Joe Wicks explains rejecting BBC, Channel 4 offers

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 8d

Joe Wicks confirms that he turned down offers from the BBC and Channel 4 to broadcast his daily PE workouts on TV.

Joe Wicks has confirmed rumours that he was approached by the BBC and Channel 4 with offers to air his daily PE workouts live on TV.

The 33-year-old began broadcasting daily PE lessons on his YouTube channel as the UK entered coronavirus lockdown in March and quickly gained an audience of millions.

The popularity of the shows led to reported interest from C4 and the BBC but Wicks rejected their offers and has gone on to raise more than £500,000 for the NHS through the advertising on his own channel.

"I've got Channel 4 asking me to stream these PE workouts live," he recalled in an interview with Men's Health. "I've got the BBC asking me to sign a contract. All these channels are now coming to me, and I've said, 'Look, I want to do this on YouTube. I'm reaching more people. Why would I want to do it with you?'"

On his fundraising efforts, he added: "We didn't even consider it when we set out, which is why we quickly decided to donate that money to the NHS. It's a phenomenal amount of money and it just felt right, seeing as it was the community that built it. I didn't want people to think for a second that I had the intention of financially benefiting from any of this."

As the UK now eases itself out of lockdown, the fitness guru is reportedly wanted by the government to oversee a review of the PE national curriculum.