Latest news with #anabolicSteroids
Irish Times
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Fake fitness influencers: They tell us about their morning ice baths and deep breathing, but not injections
Looking back to 2022, it seems impossible that anyone ever believed that Brian 'Liver King' Johnson achieved his physique without pharmaceutical assistance. He looks like a hot water bottle stuffed with bowling balls, an 1980s action figure with more veins – an improbably muscular man who put his bodybuilder-shaming physique down to a diet of 'raw liver, raw bone marrow and raw testicles'. And that last part, really, was the trick: by crediting his results to a regime that nobody else would dare try, he gave them a faint veneer of plausibility. Maybe, if you followed a less extreme version of his protocol, you could get comparable (though less extreme) results. And if you couldn't stomach an all-organ diet, well, you could always get the same nutrients from his line of supplements. The Liver King, of course, was dethroned – leaked emails revealed that he was spending more than $11,000 (€9,810) a month on muscle-building anabolic steroids, as detailed in a new Netflix documentary. But the story of a charismatic person promising ridiculous results is just the most outrageous example of a phenomenon that's been around since performance enhancers were invented. In the 1980s, Hulk Hogan urged a generation to say their prayers and eat their vitamins in his VHS workout set; then in 1994 he was forced to admit to more than a decade of steroid use during a court case against his former boss, Vince McMahon . In 2025, influencers post their morning ice baths and deep breathing exercises, but don't mention what they're injecting at the same time, whether that's steroids intended to encourage muscle growth in the same way that testosterone does, or testosterone itself, or human growth hormone (HGH). As a result, a generation of young men and women – and, to be fair, plenty of middle-aged ones – are developing a completely skewed version of what's possible with hard work and a chicken-heavy diet. And things might be getting worse, not better. It's never been easier to start a business based on your body. With a couple of hundred thousand followers and a decent angle, it only takes a couple of days to whip up an ebook, online course or meal plan. Apps make it easy to start group coaching or habit-tracking services, and even supplement companies are easy to start, if you're happy to just stick your own label on tubs of protein powder. 'In the current economic climate, the fitness industry is a very appealing place,' says James Smith, a personal trainer, fitness influencer and bestselling author who has been open about using steroids in his early 20s (he is now 35). 'If you've got decent genetics, you're a decent coach and have a grasp of marketing, you can unlock a very good income selling workouts and training plans. So maybe you take a little bit of testosterone to get a little leg up, and suddenly you're getting compliments at the gym and posting record lifts on Instagram. Surely a bit of human growth hormone couldn't hurt? Okay, business is now at an all-time high; followers are coming up to you and asking about reps and sets. You've dug yourself a hole that is hard to get out of. What do you do now? Tell your audience you're on steroids?' READ MORE Un-natty … Rich Piana in 2015. Photograph:If you did, you'd be in a very small minority. There are – at a conservative estimate – tens of thousands of fitness influencers globally, and only a small handful have openly admitted to using steroids, even among those posting the most outlandish results. Larry Wheels, an influencer and powerlifter, talked about the muscle cramps, depression, lethargy, loss of appetite and low libido he suffered from steroid abuse in a 2018 video. He then announced he was no longer taking them in 2022, followed by a relapse in 2024. Sam Sulek, one of the current kings of fitness on YouTube thanks to his combination of chatty, informal videos and unbelievable physical dimensions, hasn't elaborated, but in a video last year he did tell fans he'd be unable to reach his goal weight of 300lb 'natural'. Rich Piana, famed for inventing an arms workout taking eight hours, was open about his steroid use for much of his career, discussing his own 'cycle' and giving out advice for other users on social media. He died in 2017, aged 46, and with a heart weighing twice the normal amount for an adult male. But while a high-profile handful of people decide to open up, most other influencers continue to maintain that they're 'natural' or just avoid the subject entirely. A few even take tests to 'prove' they're clean, ignoring the fact that tests are easy to cheat: most steroids are undetectable after a weightlifter cycles off them for a month or so, while their effects can linger in the body forever. And, make no mistake, the effects of enhancement can be huge: in one study, a group of men who took 600mg of testosterone enanthate for 10 weeks and did no exercise saw greater gains in strength than a placebo group who took nothing and worked out normally. 'In my first cycle of testosterone in my early 20s, I climbed the status hierarchy in 12 weeks,' says Smith. 'I didn't use steroids to benefit my business, but I completely understand why people do it. It sounds bad to say, but if you want to ever make a living from fitness, you're almost stupid for even trying to do it naturally.' Meanwhile, it's not just influencers getting bigger who might be misrepresenting how they achieve their unbelievable results. In April this year, Peloton instructor Janelle Rohner agreed to refund followers who bought her course on food macros, after admitting to using GLP-1 weight loss drugs. 'I could have kept this a secret,' she said in a TikTok video posted after the subsequent backlash. 