Olly Murs has responded to online discourse about his body transformation, calling the commentary 'disappointing'. The singer recently revealed that he underwent a 12-week fitness regime to prepare for his ‘gruelling’ 33-date UK and Ireland tour, and after sharing before and after pictures of his body transformation, the internet went into ablaze.
With just two days to go until the tour kicks off, Olly had explained that his training included boxing, lifting weights, sparring, and circuits. In one video, he told his followers he was in ‘beast mode,’ and ‘ready’ to take on the challenge of performing on tour.
He captioned the post ‘Tour starts Thursday... I'm pumped,’ and tagged former Team GB boxer Harvey Horn as part of his team. In fact, Olly has spoken about his passion boxing before. The singer, who comes from a semi-professional football background, previously said he now has a '100 per cent the buzz for boxing, I love it’, adding that sparring and punching the heavy bags relieves him of stress.
Olly’s fitness post garnered hundreds of comments from followers praising his dedication to his fitness – including from Olly’s wife Amelia. She wrote ‘You've hit a new kinda level and worked your absolute a**e off to get there! So proud of you. Does this mean we get to eat the same dinners again now?’ Meanwhile, friend and co-host of their show Mark Wright commented ‘Right. I'm going gym.’
However, Olly’s transformation also had a surprising, and worrying, reaction from people online, with the before and after pictures sparking a debate on X - suggesting the tired commentary that happens on women's bodies is increasingly happening in male spaces. A researcher took to X to share a before and after image from Olly’s Instagram, and asked his followers: ‘Do you think he looks better before or after? Are you male or female?’
The results showed that more men (42.6%) thought Olly looked better after the transformation, while just 7% of women did. Meanwhile, 26.8% of female voters thought he looked better before, compared to 23.6% of male voters.
In the comments, X users discussed the results. One user wrote ‘Leaning out made him look smaller overall. I think women are subconsciously drawn to overall size / impression of strength, which includes “flabbier” dad bods over sculpted gym bodies— so lowering body fat isn’t always an improvement.' Another wrote 'What he accomplished is super impressive and I'm sure he has his reasons for wanting to do it. I honestly think he looked better originally. It's not like he was unhealthy - he looks like he was in great shape. On the right he looks aged and just too lean.’
This corresponds to some previous research trends, which suggest that women, in general, prefer less toned physiques – otherwise known as ‘dad bods.’ However, research aside, the fact the pictures were scrutinised in the first place marks a sad new reality for men in the limelight - and one that female celebrities have faced for years. Olly himself responded to the discourse, saying the online debate around the images was 'disappointing.'
'I wouldn’t normally comment on stuff like this but from what I’ve seen I just want to say that this journey at the start of the year was for many personal reasons and not one of them was to spark a debate and divide opinions,' he wrote in a post on Instagram. Sharing a picture of one online article, he continued: 'So. it’s very disappointing to see this kind of reporting! Big love to everyone who’s been kind and to anyone out there improving themselves and making adjustments to their wellbeing. Love to you all, keep it up! Ignore the noise!'
Olly's comments serve as a reminder that it's never ok to tear down a man's body - in the same way we don't stand for this with women's bodies. Zac Efron and Robbie Williams have both spoken about the negative effects of obsessive scrutiny over their appearances. Let's be clear - at the end of the day, the way someone looks, male or female, really is none of our business.