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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that Joe Wicks is not a hero?

281 replies

Cheeseandlobster · 30/08/2020 09:34

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

OP posts:

CallmeAngelina · 30/08/2020 10:26

What a mean thread.
Are you all feeling better about yourselves now?
Regardless of what you believe his motivations are, he nonetheless got millions of people up off the sofa and exercising, and hopefully working off some of the lockdown pounds.
But yeah, slate him, the bastard.

neonjumper · 30/08/2020 10:28

@Cheeseandlobster

I don't know how to link from my phone but a general Google will find the info on how much he has made and how.

I haven't put him down, I have said already he is a great trainer and motivator and raised awareness of the benefits of exercise. But he is not a hero. I worked long hours through Lockdown supporting vulnerable and isolated people with chronic and often terminal health conditions on top of doing hiit sessions. I don't call myself a hero and nor do my colleagues.

You did that thing where you thought you could get away with saying something mean by preceding it with some token nice things .

You are the only one who called him a hero

There are many people who have been on the forefront working in difficult conditions but we don't begrudge others .

Your post is mean.

Original poster

Cheeseandlobster · 30/08/2020 10:28

And mumsnet is a funny place. He has been slated on here before ( not by myself) where people have predominantly agreed. I have just said he isn't a hero and that he talked over his wife (watch the first session she did for him and you can see for yourself) along with some positive things and I am devil incarnate for some of you.

OP posts:

Longwhiskers14 · 30/08/2020 10:30

SoManyActivities Spot on. He already had the platform! Plus he branding didn't actually happen until a few weeks in, when he ran a comp for kids to design the PE With Joe logo.

But what an arsehole eh, daring to get the nation on its feet and moving to help the fight against obesity, one of the biggest risk factors with Covid. I honestly don't know how he sleeps at night.

Powre · 30/08/2020 10:32

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.
Tonnes of YouTubers do that 🤷 they ask you to smash like within first 5 seconds of the video or because X reason.

Longwhiskers14 · 30/08/2020 10:33

@Cheeseandlobster

Oh but we're just expressing our opinion. Works both ways.

Maybe you got unlucky OP, that all the Joe haters are still in bed asleep. Or maybe, just maybe, MNetters are getting a bit sick and tired of nasty threads being started to pull apart decent people.

Original poster

Cheeseandlobster · 30/08/2020 10:34

@neonjumper They are not token nice things. I wouldn't be doing his workouts if I detested the man. I like a lot of things about him and what he has done / is doing but there are some things I don't agree with. This is a discussion forum hence posting on here. We are all entitled to agree and disagree with each other. I wanted to see if others felt the same.

OP posts:

burnoutbabe · 30/08/2020 10:34

But you started a thread to say these are things!
Rather than just post it in an existing thread.
Captain Tom is called a hero, but he was just lucky and had a pr astute daughter and caught the imagination of the public. Good for him. I'd not start a thread to say he wasn't a hero, even if I don't personally think he was heroic (in this instance, ignoring past efforts). I think he did a good thing and inspired people. But there was no risk to him. Not really a front line worker.

Bewilderbeastie · 30/08/2020 10:36

YANBU - I initially really liked him but the more I saw the less convinced I was. His work outs are really not for children - they were just adult HIIT sessions?! And he profits off his image of being a family man but seems to feck off for days on end for motorcycle trips alone or 'with the boys' all the time. Seems like a bit of an arse tbh.

GabsAlot · 30/08/2020 10:37

he done a nice thing but hero-no

FaffingForEngland · 30/08/2020 10:37

At least you've now admitted he didn't call himself a hero. Who did? And why aren't you cross at them instead. The premise of your post makes no sense.

noblegiraffe · 30/08/2020 10:38

You like him enough to do his (free!) workouts but dislike him enough to start a thread slating him on MN

Who are you going to pick on next? I hear Sir David Attenborough made some money out of his books. Bastard.

southeastdweller · 30/08/2020 10:39

Totally agree, to say that he is a hero is laughable. Yes it's great that he's raised £500,000 for charity but I doubt that the PE campaign was all done for altruistic reasons. You don't get to where he is now in such a relatively short space of time without being very shrewd about your brand, and possibly ruthless here and there. Him and his team know exactly what they're doing.

jay55 · 30/08/2020 10:40

He used the skills he has to try and help people during a horrible time. It raised his profile and he'll probably get a lot of opportunities off the back of it.
Maybe that was his end game but I doubt it. He didn't know it would take off the way it did.