'I could have gone on and on for years and not told, but I don't want to do that. I don't want to be that person.' The implication, of course, is that plenty of people are prepared to be that person, and it's hard to argue. In the years since Wegovy and similar drugs have been approved for weight loss, plenty of influencers have undergone near-miraculous transformations, most of them citing clean eating when it's possible they're doing the exact opposite. At the same time, some influencers are taking a far more dangerous route than pills or chemicals – injecting synthol, an oil used to bulk up their muscles, or having high-risk 'Brazilian butt lifts' to compensate for bodies that won't change naturally. Bad influence: live streaming at the gym. Photograph: PeopleImages/Getty Images How much of any of this is a problem if you, personally, are blissfully unaffected by every Love Island contestant, #NoExcuses Insta-reel and celebrity success story? The answer, on a societal level, might be: quite a lot. In a 2022 survey from social enterprise Better, 23 per cent of men and 42 per cent of women reported that they 'rarely' or 'never' feel body confident. In a small-scale study from 2024 , participants who were active social media users, frequently liking and commenting on content, were less satisfied with their bodies and had an increased level of negative feelings about their appearance. For anyone who takes online influencers at their word, training can feel dispiriting and hopeless: even working out multiple times a day and eating perfectly, it can be impossible to reach the same levels of fat-free muscle as your Instagram feed will show you after 20 seconds of scrolling. And, of course, film stars male and female are hardly helping the situation by showing up more lean and muscular than they've ever been in their 40s or 50s, preaching the virtues of twice-a-day training and drinking lots of water. 'It's quite clear there's been an uptick in this stuff,' says Dan Roberts, a personal trainer who works with actors and Broadway stars. 'It takes time to build muscle, so when you suddenly build a lot of it, that's not possible without extra testosterone in your system, or growth hormone, or something. Also, sometimes the signs are just really obvious … when someone's neck thickens up suddenly …' Some fitness enthusiasts, meanwhile, are fighting back. In Reddit's 'natty or juice' community, members debate whether celebrities and influencer physiques are achievable naturally, or if their results show signs of substance abuse: a distended stomach (sometimes known as 'roid gut') can be a sign of excess growth hormone, while gynecomastia (an increase of breast gland tissue in men) is typically caused by an imbalance in hormone levels. On YouTube, bodybuilders and coaches such as Greg Doucette, Dr Mike Israetel and Derek Munro (whose channel, More Plates More Dates, exposed the Liver King) explain what actually goes into a serious steroid regime, as well as the disastrous possible side effects. But even with millions of viewers well versed in the minutiae of Winstrol or the signs of an HGH habit (it's all in the jaw), millions more hang on to the hope that the right protein powder or workout regime might be enough, and end up hopelessly disappointed. Shirtless selfie. Photograph: Getty Images So what's the solution? A good start would be for the most high-profile influencers and celebrities to be honest about what they're using and the risks they're accepting to do it. 'Look at testosterone,' says Smith, who posted a video about his own regime earlier this year. 'It's cheap, easily accessible, well tolerated and arguably less dangerous than a lot of other things young people do. There are multiple implications for using it over the long term, problems with use versus abuse, fertility and many other psychological implications and impacts to using it, but it's absolutely becoming more common. I look better with my shirt off at 35 than 25 because I now use a TRT [testosterone replacement therapy] service.' We could also reframe what we're looking to get out of exercise, from an enviable physique to a better quality of life. 'When it comes to our health, there are so many actually proven things we can do to live longer, be happier, fitter, stronger,' says Roberts. 'The good information is out there – we just have to look for it through all the noise and nonsense.' We should also probably ignore the people who have lied to us in the past. The Liver King has now, in a way, come clean: after claiming to go 'natty' for 60 days in an Instagram post, he admitted to being back on steroids in late 2023 (although he is still preaching the value of his 'nine ancestral tenets', which include sleep, sun exposure and cold therapy, and which the Netflix documentary claims were made up in conjunction with his marketing agency). 'I think he thought the broader message was more important than the steroids,' says Ben Johnson, former CEO of the Liver King's holding company, Tip of the Spear, who seems genuinely shocked that his former associate was doing anything untoward. 'It's unfortunate that the messenger has killed the message … when there's a kernel of truth at the centre of the message, it's easy to focus on that and ignore the other variables.' What isn't quite so easy is looking past the abs and the arms, and finding people who value health and wellbeing over aesthetics and false promises. But as anyone who's put in the work knows, sometimes the hard path is the one that pays off. – Guardian
News.com.au
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘Got me': Liver King's downfall exposed in new Netflix doco
