MAFS star slammed for calling plus size mannequin ‘early death’
Married at First Sight’s Daniel Holmes has been slammed after a photo he shared of a curvy mannequin in a fitness store with the comment it was “promoting early death”.
Married at First Sight’s Daniel Holmes has defended himself after he was called out for body shaming.
The reality television personality took to his Instagram on Monday to share a photo of a plus-sized mannequin that was wearing active wear in a Nike store.
He captioned the image: “Those that say this is empowering are completely delusional.
“It’s promoting early death. There is no power in that.”
The personal trainer was quickly slammed in the comments, with many labelling his words as “body shaming”.
But, Holmes doubled down on his comments in a subsequent social media post, saying he received hundreds of direct messages about what he had said.
He said his comments had been taken out of context.
“I’ve done a bit of a scan of all the crazy DMs and got a bit of an overview of what people were saying,” he said in a video.
“And what people were saying was ‘what are people supposed to wear in the gym if they can’t promote overweight active wear’.
“Hey – clothes? It’s just the gym. It’s just a bunch of metal objects that you pick up. You don’t necessarily need to wear a particular brand of clothing to do that.
“That’s not the issue, it’s when brands start to cater to unhealthy body types – my concern is where does that lead?”
He said “with compassion” he understands it’s difficult to lose weight, even though the steps to do so are “relatively simple”.
Holmes said as someone who worked in the fitness industry for a decade it’s not a new conversation for him, adding there were “two types of fat” you see in people with one developing internally.
He said being overweight was “extremely dangerous” as it can impact your organs, heart and joints.
Holmes added that it was brands promoting “unhealthy” body types to make money that got under his skin.
News.com.au has contacted Holmes’ representative for comment.
Many took umbrage with his comments, with some telling him to “get a grip” before he passes judgment.
“Definitely wouldn’t be signing up for you to be my PT mate. Get a grip of yourself,” one said.
“As a personal trainer I’d hope you would want to inspire your clients to live a healthy lifestyle and break down the barriers of what a perfect body figure looks like.
“I’d hope you reflect on your point of view because in your work environment you see people trying to better themselves very day and your point of view saying that these brands shouldn’t be offering plus-sized people their products is ridiculous.
“There’s are soo many factors to people being over weight and trying to get fit so I think you need to hit back on the books and do your study with an open mind before commenting this sh*t again! This was definitely just for your five seconds of fame again bud!”
Another added: “You are wrong in what you are saying. I can say because I lived this and if you not even have nice clothes to wear it is just another obstacle adding to not start having a healthy life.”
Another said they were smaller before they were diagnosed with cancer, and the treatment they are on has now made them put on weight.
The social media user said that instead of passing judgment on people, Holmes should consider he has no idea of their experiences in life.