Jay Harris said all his over over the last decade has eventually paid off
00:02, 30 Sep 2025Updated 06:46, 30 Sep 2025
Jay Harris on the night of his award win
A Liverpool PT, who struggled for years with his own image and to gain clients, has been named as the UK’s best. Growing up, Jay Harris would always compare himself to those he saw in magazines or films.
Wrestler-turned-actor The Rock, Arnold Schwarzenegger and boxer Anthony Joshua all had one thing in common in the 30-year-old’s eye – a physique he wished he had.
Jay, from Kensington, claims he weighed no more than six stone when he was 15 years old and because of his “skinny” build and “short” height, he recalls never getting a look in on the sports team.
However, fast-forward to today, and this couldn’t be further from the truth. The athlete was recently named as 2025 winner of the Male Fitness Trainer category at the British Fitness Awards, which were held in the city.
Jay Harris fell in love with the gym after he stopped pursuing his dream of being an actor(Image: Jay Harris)
He told the ECHO: “Winning the award genuinely makes everything I’ve worked for over these last 12 years worth it. I don’t ever consider myself to be the best and never will because that’s not what I’m about, but I will say that I consider myself one of the hardest working.
“Every single day, I’m up at half five in the morning to get to the gym for 6am, and I don’t get home until 8.30pm. My clients trust me and support me, and without them, there would be no award.
“I put my clients first, I listen to them, they sometimes call me their therapist because it’s a safe space for them and they know I’m there to listen and mentally help them as well as physically. Transformations aren’t just about the body. It’s mentally too. My gym, Crew 42, it has nobody who judges you. We are a big community and welcome everyone.
Jay Harris claims he didn’t weigh any more than six stone when he was 15 years old(Image: Jay Harris)
“I owe this place a lot because I was in a bit of a dark place before I moved to them in 2019. Instantly I felt at home and now I’m co-owner and it means a lot to win the award for the gym too.”
The personal trainer previously told the ECHO how even Sunday football teams would say no to taking him on because of height and build. He claims, during one game, he scored four goals, securing the win for his team, but he still wasn’t signed up – not even for the B-team.
He added: “When I didn’t get picked, I always felt it was because I wasn’t good enough and it was a kick in the teeth because I was the best player on the pitch that day. My height and build did put a lot of pressure on me because I was aware I was small and underweight at that time.”
Despite this, where he is today – celebrating over a decade in the fitness industry – is somewhere Jay knew he would always be.
Jay Harris with fellow Crew 42 worker Jamie Morris(Image: Jay Harris)
The former PE teacher fell in love with the gym after he fell out of love with acting. Having, initially gotten into university to study drama, Jay knew it wasn’t the right path for him after learning the course was 70% theory.
Going back to what he loved, Jay completed an 18-month sports coaching course in Speke. However, standing at 5ft 7in and weighing close to nine and a half stone, Jay struggled to get clients to begin with.
He said: “The hardest part was getting clients and I started feeling insecure about my appearance because I was beginning to think I need to look a certain way to get clients.
“I’m still quite small for what people expect a personal trainer to look like. From day one, I knew people were looking at me as if to say ‘how is he a PT?’ It isn’t the nicest thing to feel. I certainly never looked unhealthy, in my eyes, anyway.”
Jay Harris with his 2025 award win
Still, thanks to Jay’s presence, he said enough people have seen him on the gym floor or on social media to know he puts “100% into every client that walks through the door”.
Now, no longer comparing himself to others, except to from “old” him to see how far he has come, Jay said he embraces what makes him different to other personal trainers out there.
He said: “I said it in my winning speech that I’ve worked my absolute bollocks off for this award and I mean it. My little boy, Lucas, is one in a few weeks’ time, and I have missed so much of his life already but since hes been born, hes made me work harder, for him.
“Everything I do now, is for him, and he will always be my motivation to continue to work hard. I didn’t think that a young lad from Kenny who didn’t know what he wanted to do when he left school would go on to achieve what I have so far. I’m a two-time British Fitness Awards winner, and that feels amazing to say. No matter what happens, nobody can take that away from me.
“I believe I’m only just getting started, and my aim is to help as many people as possible. That’s all I ever want to do.”
The British Fitness Awards 2025 also saw Liverpool-based fitness course provider OriGym be named as Training Provider of the Year marking their second consecutive win and Ellesmere Port’s Hayley Ryder being named as the best female fitness instructor for 2025.