He's the muscle-bound 'barbarian' who claimed his enlarged physique was down to a stomach-churning diet of animal liver, testicles and fertilised chicken eggs. Daring stunts including bench-pressing 185kg weights underwater, pulling trucks on chains and caveman-like hunting techniques earned Brian Johnson millions of followers online. The married dad-of-two was raking in $100million (about $155million Australian Dollars) in sales annually from his supporters, known as 'Primals', who eagerly snapped up his offal-based pills. But in 2022 it all came crashing down when the 'Liver King' – who boasts of building a $300million (AU $463million) empire – was revealed as a heavy user of anabolic steroids who spent $11,000-a-month (AU $17,000) to preserve his super-sized shape, The Sun reports. Emails leaked by a social media influencer showed him seeking out 'pharmacy grade human growth hormones' that were described as being of a 'f***ing really, really high, super-expensive dosage'. Reflecting on that moment, which followed years of stern denials of steroid use, disgraced Brian, now 47, told The Sun: 'There was no denying that man, I knew he got me.' He also apologised to his followers and admitted to taking 120mg of testosterone a week. His remarkable rise and fall is the focus of new Netflix documentary Untold: The Liver King, which reveals his path from bullied 'runt' to controversial influencer and shamed con artist. And to the horror of critics, who have dubbed him a 'snake oil salesman', he also brags of a secret criminal past even before his Liver King days – adding he is still shamelessly flogging supplements around the world. Growing up in Texas, Brian claims he always felt like an outcast – in part due to a speech impediment that left him a target for classmates. 'I was getting picked on, bullied, beat the f*** up,' he says. 'Nobody was there for me, I just felt powerless, the feeling of helplessness and [being] completely lost.' Brian tells the documentary he felt alone. His father, a veterinary nurse in the US Air Force, died suddenly when he was an infant and without a male role model he was lost. He began to idolise his older brother, who was tall, strong and able to grow facial hair, as well as action hero actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. 'Caveman cult' Brian went on to fall for his future wife and 'Liver Queen', Barbara, with the pair having two sons. He claims to have stumbled across the 'ancestral lifestyle' – the caveman-based way of life that saw him chomp down on three large bull testicles a day – while researching health remedies for his children. 'My kids were really f***ing sick,' he recalls, saying the family constantly had to race to the hospital due to them suffering worrying allergy reactions including anaphylactic shock. Brian would claim eating the offal-only diet solved their mystery ailments and also cured psoriasis, helped pregnancy and aided weight loss up to 20kg (3st 2lb) in six months for others. The lifestyle was based on 'nine ancestral tenets' – sleep, eat, move, shield, connect, cold, sun, fight and bond – which he claims are the 'life forces that have nourished our DNA for millions of years'. There is no scientific proof to back up their claims. His interpretation of the tenets would see him 'shield' himself by turning off WiFi at night, banishing phones from bedrooms and not using hormone-based fragrances to reduce any impact to fertility. Consumption-wise, he followed a raw, uncooked meat-only diet – quipping that it was 'lots of balls, lots of penises' in one video. He would also down up to 50 fertilised eggs at a time and scoff liver, tongue and testicles fresh from the carcass of a bull he had killed seconds earlier. He also hoarded enough gunsto arm a small country, including flamethrowers, assault rifles, 12 gauge shotguns, pistols and explosive ammo. 'Muscled Andrew Tate' By 2017, he was known as the 'Liver King' online. Four years later, he had millions of followers, appeared on popular podcasts including T he Joe Rogan Experience, and was making a fortune, The Sun reports. His businesses boasted 12 per cent growth every quarter for five years running, more than 250,000 customers a month and annual sales in excess of $100million (AU $155million). With this success and money, Brian – who was labelled by some a 'muscled Andrew Tate' after the ringleader of toxic masculinity – admitted: 'I felt new levels of invincibility, that level is dangerous… It was like doing cocaine.' His posts were becoming increasingly outspoken as he labelled fast food chains like Hungry Jacks 'the most brutal f***ing thing' and said feeding youngsters food from US restaurant chain Chick-fil-A, as well as chocolate and sweets was 'real child abuse'. The family claimed child services were called on them for allowing one of their sons to crawl inside a dead cow and feeding him animal testicles. But in November 2022, Brian's empire crumbled after the leak of emails about his steroid use – with online commentators quick to comment he was 'juiced out of his brain' and a 'filthy fraud'. In an apology video, he admitted he had 'f***ed up' and blamed it on 'self-esteem issues', revealing his longing to 'be someone' since childhood and having experienced 'very little failure' in his life. It fell flat among many former supporters, who labelled him a 'snake oil salesman' and fumed: 'You're not sorry for all the s*** you did, and the people you could have potentially hurt by eating balls.' 'Printed money' But, as the new documentary reveals, this wasn't Brian's first scam either. His criminal career began when he was working at vitamins company GNC as a teen. He began conning the firm out of money with customer returns that he would then sell to other branches of the store, stealing receipts to back up his claims. 'With enough trial and error, all you had to do was make it work one time, and then you just repeat it… it worked every single time,' he shamelessly brags. Brian evolved into making his own products and claims it escalated to the point where he 'used to print money, a lot of it' and turned his apartment into a 'f***ing chemistry lab' to make knock-off versions of the drugs. 'International drug trading, you know. Higher stakes, higher reward… my perception of risk is becoming distorted. I just never got caught,' he adds. It's not known if Brian ever faced charges for that con but in January 2023, after the steroid use was exposed, he was hit with a $25million (AU $38.5million) lawsuit from former followers, alleging harm through deceptive advertising and marketing practices. They claimed he orchestrated a 'cult-like, extreme and implausible regimented lifestyle' to earn millions from the sale of pills, powders and supplements. But within months of being served, the main plaintiff withdrew the filing – suggesting a financial agreement was brokered away from the courts. 