Kayla Itsines reveals ‘scary’ male encounter that led to female-only business

She’s encountered criticism over the years for aiming her multimillion dollar training program squarely at women – now Kayla Itsines has revealed why.

She’s encountered criticism over the years for aiming her multimillion-dollar training program squarely at women – but now Kayla Itsines has revealed the “scary” reason why.

Arguably Australia’s most famous and successful personal trainer, the fitness queen rose to acclaim with her (since-renamed) Bikini Body Guide program, co-created with ex-fiance and business partner Tobi Pearce. A health and fitness app, Sweat, followed – which they ultimately sold to US fitness tech company iFIT for a reported $400 million in 2021.

The former couple debuted on the Australian Financial Review’s Young Rich List in 2016 with a combined wealth of $46 million, aged 24 and 25, respectively. By 2019, they were ranked number 10 on the list, with a fortune of $486 million.

Itsines has long spoken of her passion “to educate and support women throughout their health and fitness journey, and help them to feel stronger and more confident in themselves”.
But in a wide-ranging new interview with the AFR this week, she shared another reason for their being her target market – a bad experience the South Australian had when she was 18, at her first job out of high school, training people in their homes.

South Australian personal trainer Kayla Itsines. Picture: Instagram

The 32-year-old shared a ‘scary’ experience she had aged 18. Picture: Instagram

“I rocked up to this guy's house and he opened the door, wearing normal clothes, not exercise clothes,” the 32-year-old recalled.

“Alarm bells, immediately. I was going through the consent form and he was staring at me. It was very scary.”

Itsines told the man she needed to grab something from her car – and never went back inside. From that point on, she only trained female clients.

‘When I became a fitness trainer, it was a male-dominated industry.’ Picture: Instagram

The mother-of-two has also, in the past, pointed out the inherent sexism she’s faced – and seen clients come up against – in her line of work.

“When I became a fitness trainer, it was a male-dominated industry, and women rarely stepped foot in the weights room. And while I was working in a women’s-only gym, I noticed most of my clients were using a workout program designed for men, altered for women,” Itsines wrote in a piece for Harper’s Bazaar:

“I felt frustrated at the industry for neglecting women’s needs, and that’s where my passion for female fitness started. I was determined to break down the barriers and misconceptions about women exercising.”

She added that the Sweat community’s priority is “creating a safe space for women to engage with one another and feel supported on their individual journeys”.

Itsines with her children, Arna and Jax. Picture: Instagram

Itsines has also re-evaluated what it means to be “strong” since the birth of her first child, daughter Arna – so much so it prompted her to change the name of the Bikini Body Guide in 2021.

“It has been almost 10 years since I created BBG with the positive intent that every BODY is a bikini body. However, I feel the name now represents an outdated view of health and fitness as so co-founder of Sweat, I feel it is the right time to change our approach with BBG and to evolve and use language that feels more positive for women today,” she said at the time.

“Since having Arna, I’ve become even more aware of how important it is that we use language that EMPOWERS women. I want to use language that is completely positive and inspiring for all women, and that is the world I want Arna to grow up in. Over the last 10 years, I’ve learnt that how we communicate to women and the language we use really MATTERS.”

Originally published as Kayla Itsines reveals ‘scary’ male encounter that led to female-only business