The personal trainer said all money made from his live streamed workouts will go towards helping to fight the pandemic
He initially became famous for his popular YouTube channel and Instagram videos, where he shared simple, actionable nutrition tips and home workouts for those wishing to get, as he calls it, 'Lean in 15'.
This week, personal trainer Joe Wicks has been live streaming a 9am workout every day. As the UK is placed on lockdown due to coronavirus and schools shut, he's encouraging the younger generation to get up and complete a PE class before their home schooling day begins.
The workouts so far have gone down with unprecedented success, with Wicks gaining a million followers in the week since his first live stream and appearing in publications across the world. While he's never charged for the workouts—all are free on his YouTube channel—the advertisements placed on the video by YouTube have generated a large profit.
Rather than keep the money himself, he announced yesterday that those advertisement earnings will be donated directly to the NHS and all doctors, nurses and staff in need.
Sharing the news on his channel, The Body Coach TV, the 33-year-old father of two announced that all earnings will be gifted to help the nation's health service, which, at current, is preparing for a steep surge in the number of coronavirus patients needing treatment.
Next to a screenshot of one of his live streamed workouts, he shared: 'I’ve been overwhelmed with the response and the support it's had from everyone.'
'As a result of so many people viewing the #PEWithJoe workouts on YouTube, the advertising revenue generated has been unlike anything I've seen or experienced on my channel before.'
'So I've decided that as long as I’m the nations P.E. teacher, every single penny of the money generated on these videos is going to the place where we need it the most right now. All of it is going straight to the NHS, to support the real heroes right now.'
He further gave his gratitude to the people for 'watching, joining in and sharing' and told how he was 'loving being people's PE teacher'.
The Sun newspaper reported that Wicks followers have gone from 823,000 to a jaw-dropping 1,710,708 million over the course of the week—amassing nearly a million more subscribers.
Speaking just last week, he said: 'I know we can pull together, be upbeat, motivated and inspired to get through this pandemic.'
'It’s possible to come out of this fitter and see the time as an opportunity to put healthy, portion-controlled food on tables because we’re not out and about having junk food.'
Hear, hear.