'I dug myself into this whole shame, sorrow, guilt, regret, I felt that man… nothing is more real that,' Brian would later admit. Now the social media star claims to be 'born again' – still boasting 2.9million Instagram followers and 6.1million on TikTok – but now he eats fruit and vegetables too. 'I was so convinced by all the carnivore stuff, that that's what you needed to really kick ass in life. I'm convinced now that I was starving myself,' Brian says. 'I guess I want the world to know that I got it wrong, each passing day goes by I realise I don't know s***... an extreme approach to anything probably isn't f***ing working out.' 'I have this new freedom, I don't have to lie about anything,' he adds, while acknowledging he still sells supplements and has more than 302 retreats all over the world. Some believe Brian has atoned for his mistakes, but not all are as sold – especially considering his refusal to fade away into the background. One critic firmly insists he remains a 'snake oil salesman', adding: 'Of all the scammers, con artists and f***ing liars, the Liver King is the f***ing worst one of them.'
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Ultra-fit man, 32, on the brink of death after taking popular medication - experts warn more gym-goers could be affected
A bodybuilder was left fighting for his life after abusing a drug which experts warn more young men are turning to, unaware of its devastating side effects. Zak Wilkinson, 32, spent more than two years using steroids, splashing £35,000 on the injections injecting himself up to three times daily. The avid gym goer, like a growing number of young men, turned to anabolic steroids, a type of image and performance drug taken, to increase his muscle growth. The drugs mimic testosterone–one of the hormones responsible for boosting muscle mass– but can have devastating side effects, including an increased risk of suffering a heart attack. And experts warn there has been a concerning rise in their use fuelled by social media triggering body image issues. Now, Mr Wilkinson hopes to do his part in raising the alarm about the potentially life changing effects of the drug. On March 23 2022, the father of one's gruelling steroid regime finally caught up with him when he started having seizures, vomiting and sweating profusely. He was rushed to intensive care unit at James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, after his sister, Chelsea Wilkinson, 37, called an ambulance. At first, doctors thought he could be suffering from meningitis, but quickly realised the fits were caused by his steroid use. Doctors said Mr Wilkinson was fortunate to avoid suffering long term neurological damage after being left non-verbal for days. He was put into a medically-induced coma for a week, with his medical team saying it was a 'miracle' he survived. Mr Wilkinson-a scaffolder-said: 'I thought I'd never be able to play with my son again, that I'd never see him again. 'After the coma had ended, one doctor said that he couldn't believe I was speaking with him because he thought I'd have brain complications for the rest of my life. 'I was so frightened that that could be the end of me.' Mr Wilkinson said steroids had 'just got hold of him' and warned that gym goers need to be aware of the risks. 'It was an all or nothing approach - it's frightening. It just gets hold of you. I thought I was the fittest, strongest, healthiest person, but on the inside I wasn't. 'It's sad because I see a lot of young lads becoming affected by it. And that's why a lot of the bodybuilders are dying prematurely, because it's not healthy. Doctors have warned Mr Wilkinson that he will likely have medical issues for the rest of his life. He has a meeting with his treatment team twice a week, and also has to take anxiety, sleeping, and epilepsy medication, as well as attend frequent appointments for brain scans and blood tests. 'It could still all affect me later on, and I'm probably going to be on constant medication for the rest of my life,' says Mr Wilkinson. 'I now have PTSD, body dysmorphia, a diagnosed eating disorder, regular flashbacks, and I'm having rehabilitation for trauma. I've also now become epileptic due to the coma.' Anabolic-androgenic steroids are the most common type of 'image and performance enhancing drug'. They are typically injected directly into the muscle, though can also be taken orally in tablet form or even as a cream. Anabolic-androgenic steroids work by mimicking the effects of the male sex hormone testosterone, tricking the body into producing more muscular tissue. But this comes at a cost. Common side effects include: severe acne, kidney failure due, high cholesterol, and even stroke. A landmark study published last year by Danish researchers found steroid users have an almost 300 per cent increased risk of death within two decades. Professor Adam Taylor, an expert in anatomy at Lancaster University said: 'The growth in people self prescribing steroids for performance reasons is of real concern. 'There is a danger of suffering serious side effects if you are using these drugs, from heart attacks, and brain damage to long term mobility issues.' 'Cases like this show the danger of anabolic steroids, and people need to be aware of the consequences when they see people promoting the drugs on their social media feeds.' Mr Wilkinson said he started taking steroids at 16 after struggling with body dysmorphia. He said: 'The drugs were very accessible and I was weighing everything - even down to the sugar-free syrups in my coffees. 'It started as a hobby and then it became body dysmorphia-I could barely look in the mirror, and I would put jumpers and hoodies on to avoid showing my body. 'And that explains the tattoos. I'm so body conscious. I've tried every diet out there, I've tried protein diet, meat and eggs diet, weight loss diets, the lot. 