been in years. So for that I am hugely grateful and I find it demoralising that someone could start such a mealy mouthed thread objecting to him being called something he's never described himself as.

You say you're not denigrating his efforts, but you absolutely are.

@MsSquiz

God forbid a parent ask the other parent to take noisy children elsewhere while working! Maybe I should have a go at my DH who asked me to take DD out for a walk while he recorded an interview for work in our dining room (as it has the best light!)

And god forbid anyone should make money while doing some good for others! The old saying "no good turn goes unpunished" is spot on here! He did a good, fun thing for kids and adults, he still needs to make money! Does that overtake the fact he raised a lot of money for the NHS?! And he's a public figure, of course he's going to be offered jobs off the back of it, isn't that how it works when you're a public figure/celebrity?!

And every NHS member of staff who worked throughout lockdown was paid a wage, does that make them not worthy of being called a hero?!

It was the way he did it. He had Indie his daughter on camera to begin with as people love to see his children including myself. His children are adorable. She was doing roly polys in the garden but as soon as her voice got a bit louder he told Rosie to take her in. He didn't ask. This made Indie cry so he then told Rose to take her upstairs. Again it was the way he said it. It felt like an order than a request

And now you're continuing to imply nasty stuff about his relationship.

I blame the tabloids. They always do this. They chuck around terms like "hero" as bait. It's incredibly lazy, formulaic journalism to write an article - with no news in it as such - describing someone as a "national treasure" or "icon" purely to encourage folk in the comments to argue about it. You should go to the Mail online comments section. It's full of people bitching about folk who didn't label themselves as anything and really don't deserve the slagging that ensues. I think they're trying to bring out that typically British thing of thinking someone has gotten too big for their boots and deserves putting back in their place. I don't understand it myself. He's a business person. I expect them to make money. He's also done a great thing too in motivating people to exercise and maintain their mental and physical health at the worst of times. I just think there are more deserving people of knocking.

Yes. You're entitled to your opinion but this post is just unnecessary meanness.

Joe Wicks isn't a hero in my definition, but did do a really good thing during the dark days of lockdown. It's done nothing but raise positive impression for me. Those early days were hard as we all came to terms with the scary times around us, so a little bit of light in that from anywhere is a good thing.

He's not a self described hero so why use it as a stick to beat him with.

This post says more about you than him to be honest.

I saw that garden workout you’re talking about and it was nothing like you are painting.

Most people are not heroes, certainly not the ones who have profited massively from the pandemic.

Maybe not a hero but if you follow him and listen to him talk about exercise and mental health, kids being active, nutrition, you can see this is a genuine passion of his. I think he comes across very genuine and inspired. People aren’t allowed to make money doing what they love without it seeming like they have another agenda. If you could make millions doing what you loved would you not give it a go?

Urh, you just sound like a begrudger. I follow him on Instagram and watch his stories, he is clearly besotted by his wife and he worships his children. He is very humble and has his feet in the ground, I believe he is very passionate and believes in the work he does. Op you just come across as spiteful.

I cannot stand him. I used to follow him a few years ago, even bought his plan (which is nowhere near as good as he makes out!). But over the last few months I’ve seen him for who he really is. He does believe that he’s a hero, he consistently broke lockdown rules at the start, then when pe with joe finished, he broke lockdown rules again with his trip to Scotland and the very large gatherings he was pictured with. His constant slagging off of his mum and his childhood but quite happy to palm off the kids with her so he can bugger off on holiday with Rosie and reconnect (why he feels the need to constantly reconnect with her is beyond me). He craves attention and adulation, you can feel the desperation ooze from his Instagram stories. And anyone who doesn’t believe that he’s made a ton of money from this, his new house cost £4.5 million and he’s kept the other house on.
Sir Tom, who raised £32 million for the NHS is a true hero, he didn’t attempt to sell a plan or a book off what he was doing unlike this Jamie Oliver wannabe charlatan.

The only place I've heard him described as a hero is in your first post OP

He clearly is an astute business man and fair play to him for that.

PE with Joe gave my family structure during lockdown and inspired better choices with our health at a time when it would have been very easy to go 'oh fuck it'.

People really don't like success for others do they?

@Longwhiskers14

Also, Captain Tom made a fortune after doing his garden laps, when he signed a book deal. Does that mean he's not a hero either for making money for himself from his good deed?

Honestly, why do we have to rip down everyone who does something nice?

Agree - doing laps of his garden took Considerable sustained effort. But it was not heroic. Certainly no more heroic than the 99 year old who climbed Ben Nevis up her stairs. Or the young lad with mobility difficulties who walked a mile. ‘Hero’ is overused and doesn’t depend on how much money you raise for others.

However, Captain Tom’s ‘hero’ status is based on more than that.

@FinnyStory

Why do people want to dislike successful peope so much?

He's achieved loads in a business with very few (no?) barriers to entry, literally any of us could have done it, but we didn't.

I don't dislike him. And I never said he called himself a hero. But I still don't think he would have done all this in disguise. There was one video where he said, if you did that move, hit the like button. That's not what a like button is for. This has raised his profile in a huge way. That makes him very clever. I have never said he hasn't done something great - he absolutely has, but it has not been entirely for altruistic reasons.

In those first few weeks of lockdown when we didn't know WTF was going on his 9am PE sessions gave our family a focus. A reason to get up early and do something and to share something with the rest of the country. He's introduced me to a form of exercise (HIIT) I can actually do. So to us is a hero.

But generally speaking I would describe him as a national treasure rather than a hero. I'm glad he can make 10 million from sponsorship deals if he chooses to take them up.

Aesopfable I agree 100% about CT's hero status. The point I was trying to make to the OP is that if we're going to criticising JW for making money out a good deed, why not Captain Tom too? When I don't think either of them should be begrudged for earning extra.

@Thunderpunt

He will probably win BBC Sports Personality of the Year!

Contradiction in terms

Joe Wicks looks like a hero when compared to those who do nothing but moan on mumsnet.

Go and tell us what you did during lockdown Op hidden hack

While mps were still telling us to sing God Save the Queen while we washed our hands, Joe Wicks managed to cobble together a media campaign for a brand new platform over a weekend

How was it a brand new platform? He already had hundreds of thousands (millions?) of followers on social media and advertised and did PE with Joe through his 'Joe Wicks' social media. He had done live streaming before as well. It probably was quite daunting for him as it was a new audience, but it's not like he came out of nowhere, it was all already in place. He was already earning absolutely tonnes of cash, that university speech they does the rounds is from a good while ago, he had already made it.