Fitness fanatic Matt Morsia has been praised by fellow stars from BBC’s Gladiators for his school fitness comments on a podcast after sparking backlash.
The TV star from Hythe told Made in Chelsea’s Spencer Matthews he would rather his child “couldn’t read but was healthy than was a great reader but weighed 20 stone”.
Matt Morsia stars as Legend in the rebooted Gladiators. Picture: BBC
The comment sparked criticism on social media, with one teacher saying: “Obesity isn’t caused by a lack of press-ups in PE.”
But today on his mattdoesfitness Instagram account, Morsia hit back at the controversy surrounding his comments, saying it has been “completely taken out of context”.
The 40-year-old told his followers he wants his two children “to be healthy and to be able to read”, and he and his wife, Sarah, have read to them “every day since a very young age”.
The former University of Kent student and teacher adds they were both strong readers by the age of four and are both “very healthy”.
But he added: “If a kid is in school and they are identified as being extremely weak with their reading or their literacy or their maths, they are put in separate interventions.
“They are given extra time to address those weaknesses and bring them up to what is perceived to be a baseline level.
“But that same rule doesn’t apply to fitness.
“I’ve seen it, as I used to be a teacher.
“I’ve seen a kid in year nine who was like 16 stone. If that is your child, there is a strong chance they will die before the age of 60.
“So how is that allowed to go under the radar? It blows my mind.”
Morsia adds “all it would take” is students doing a 15-minute run followed by 10 minutes of body weight exercise, which he believes would have a “profound impact” on those children.
Some of his colleagues from Gladiators have thrown their support behind him following his post on Instagram today.
Jodie Ounsley, who stars as Fury on the show, wrote: “I have to say… you’re a legend for this.”
Quang Luong, aka Viper, added: “Well said, bro. About time.”
Meanwhile, rapper Professor Green showed his support too, writing: “Louder.”
Gladiators star Matt Morsia, from Hythe, addressed his followers after he sparked “controversy” for making comments about school fitness on a podcast. Picture: Instagram / @mattdoesfitness
Former teacher Morsia spoke with Matthews two weeks ago for the latter’s Untapped podcast.
He told the reality star: “I would rather my child couldn’t read but was healthy, than was a great reader but weighed 20 stone.
“That should be part of the curriculum in the same way that, if a child can’t read, or a child can’t do basic addition, if a child cannot jog for a couple of minutes, or cannot do 10 press-ups, they should be put in intervention to allow them to do that.”
But others criticised Morsia after a clip of the comments was shared on social media, saying the responsibility for children’s lifestyle choices rests with parents.
Helen Ashley wrote: “As an ex-primary teacher and former PE lead, I don’t agree.
“If a child can’t read, that’s a core academic skill schools are responsible for teaching.
“Obesity isn’t caused by a lack of press-ups in PE.
“It’s shaped far more by lifestyle, habits, and what’s modelled at home.
“Schools already provide PE, sport clubs and often the only structured exercise some children get all week.
“But they can’t control what’s on a child’s plate or how active family life is.”
She says PE is not about “forcing children to do drills to fix their bodies” but about “building confidence, enjoyment and a positive relationship with movement”.
The former teacher adds responsibility for a child’s lifestyle “ultimately sits with parents”.
Another critic was Bobby Casey, who wrote: “Do you know how overly stretched schools and teachers are?
“It’s a school’s job to teach a child, it’s the parents’ job to make sure they’re healthy.”
One user, mrs_brightdress, said: “Unfortunately, the correlation between a child being 20 stone and unable to read is more likely to occur.
“Weight control is parental responsibility. Reading is the foundation of the education system.
“Parental engagement and parental responsibility are the crux of issues.”
Last year, Morsia announced he was taking on a new kind of challenge by bringing a long-abandoned sports centre back to life.
He revealed his plan to help transform Folkestone Sports Centre’s gym in a project close to his heart.
Morsia, who boasts millions of followers across his social platforms, shot to fame with his entertaining fitness content before joining the reboot of Gladiators in 2024.
Before his rise online, he worked as a PE teacher at Folkestone Academy, but left the role to pursue content creation full-time.