'It's because social media creates competition and you're constantly comparing yourself to others and looking at others trying to emulate them. It's a vicious circle.' He said: 'The steroids were selfish, I didn't care about my son or my friends or my family. 'But it happens ever so slowly, you start taking steroids, and the benefits you see on the outside make you want to take more, but it isolates you from your friendships and bonds with people. 'I didn't want to socialise and spend time with my partner. I was just striving for perfection in the bodybuilding game when everything around me was falling apart. 'My family nearly lost someone who was important in their lives - it was a tough time for them. 'There's a real taboo around men and steroid use–there's AA for alcoholics, GA for gamblers, but not really a lot on steroid use and the gym. 'I want to show people who are struggling what I've been through, that these muscles are not worth the comas, seizures, constant brain scans, tubes out your mouth, possibly losing a member of your family–all because you want to look good and compare yourself on social media.'
The Guardian
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Fake fitness influencers: the secrets and lies behind the world's most enviable physiques
Looking back to 2022, it seems impossible that anyone ever believed that Brian 'Liver King' Johnson achieved his physique without pharmaceutical assistance. He looks like a hot water bottle stuffed with bowling balls, an 80s action figure with more veins – an improbably muscular man who put his bodybuilder-shaming physique down to a diet of 'raw liver, raw bone marrow and raw testicles'. And that last part, really, was the trick: by crediting his results to a regime that nobody else would dare try, he gave them a faint veneer of plausibilty. Maybe, if you followed a less extreme version of his protocol, you could get comparable (though less extreme) results. And if you couldn't stomach an all-organ diet, well, you could always get the same nutrients from his line of supplements. The Liver King, of course, was dethroned – leaked emails revealed that he was spending more than $11,000 a month on muscle-building anabolic steroids, as detailed in a new Netflix documentary. But the story of a charismatic person promising ridiculous results is just the most outrageous example of a phenomenon that's been around ever since performance enhancers were invented. In the 1980s, Hulk Hogan urged a generation to say their prayers and eat their vitamins in his VHS workout set; then in 1994 he was forced to admit to more than a decade of steroid use during a court case against his former boss, Vince McMahon. In 2025, influencers post their morning ice baths and deep breathing exercises, but don't mention what they're injecting at the same time, whether that's steroids intended to encourage muscle growth in the same way that testosterone does, or testosterone itself, or human growth hormone (HGH). As a result, a generation of young men and women – and, to be fair, plenty of middle-aged ones – are developing a completely skewed version of what's possible with hard work and a chicken-heavy diet. And things might be getting worse, not better. It's never been easier to start a business based on your body. With a couple of hundred thousand followers and a decent angle, it only takes a couple of days to whip up an ebook, online course or meal plan. Apps make it easy to start group coaching or habit-tracking services, and even supplement companies are easy to start, if you're happy to just stick your own label on tubs of protein powder. 'In the current economic climate, the fitness industry is a very appealing place,' says James Smith, a personal trainer, fitness influencer and bestselling author who has been open about using steroids in his early 20s (he's now 35). 'If you've got decent genetics, you're a decent coach and have a grasp of marketing, you can unlock a very good income selling workouts and training plans. So maybe you take a little bit of testosterone to get a little leg up, and suddenly you're getting compliments at the gym and posting record lifts on Instagram. Surely a bit of human growth hormone couldn't hurt? OK, business is now at an all-time high; followers are coming up to you and asking about reps and sets. You've dug yourself a hole that is hard to get out of. What do you do now? Tell your audience you're on steroids?' If you did, you'd be in a very small minority. There are – at a conservative estimate – tens of thousands of fitness influencers globally, and only a small handful have openly admitted to using steroids, even among those posting the most outlandish results. Larry Wheels, an influencer and powerlifter, talked about the muscle cramps, depression, lethargy, loss of appetite and low libido he suffered from steroid abuse in a 2018 video. He then announced he was no longer taking them in 2022, followed by a relapse in 2024. Sam Sulek, one of the current kings of fitness on YouTube thanks to his combination of chatty, informal videos and unbelievable physical dimensions, hasn't elaborated, but in a video last year he did tell fans he'd be unable to reach his goal weight of 300lb 'natural'. Rich Piana, famed for inventing an arms workout taking eight hours, was open about his steroid use for much of his career, discussing his own 'cycle' and giving out advice for other users on social media. He died in 2017, aged 46, and with a heart weighing twice the normal amount for an adult male. But while a high-profile handful of people decide to open up, most other influencers continue to maintain that they're 'natural' or just avoid the subject entirely. A few even take tests to 'prove' they're clean, ignoring the fact that tests are easy to cheat: most steroids are undetectable after a weightlifter cycles off them for a month or so, while their effects can linger in the body for ever. And, make no mistake, the effects of enhancement can be huge: in one study, a group of men who took 600mg of testosterone enanthate for 10 weeks and did no exercise saw greater gains in strength than a placebo group who took nothing and worked out normally. 