JOE Wicks hosted hundreds of families and youngsters in a mass exercise class this week. 

The Body Coach began his PE With Joe live tour at Goodwood, Chichester, on Monday following the success of his online workout classes during lockdown.

Speaking before the event, Joe, 34, said that he was ready to take on a new challenge and help families to “keep moving” during the summer holidays.

He said: “Millions of families took part from their living rooms during lockdown and it’s going to be amazing to meet some of them in real life.

“The workouts are going to be really fun, and the locations are all incredible. I can’t wait to see you there.”

After the 30-minute workout, everyone had a chance to meet Joe before he departed for his next location.

Claire Linksted and her eight-year-old daughter Zoe enjoyed themselves despite the wet weather.

“It was a very soggy start, but the sun came out and we had a great time,” Claire said.

“Joe was amazing as was the atmosphere. Zoe was so excited to meet Joe.

“We ended up queueing for four hours after the workout to meet him and she didn’t complain once and insisted we stay.”

Other tour locations include Cheltenham Racecourse, Warwick Castle, Castle Howard, York, Emirates Riverside, Durham and Dundas Castle, Edinburgh.

During the lockdown in 2020, Wicks, 34, started his PE With Joe lessons on YouTube to help children stay active while at home, breaking a Guinness World Record after one of his classes was watched live by 955,000 people on the site.

Through daily workouts he also raised more than £550,000 for the NHS and was subsequently made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Last month, it was announced that a documentary by Joe tackling mental health had been commissioned by the BBC.

Documentary maker Louis Theroux is the executive producer.

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