Two well-known Irish body builders have criticised the way Vogue Williams portrayed body building in the latest episode of her On The Edge series.
The four-part-series follows the model as she investigates issues affecting the lives of her fellow millennials. In her most recent episode, which aired on Tuesday evening, Vogue entered a female body building contest and she admitted to becoming a little bit obsessed with her body during the competition.
Speaking about the competition she’s said, “I have spent so long learning the way my body works and about being healthy, I found a lot of that competition can be so unhealthy and strenuous for my body.”
However, top female body builders Kadie Smith and Amanda Moroney have criticised how the show portrayed the competitive sport.
Taking to Instagram, Kadie said:
“Having won both bikini overall titles with RIBBF this year, I feel I am ok to comment on this. Have to say I feel a bit disappointed by the program @voguewilliams, which I just watched today.
“I understand it was intended to be interesting and informative but I feel like it was badly researched and only shed a negative light on the bodybuilding community.
“We all know there are extremists in every sport but there was no focus on the majority of competitors. No focus on the hours of hard training and diet. No focus on the physical and mental strength required. To say a girls body “let her down” is ridiculous. Its a competition and she just wasn’t the best suited to the class on the day.
“If you wanted to have a go at it, at least try and do it properly instead of making a mockery of a prep, with a ‘curry the night before’ and ‘a pack of crisps on the way home’.
“I feel like you just wanted to hear that everyone was on steroids. I can tell you that I am happy with my body when I am show lean but I am equally as happy with my body when I am not. This is my lifestyle, I tighten things up 8 to 9 weeks before a show.
“The lowest my calories went on my low days 4 weeks out (2 low days per week) were 1600. For the first 5 weeks of prep, I went out for a meal on a Saturday no hassle. As you can see, I am happy, I am healthy and I do not appreciate all competitors being tarred with the one brush.”
“So I haven’t watched the @voguewilliams documentary yet as I’m not ready to subject myself to what I gather is a really poor interpretation of bodybuilding.
“Firstly, Vogue is stunning- absolutely beautiful. No doubt about it. Erin and I saw her in the toilets at BodyPower (where she competed) and she looked great in a bikini. But not bodybuilding great. People are going off their heads she was told she needed to drop body fat- but this is a sport & that is a requirement!
“There is a HUGEEEEE difference between stage ready & catwalk ready. And that is a reality, just like I’ll never be catwalk ready as I don’t have what it takes. And I am SO ok with that. Building the muscle required to do well on a bodybuilding stage takes a lot of work& graft and is something that needs to be recognised for those that take the time to do it instead of rushing on stage after 3 months of lifting weights.
“I’ve spouted on since the start of prep about it- you need to be in a good headspace to be critiqued. It’s the same as runners being told they need to be faster or golfers that they need to be more accurate.
“It’s a requirement of a sport & whilst I 100% agree that it’s not for people with body dysmorphia issues or those who are in a bad place with their relationship with food, I cannot emphasis enough how this sport has helped both Daniel and I through the most challenging year.
“It’s just a shame that someone with such a big audience has the opportunity to alienate bodybuilders even further in Ireland. And I won’t even go there with the steroids and Macca’s comment.”
If you missed Vogue’s Obsessed with Perfection you can catch it on RTE Player.