'In my first cycle of testosterone in my early 20s, I climbed the status hierarchy in 12 weeks,' says Smith. 'I didn't use steroids to benefit my business, but I completely understand why people do it. It sounds bad to say, but if you want to ever make a living from fitness, you're almost stupid for even trying to do it naturally.' Meanwhile, it's not just influencers getting bigger who might be misrepresenting how they achieve their unbelievable results. In April this year, Peloton instructor Janelle Rohner agreed to refund followers who bought her course on food macros, after admitting to using GLP-1 weight loss drugs. 'I could have kept this a secret,' she said in a TikTok video posted after the subsequent backlash. 'I could have gone on and on for years and not told, but I don't want to do that. I don't want to be that person.' The implication, of course, is that plenty of people are prepared to be that person, and it's hard to argue. In the years since Wegovy and similar drugs have been approved for weight loss, plenty of influencers have undergone near-miraculous transformations, most of them citing clean eating when it's possible they're doing the exact opposite. At the same time, some influencers are taking a far more dangerous route than pills or chemicals – injecting synthol, an oil used to bulk up their muscles, or having high-risk 'Brazilian butt lifts' to compensate for bodies that won't change naturally. How much of any of this is a problem if you, personally, are blissfully unaffected by every Love Island contestant, #NoExcuses Insta-reel and celebrity success story? The answer, on a societal level, might be: quite a lot. In a 2022 survey from social enterprise Better, 23% of men and 42% of women reported that they 'rarely' or 'never' feel body confident. In a small-scale study from 2024, participants who were active social media users, frequently liking and commenting on content, were less satisfied with their bodies and had an increased level of negative feelings about their appearance. For anyone who takes online influencers at their word, training can feel dispiriting and hopeless: even working out multiple times a day and eating perfectly, it can be impossible to reach the same levels of fat-free muscle as your Instagram feed will show you after 20 seconds of scrolling. And, of course, film stars male and female are hardly helping the situation by showing up more lean and muscular than they've ever been in their 40s or 50s, preaching the virtues of twice-a-day training and drinking lots of water. 'It's quite clear there's been an uptick in this stuff,' says Dan Roberts, a personal trainer who works with actors and Broadway stars. 'It takes time to build muscle, so when you suddenly build a lot of it, that's not possible without extra testosterone in your system, or growth hormone, or something. Also, sometimes the signs are just really obvious … when someone's neck thickens up suddenly …' Some fitness enthusiasts, meanwhile, are fighting back. In Reddit's 'natty or juice' community, members debate whether celebrities and influencer physiques are achievable naturally, or if their results show signs of substance abuse: a distended stomach (sometimes known as 'roid gut') can be a sign of excess growth hormone, while gynecomastia (an increase of breast gland tissue in men) is typically caused by an imbalance in hormone levels. On YouTube, bodybuilders and coaches such as Greg Doucette, Dr Mike Israetel and Derek Munro (whose channel, More Plates More Dates, exposed the Liver King) explain what actually goes into a serious steroid regime, as well as the disastrous possible side-effects. But even with millions of viewers well versed in the minutiae of Winstrol or the signs of an HGH habit (it's all in the jaw), millions more hang on to the hope that the right protein powder or workout regime might be enough, and end up hopelessly disappointed. So what's the solution? A good start would be for the most high-profile influencers and celebrities to be honest about what they're using and the risks they're accepting to do it. 'Look at testosterone,' says Smith, who posted a video about his own regime earlier this year. 'It's cheap, easily accessible, well tolerated and arguably less dangerous than a lot of other things young people do. There are multiple implications for using it over the long term, problems with use versus abuse, fertility and many other psychological implications and impacts to using it, but it's absolutely becoming more common. I look better with my shirt off at 35 than 25 because I now use a TRT [testosterone replacement therapy] service.' We could also reframe what we're looking to get out of exercise, from an enviable physique to a better quality of life. 'When it comes to our health, there are so many actually proven things we can do to live longer, be happier, fitter, stronger,' says Roberts. 'The good information is out there – we just have to look for it through all the noise and nonsense.' We should also probably ignore the people who have lied to us in the past. The Liver King has now, in a way, come clean: after claiming to go 'natty' for 60 days in an Instagram post, he admitted to being back on steroids in late 2023 (although he is still preaching the value of his 'nine ancestral tenets', which include sleep, sun exposure and cold therapy, and which the Netflix documentary claims were made up in conjunction with his marketing agency). 'I think he thought the broader message was more important than the steroids,' says Ben Johnson, former CEO of the Liver King's holding company, Tip of the Spear, who seems genuinely shocked that his former associate was doing anything untoward. 'It's unfortunate that the messenger has killed the message … when there's a kernel of truth at the centre of the message, it's easy to focus on that and ignore the other variables.' What isn't quite so easy is looking past the abs and the arms, and finding people who value health and wellbeing over aesthetics and false promises. But as anyone who's put in the work knows, sometimes the hard path is the one that pays off.
