The Bachelor star Sam Wood in legal drama over fitness program
TV’s The Bachelor star Sam Wood is locked in a bitter legal battle over his popular online body transformation venture after being accused of turning his back on two business partners.
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TV’s The Bachelor star Sam Wood is locked in a bitter legal battle over his popular online body transformation venture.
Wood has been accused of turning his back on a deal with business partners George Moraitis and Jim Angelopoulos over the popular training program, 28 By Sam Wood.
TV BACHELOR SAM WOOD ACCUSED OF FITNESS RIP-OFF
The program offers body transformations in 28 days with 28-minute workouts and meals cooked in less than 28 minutes.
Mr Moraitis and Mr Angelopoulos have launched Supreme Court action over the deal they say was signed in 2016 to kickstart the venture.
Under the alleged deal, Wood was to be the face of the business, while Mr Moraitis and Mr Angelopoulos would take care of getting it off the ground.
In exchange for a 25 per cent share of the business they would build and run a website, establish an operating office and build a team of employees.
They were also to be responsible for the ongoing running of the business.
But court documents allege that, despite doing the work, Mr Moraitis and Mr Angelopoulos never received their agreed stake in the business.
It is alleged they made repeated requests for Wood to honour the deal, but in November they were cut out of the business altogether.
Mr Moraitis and Mr Angelopoulos are seeking an injunction to stop Wood selling or transferring any shares before the case is dealt with.
They also want 25 per cent of the company held in trust and want a comprehensive review of its records.
It comes after leaked internal emails from Wood’s company revealed it used almost identical recipes to those by the Instagram fitness sensations behind the popular Keep It Cleaner program.
The leaked emails also revealed 28 By Sam Wood staff had been “trolling” the site of fitness guru Michelle Bridges looking for ideas.
Wood admitted his office walls had printouts of lesson plans by Britain’s most famous fitness coach Joe Wicks.
“It’s a competitive industry, so naturally we watch our competition, as they watch us,” he said.
Wood tonight said Mr Moraitis and Mr Angelopoulos’ claims were unfounded.
“I started the business on 1 February 2016 and George and Jim were not part of the business,” he said.
“They came on (board) later in the year and were never offered shares verbally or otherwise.”
INSIDE THE MELBOURNE HOME OF SAM WOOD