Mulhollandmagoo · 30/08/2020 10:41

@LuaDipa couldn't have put it better myself 🙌

He did a good thing, a nice thing that helped kids and families at a time of massive uncertainty, and he deserves at the very least not to be subject to people's 'opinions' it's not necessary to be said out loud

You may have said lots of 'positive things' a out him OP but your general tone is one of distaste. He never called himself a hero and he also hasn't made 10mil but you've used a goady title and misleading information. Your issue here lies with the crappy newspaper headlines that make a mountain out of a molehill

DanceWithYourBalloon · 30/08/2020 10:43

Let's not be miserable now.
T-shirt sales and YouTube money all went to charity.
He did something nice and can't help that it captured the nations attention.

FinnyStory · 30/08/2020 10:43

Who has ever claimed he did it for altruistic reasons? Frankly who ever does, no one ever does anything just out of the kindness of their heart, we always have something to gain, even if it's "only" feeling good about ourselves.

DressesWithPocketsRockMyWorld · 30/08/2020 10:45

Dead Ringers described him as

"Hi its me Joe Wicks! I talk to you like the nurses talk to your Nan"

😂

He gets right on my wires.

SoManyActivities · 30/08/2020 10:45

You don't get to where he is now in such a relatively short space of time without being very shrewd about your brand, and possibly ruthless here and there.

It wasn't a 'relatively short space of time'?He has a speech online that he made when he received a (presumably) honorary doctorate that is entitled 'my 10 year overnight success'.

I have one of his Lean in 15 books from 2016 that I bought when he had already been around for quite a long time. (God I'm glad he doesn't do those 'Lucy beeee, midget trees, add a bit of pepper, and that right there is Lean in 15!' things so much any more! 😂)

SoManyActivities · 30/08/2020 10:46

He gets right on my wires.

Or on your wick?

Mintychoc1 · 30/08/2020 10:46

I can’t believe the nastiness on this thread.
Jo Wicks came from a shit background and has evidently worked hard to make something of his life. I barely knew he existed until lockdown because that isn’t my world, but up till then he was just some bloke trying to make a decent living.
When lockdown began he decided to do something - maybe he wanted to raise his profile, maybe he just saw a way to break the boredom, maybe he had friends with school age kids who were worried about keeping them occupied - who knows what his reason was. But the fact remains that whilst many of us sunk into depression, struggling to find reasons to get out of our pyjamas, not finding much to smile about, worrying about our kids sitting on screens all day - he got up every day with a smile on his face and bounced around in tigger costumes. And raised a fortune for charity in the process.
So what if he benefitted personally. Isn’t that the case for most celebrity charitable acts? Celebrity quiz shows, celebrity challenges - it’s all about self promotion. And even non celebrities - climbing Everest for charity and so on - it’s all about personal benefit too.
I wouldn’t call Joe Wicks a hero as such, because heroism requires more than that, but he was undoubtedly an extreme important person during lockdown. You only had to look at his YouTube feed during the workouts to see how much he enhanced the lives of many families.
I wonder if any of us can say the same?

TheWayOfTheWorld · 30/08/2020 10:47

@Cheeseandlobster

I liked him a lot more before he got his wife Rosie involved. Rosie was lovely but and did his sessions for him when he had a hand operation but he spent a lot of the time talking over her. I then saw another session he did in the garden on a Saturday morning. His daughter was being a bit vocal so he ordered his wife to take her in the house. You could still hear his daughter a bit from inside the house so he then told her to take the children upstairs. I don't know, it didn't sit right with me. During lockdown in a family home, a bit of noise is expected surely?

If my DC are interrupting my job and my DH is around I call on him to get them out of the way so I can do my work call uninterrupted etc. This is no different.

neonjumper · 30/08/2020 10:48

[quote Cheeseandlobster]@neonjumper They are not token nice things. I wouldn't be doing his workouts if I detested the man. I like a lot of things about him and what he has done / is doing but there are some things I don't agree with. This is a discussion forum hence posting on here. We are all entitled to agree and disagree with each other. I wanted to see if others felt the same.[/quote]
They are token things you said .
You did that thing that people do when they want to say mean things and think by preceding it a few token nice things will hide their meanness.

' I think x is great BUT ...'

YewHedge · 30/08/2020 10:50

He's a clever business man but not a hero.
If he retrained as a PE teacher in a state secondary he would be a hero (apart from on MN obviously).

sparepantsandtoothbrush · 30/08/2020 10:55

I worked long hours through Lockdown supporting vulnerable and isolated people with chronic and often terminal health conditions on top of doing hiit sessions. I don't call myself a hero and nor do my colleagues

And he doesn't call himself a hero either. Your annoyance should be aimed at those who do call him a hero not at him.

And of course he wouldn't have made anywhere near as much for charity if he'd done it in disguise. He made so much because he was already a somebody

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