The Sun
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
How ‘Liver King' built $300m bodybuilding empire by eating raw testicles & organs… before email exposed his dark secret
Josh Saunders, Features Writer Published: Invalid Date, HE'S the muscle-bound 'barbarian' who claimed his enlarged physique was down to a stomach-churning diet of animal liver, testicles and fertilised chicken eggs. Daring stunts including bench-pressing 405lb weights underwater, pulling trucks on chains and caveman-like hunting techniques earned Brian Johnson millions of followers online. 9 9 9 The married dad-of-two was raking in $100million in sales annually from his supporters, known as 'Primals', who eagerly snapped up his offal-based pills. But in 2022 it all came crashing down when 'Liver King' Brian - who boasts of building a $300million empire - was revealed as a heavy user of anabolic steroids who spent $11,000-a-month to preserve his super-sized shape. Emails leaked by a social media influencer showed him seeking out 'pharmacy grade human growth hormones', described as a 'f***ing really, really high, super-expensive dosage'. Reflecting on that moment, which followed years of stern denials of steroid use, disgraced Brian, now 47, says: 'There was no denying that man, I knew he got me.' He also apologised to his followers and admitted to taking 120mg of testosterone a week. His remarkable rise and fall is the focus of new Netflix documentary Untold: The Liver King, out on Tuesday, which reveals his path from bullied "runt" to controversial influencer and shamed con artist. And to the horror of critics, who have dubbed him a 'snake oil salesman', he tells of a secret criminal past even before his Liver King days - and brags he is still shamelessly flogging supplements around the world. Growing up in Texas, Brian claims he always felt like an outcast - in part due to a speech impediment that left him a target for classmates. 'I was getting picked on, bullied, beat the f*** up,' he says. 'Nobody was there for me, I just felt powerless, the feeling of helplessness and [being] completely lost.' Brian tells the documentary he felt alone. His father, a veterinary nurse in the US Air Force, died suddenly when he was an infant and without a male role model he was lost. He began to idolise his older brother, who was tall, strong and able to grow facial hair, as well as action hero actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. 'Liver King' makes first appearance since steroid admission as he opens up on health crisis and claims he's bedridden 9 9 'Caveman cult' Brian went on to fall for his future wife and 'Liver Queen', Barbara, with the pair having two sons. He claims to have stumbled across the 'ancestral lifestyle' - the caveman-based way of life that saw him chomp down on three large bull testicles a day - while researching health remedies for his children. 'My kids were really f***ing sick,' he recalls, saying the family constantly had to race to the hospital due to them suffering worrying allergy reactions including anaphylactic shock. Brian would claim eating the offal-only diet solved their mystery ailments and also cured psoriasis, helped pregnancy and aided weight loss up to 20kg (3st 2lb) in six months for others. The lifestyle was based on 'nine ancestral tenets' - sleep, eat, move, shield, connect, cold, sun, fight and bond - which he claims are the "life forces that have nourished our DNA for millions of years". There is no scientific proof to back up their claims. His interpretation of the tenets would see him 'shield' himself by turning off WiFi at night, banishing phones from bedrooms and not using hormone-based fragrances to reduce any impact to fertility. Consumption-wise, he followed a raw, uncooked meat-only diet - quipping that it was 'lots of balls, lots of penises' in one video. He would also down up to 50 fertilised eggs at a time and scoff liver, tongue and testicles fresh from the carcass of a bull he had killed seconds earlier. He also hoarded enough guns - including flamethrowers, assault rifles, 12 gauge shotguns, pistols and explosive ammo - to arm a small country. Dangers of eating raw meat The NHS advises thoroughly cooking any meat you plan to eat, to avoid illness. There are many risks associated with eating raw meat, such as Salmonella, Listeria and - all of these are destroyed when meat is cooked properly. If you eat rotten meat then it's likely you will get food poisoning with symptoms including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. 