Simon Pegg reveals the secret behind the 'ripped' photo that broke the internet
Actor Simon Pegg has finally responded to the hype surrounding his new-found abs and he thinks the online response is "weird."
The 49-year-old actor broke the internet months ago when his personal trainer Nick Lower shared a shirtless picture of Pegg showing off a six pack and defined arms in March.
Lower took to Twitter to share the picture, writing: "#SimonPegg 6 month body transformation for #InheritanceMovie The brief for this role was lean, VERY lean. It required a specific body shape & look."
Pegg's picture garnered a lot of attention online and, turns out, the actor was shocked by the enormous response.
"The response from that picture was so weird," the actor told GQ Hype this week.
"Some people said, 'You look ill,' which is what my wife thought. Others were saying, 'Well done.' And the thing is, it wasn’t meant to be an aspirational thing. It was a snapshot that my trainer took and I really didn’t expect the furor that followed. All I can think of is that people still think of me as that schlubby guy from 'Shaun Of The Dead'."
Pegg added that, currently, he is committed to continuing with his workout process.
He also detailed the hard work he has put in to achieve the results, which included quitting drinking.
"So Nick and I developed this plan to give me that body shape and it was a lot of work. I trained for three months with only one day off a week. Obviously, nutrition was a big part of that, too. Nick always says you can’t outrun a bad diet and that is completely true. No matter how many sit-ups you do, you’ll never get a six-pack if you don’t manage your macro-nutrients properly," the actor said.
Lower, earlier this year, had explained that Pegg had dropped from 78kg to 69kg in his body weight (losing 19 pounds) and went down to just 8% body fat from 12%.
He reportedly achieved the results through a mix of strength, circuits and core training and a "sound nutrition plan that worked for him and his goals."
"Six months of hard work has paid off and I tip my hat to you sir," Nick wrote on Twitter, to which Simon responded with: "Also occasional mild grumpiness..."