Who Is Lea Pearl?

MEDIA TRAINED

Appearing as yourself in a training video, a documentary, or even a TV talent show may not be quite the same thing as undertaking an acting role, but it's not as though there's a British female bodybuilder who is also a RADA graduate knocking around, so today's muscle quartet at least have their media experience in their favour...

Carmen Knights



As seen on Jodie Marsh in the USA or whatever it was called, offering our most media-hungry former bodybuilder training advice and support both at home and on the road, Carmen has all but vanished from competition and - as the Active Channel has stopped broadcasting - our TV screens. Perhaps she's been off taking acting classes?!




Louise Rogers



Like Carmen, Britain's top Figure pro was an Active Channel regular before they pulled the plug. She was classy, articulate and always extremely watchable. She doesn't compete in the "Bodybuilding" division, but Louise's muscles are plenty big enough to make her appear like a She-Hulk next to the rest of the female cast (and the male cast too, I imagine). And what's more Louise is - like the character - a pro.




Kate Austin



The Welsh She-Ra spent a lot of time over the winter being filmed for one or another BBC documentary, and also raised her media profile as an anti-bullying campaigner, so if anyone's got the industry contacts right now, it's Kate. But does she have time to squeeze in a film role given all her business activities and the media commitments she already has? And would international audiences get her beautiful Valleys accent?!




Rosie Harte



A proven performer both on stage and in the recording studio, could Britain's newest IFBB Physique pro add the silver screen to her achievements? It would certainly give the writer-director the chance to add a scene where Rosie/Lea sings her young son to sleep in a touching mid-second-act moment of calm before the competition storm...




More P.E.A.R.L. auditions tomorrow.

FBBUK Extra: Coin, Confidence & A Comeback

So I'm flicking through the catch-up TV options a few weeks ago, and one of the stills sends my female muscle radar berserk. I've hit the download button before I've even clocked the name of the programme because that's... that's Kate Austin!



We first met Kate, who we dubbed "The Welsh Princess of Power" after learning one of her muscle inspirations was She-ra from the old He-Man cartoon, back in 2013 (see FMS, March 2013), and though we caught up with her showing off on the beach in May last year, and enjoyed a thirty-second Fit Vids preview (short, yes, but well worth a watch) from around the same time, we hadn't had much news of her since.

So, what was Kate doing on the BBC?



Young people in the South Wales valleys spend more on looking good than in the most prosperous parts of London, said the programme information. Tattoos, tans, botox and boobs - a journey into the world of looking good and feeling poor as young Welsh men and women reveal all in their pursuit of the body beautiful.

The title? Young Welsh and Pretty Skint. Which doesn't shed any light on Kate's role in all of this. So, perhaps we should just have a watch. Kate's bit starts at 7.48...



So, one of our Welsh She-ra's superpowers turns out to be that she is recession-proof! This industry hasn't suffered. I've opened two gyms in the past two years...

And this isn't going to be the only time Kate will be on the BBC. Apparently, there is more to look forward to. Quite a lot more, in fact. Filming a documentary for the BBC based around me and my members next month, she said on Instagram recently. Also going to be in another documentary specifically about female bodybuilders before next year. Well that sounds like a documentary that (unlike "Young Welsh and Pretty Skint") is going to be worth watching from start to finish. Over and over again.

What's more, Kate is going to elsewhere in the media, specifically in a music video that will be part of a "massive" nationwide anti-bullying campaign launching this month.



And as well as her two gyms, Kate has launched Ultimate Physiques Fitness Classes and Training Solutions with her bestie Caz Roberts and a team of Kate-trained female instructors. But Kate has also found that her considerable entrepreneurial success has come at a price - and not just to the skint young Welsh (and their parents' and grandparents' savings). When her old Instagram account was deleted (too many racy pictures perhaps?) Kate seems to have got a bit nostalgic for her hardcore female bodybuilder's body as she sifted through some of her old pictures...




God I miss bodybuilding, she said. I miss training heavy and eating right so much but current circumstances just don't allow me to make it a priority at the min[ute]. Life has taken over and to be honest life is great right now but I don't half miss that feeling you get when you know your body's changing and you look in the mirror and smile at yourself and not just get dressed. What I wouldn't give to look like this again.