9 9 'Muscled Andrew Tate' By 2017, he was known as the 'Liver King' online. Four years later, he had millions of followers, appeared on popular podcasts including The Joe Rogan Experience, and was making a fortune. His businesses boasted 12 per cent growth every quarter for five years running, more than 250,000 customers a month and annual sales in excess of $100million. With this success and money, Brian - who was labelled by some a 'muscled Andrew Tate' after the ringleader of toxic masculinity - admitted: 'I felt new levels of invincibility, that level is dangerous… It was like doing cocaine.' His posts were becoming increasingly outspoken as he labelled fast food chains like Burger King 'the most brutal f***ing thing' and said feeding youngsters food from US restaurant chain Chick-fil-A, as well as chocolate and sweets was 'real child abuse'. The family claimed child services were called on them for allowing one of their sons to crawl inside a dead cow - in a scene very reminiscent of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - and feeding him animal testicles. But in November 2022, Brian's empire crumbled after the leak of emails about his steroid use - with online commentators quick to comment he was 'juiced out of his brain' and a 'filthy fraud'. In an apology video, he admitted he had 'f***ed up' and blamed it on 'self-esteem issues', revealing his longing to 'be someone' since childhood and having experienced 'very little failure' in his life. It fell flat among many former supporters, who labelled him a 'snake oil salesman' and fumed: 'You're not sorry for all the s*** you did, and the people you could have potentially hurt by eating balls.' 9 9 'Printed money' But, as the new documentary reveals, this wasn't Brian's first scam either. His criminal career began when he was working at vitamins company GNC as a teen. He began conning the firm out of money with customer returns that he would then sell to other branches of the store, stealing receipts to back up his claims. 'With enough trial and error, all you had to do was make it work one time, and then you just repeat it… it worked every single time," he shamelessly brags. Brian evolved into making his own products and claims it escalated to the point where he 'used to print money, a lot of it' and turned his apartment into a 'f***ing chemistry lab' to make knock-off versions of the drugs. 'International drug trading, you know. Higher stakes, higher reward… my perception of risk is becoming distorted. I just never got caught,' he adds. It's not known if Brian ever faced charges for that con but in January 2023, after the steroid use was exposed, he was hit with a $25million lawsuit from former followers, alleging harm through deceptive advertising and marketing practices. They claimed he orchestrated a 'cult-like, extreme and implausible regimented lifestyle' to earn millions from the sale of pills, powders and supplements. But within months of being served, the main plaintiff withdrew the filing - suggesting a financial agreement was brokered away from the courts. 'I dug myself into this whole shame, sorrow, guilt, regret, I felt that man… nothing is more real that,' Brian would later admit. Now the social media star claims to be 'born again' - still boasting 2.9million Instagram followers and 6.1million on TikTok - but now he eats fruit and vegetables too. 'I was so convinced by all the carnivore stuff, that that's what you needed to really kick ass in life. I'm convinced now that I was starving myself,' Brian says. The Liver King's family So-called 'Liver King' Brian Johnson regularly involves his family in his content and all observe his bizarre diet. He claims it was his kids' various, yet unnamed, medical ailments that led him to discover the nine ancestral tenets, which he lives by now. Brian, who remembers countless hospital visits with the boys, recalls: "The real wake-up call was when one of my sons stopped breathing. "We were lucky. We made it to the hospital just in time. My wife and I were determined to confront the cause. Never to test our luck again. "We did what all parents would do: we tried everything. And that's where our journey began." As for the lady in Brian's life that's Liver Queen, real name Barbara Johnson, who immigrated from Poland to the US when she was 15 years old. She met Brian on a night out, with him wooing her and pals by sending drinks over to their table. Barbara works as a dental specialist and also appears in her husband's videos. The couple have two sons, named Rad, 13, and Stryker, 15, 'I guess I want the world to know that I got it wrong, each passing day goes by I realise I don't know s***... an extreme approach to anything probably isn't f***ing working out." 'I have this new freedom, I don't have to lie about anything,' he adds, while acknowledging he still sells supplements and has more than 302 retreats all over the world. Some believe Brian has atoned for his mistakes, but not all are as sold - especially considering his refusal to fade away into the background. One critic firmly insists he remains a 'snake oil salesman', adding: 'Of all the scammers, con artists and f***ing liars, the Liver King is the f***ing worst one of them.'
