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Gus Worland: Marathon Man 0:45
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Gus Worland is a radio host, overweight couch potato and Hugh Jackman's best mate, and is now a man with a mission, to run the New York Marathon. But before he conquers the Big Apple, he has to start eating a few. Gus' journey from being clinically obese to a lean, mean marathon man will not be an easy one.
- news.com.au
- 04 Nov 2014
- Entertainment
Sweating it out ... Sometimes it’s hard work being Hugh Jackman’s BFF. Source: Foxtel
BEING told he was too fat by one of the world’s sexiest actors was difficult for Gus Worland to stomach. His best mate, Hugh Jackman, put it all on the line during a deep and meaningful chat after a few beers at the cricket.
“I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t take it particularly well,” Worland says. “I was like, ‘Hey mate, it’s easy to look as good as you when you get paid millions of dollars, so back off’.
“The next morning I said to him, ‘I think you’re right, I don’t know quite what to do’.”
Jackman had an idea, which led to Gus Worland, Marathon Man.
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“I drafted some thoughts on the back of Qantas menu, and Jacko sent it to Foxtel,” Worland says. “I wouldn’t have gotten that show if it wasn’t for my relationship with Hugh. The simple fact is, he is a big deal.”
Ripped ... Who’re you calling fat, Jacko? Source: Supplied
Jackman is a big deal, and Worland was a big man. Weighing in at around 140 kilos thanks to his love of fatty foods, his health was suffering.
Jackman hooked him up with his own personal trainer, who has spent the last six months training him.
Last weekend, Worland succeeded in his ultimate goal — to run the New York marathon — having lost an impressive 30 kilos.
“The first 15 went really quick, and then it was a struggle to 20, and the last 10 have really whipped off.
“I’m buying new jeans (in a size) with a three at the start of it, rather than a four. Extra large rather than double or triple or even larger in some brands, that’s been really cool. I just feel so much better. I do brekkie (radio) every morning, and I’m not napping in the arvos now.”
Worland says his weight loss goal was more realistic than other reality shows such as The Biggest Loser, and that he prefers comedy to browbeating methods.
Comedy ... Gus Worland, Marathon Man. Source: Foxtel
“I fail as much as I win. There are great weeks and awesome weeks and weeks where I completely and utterly lost the plot. Most 40-year-old blokes are overweight or obese. They might look at me and think, ‘That’s something I could do’.”
As a reward for his hard slog, Worland’s planning a party in New York’s Central Park with his wife, three kids, and (naturally) ‘Jacko’.
“Oh yeah. I’ve denied myself so much over the last six months, and rightly so. But after that, I don’t want to undo all the good work I’ve done. I never want to get back to that weight and that unhealthiness again.
“In terms of my biological age, I was 58 when I started this show. Now I’m 43.
“Fifteen years younger in six months. How much better would it be to die at 85 than at 75? There’s no room for a fat nugget here.”