Kate backstage before her last competition - the UKBFF Cumbrian Classic in 2014

Look at her confident sexy smile in the picture above right. Look at that look on her face in the on stage shot (bottom right, previous set above). I'd bet that look in the mirror in the morning feeling isn't the only feeling Kate has been missing.

Been feeling extremely frustrated with myself lately, she said a few weeks ago. I've been really unmotivated when it comes to my own training. Been too busy taking classes and with work... So I thought what better way to give myself a kick up the butt than NEW GYM CLOTHES! Just arrived from the States! That should do the trick.



And it's totally worked.



Just two weeks ago I was unhappy with the way I looked and stuck in a rut. Decided to do something about it, start training again and BAM! I'm back on form in a matter of weeks. Loving training again and [being] consistent with my diet again. Life is good. Looking forward to seeing what the next few weeks bring. Exciting times...



Indeed. It's real a pleasure to find that Kate has got her hardcore mojo back, and we'll be keeping an eye on her Facebook, (new) Instagram, and her (now functioning again) website over the next few weeks and beyond. FMS will, of course, bring you news of those documentaries as and when it comes, and, fingers crossed, news of our Welsh Princess of Power wearing her posing suit (and that smile) again before too long as well.




Enjoy!

On the Beach...

...with Kate Austin



Time for the Welsh She-ra to pump up...



...with a little help from her friend.



That looks like fun. Can I play?



The more the merrier, says Kate.



As the sun sets, it's time for a warm down and a well-earned drink.



Just another day in Prestatyn.



Enjoy!

FBBUK: Kate Austin, Welsh Princess of Power

From South Wales, Kate Austin is a former night-club bouncer turned competitive bodybuilder and personal trainer who runs her own gym in the coastal town of Porthcawl.



I like to stand out from the crowd – I’ve never been a person who wants to blend in with everyone. I don’t care if people don’t like the way I look, I do it for myself.




And this kind of philosophy applies not just to her lifestyle, but also her bodybuilding career to date. Like many women in the UK, her first competitive experience came in a NABBA contest, and she was crowned Miss Wales in 2010. Her next move, though, was uncommon for a British female bodybuilder. Rather than going national and then international up the NABBA pyramid, she went instead to an amateur show in the US, and won the overall women’s title at the NPC Flex Lewis Classic in Tennessee in 2011.


left: NABBA Wales 2010; right: winning the Flex Lewis Classic 2011

Obviously, here is a woman who likes to do things her own way. An independent woman in more ways than one, a woman who isn’t going to let other people’s opinions affect her. Negative comments about my appearance are more to do with other people’s insecurities, she says. No matter what you look like there’s always someone who says nasty things about you.

Kate has been into muscles from a very early age, so it’s not surprising she is so at home in her own body. When I was three or four my mum taped three hours of He-Man for me to watch because I was completely obsessed by it. It was the only thing that kept me quiet! I loved (TV show) Gladiators as well. Jet was always my favourite and when I grew up that’s what I wanted to be.



Having been sporty at school, Kate began weight-training in her late teens, and, unsurprisingly given her youthful dreams, felt right at home straight away. I didn’t feel intimidated and I got used to the weights and stuff and noticed my body changing shape.



Initially, she didn’t intend to get big, but by the age of 23, being lean wasn’t enough for her and she made the decision to train for muscle gains. Now she says, I can’t imagine my life without bodybuilding. Once you get into it, it’s pretty addictive. The results speak for themselves.



People assume she won’t be very feminine because she’s into bodybuilding, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I always wear my false eyelashes and I love having my nails done and going out in my heels, she says. Considering who her childhood heroes were, it’s probably not surprising that she doesn’t see having muscles and being feminine as mutually exclusive things.




As far as I know, Kate never made it onto Gladiators, but now, having just turned 30, she has indeed grown up into a real-life She-ra, a dark-eyed Welsh She-ra with long, black hair who wields a barbell (one-handed!) rather than a sword.



I leave you today with Kate’s winning routine from the 2011 Flex Lewis Classic



Check out a very cool (but short) preview of her workout from fitvids.co.uk here and footage from her Miss Wales 2010 victory here.

You might also like to check out Kate’s website, www.kateaustinbodybuilder.co.uk at some stage, but at the time of writing, it was, unfortunately, down.

More FBBUK tomorrow!