Steve Pennells is not the first journalist to be fat-shamed and he won’t be the last, but at least he had a killer comeback to all of the haters.

After Pennells was publicly fat-shamed — shirtless pictures actually ended up on a site calling out male celebs for being fat but after the photos emerged the Australian journalist decided that enough was enough.

According to him, he was contacted by a personal training company and he decided that it was time to take action. Since then, Pennells shared photos of his transformation on Instagram, along with his story.

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A lot of you have noticed that I’ve lost weight lately. Well, here is the backstory. A couple of months ago, two things happened. Photos of me with my shirt off ended up on a website called “Fat Male Celebrities – Stars Packing on the Pounds”. Yep… brutal! A short time later, the team at @upfitnessau contacted me and proposed getting me in shape. I figured this was the universe giving me a sign. The fat-shaming didn’t worry me. But Iknew I had let things slip slowly over the years and I wanted to be a better, fitter version of myself. So for weeks when I was back in Sydney in between filming for the show, the guys @upfitnessau got me in to the best shape I’ve been in for probably the last 20 years. Abs have appeared that last saw daylight in the mid-90s! They’re a fantastic team. One of their mottos is “results not promises” but they gave – and delivered – both of these. And all of this happened while I was flying back and forth across the world for work with limited time to exercise and poor food choices on hand but they always kept me on track. The pics here show the first eight weeks when I lost 13kg and 15 percent body body fat. I lost another 7kg more after that. I’m not proud of the before pics but I’m really proud of what this pudgy, man-booby 48-year-old bloke was able to achieve. In the middle of all this, I was criss-crossing across eight countries and ended up climbing Mt Kilimanjaro for work, something I never would have been able to do if I hadn’t been training with these guys. Mentally and physically, I’m a new man. I also need an entire new wardrobe, but I’m okay with that. I can’t recommend these guys enough. @upfitnessau @upfitnesslive @heynickmitchell #upfitness #fitnesstranformation

A post shared by Steve Pennells (@stevepennells) on Oct 30, 2019 at 1:34pm PDT

He said, “A couple of months ago, two things happened. Photos of me with my shirt off ended up on a website called ‘Fat Male Celebrities – Stars Packing on the Pounds.’ Yep … brutal!”

“A short time later, the team at @upfitnessau contacted me and proposed getting me in shape,” he wrote. “I figured this was the universe giving me a sign. The fat-shaming didn’t worry me. But I knew I had let things slip slowly over the years and I wanted to be a better, fitter version of myself.”

He continued, “So, for weeks when I was back in Sydney in between filming for the show, the guys at Up Fitness got me into the best shape I’ve been in for probably the last 20 years. Abs have appeared that last saw daylight in the mid-90s!” He claims he lost around 28 pounds and his body-fat percentage is down by 15 percent. WOW!

Pennells said, “I lost another 15 pounds more after that. I’m not proud of the before pics but I’m really proud of what this pudgy, man-booby 48-year-old bloke was able to achieve.”

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“I’m getting better results than I thought I’d get, and now that we’ve got them, the sky’s the limit!”⁠ .⁠ .⁠ At nearly 50, Journalist and TV presenter, @stevepennells fell victim to fat-shaming a number of times, but his new body will make the haters eat their words!⁠ .⁠ .⁠ After training at @upfitnessau for just 8 weeks, Steve lost 13kg, around 15% body fat AND dropped two pant sizes – he’s now in need of a new wardrobe!⁠ .⁠ .⁠ “I didn’t think at my age I would get the result that I’ve had. You assume you have the metabolism of an old person so you kind of make excuses and think I can’t have the body of a 20-year-old. I’ve learned that’s not true because I’m seeing abs that I haven’t seen since the 90s."⁠ .⁠ .⁠ Do you want to look and feel young again? Get in touch today at the link in our bio for more information on our programs ??⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #ultimateperformance #upfitness #nickmitchell #transform #trainhard #livelarge #gains #core #strongcore #ripped #shredded #bodycomposition #faddiets #iifym #caloriecounting #selfdiscipline #caloriescount #fitnesslessons #thinkforyourself #personaltrainingadvice #corework #femaletrainer #maletrainer #noexcuses #personaltrainingeducation #personaltraining #personaltrainereducation #fitover40 #fitat40 #stevepennells

A post shared by Ultimate Performance Australia (@upfitnessau) on Oct 30, 2019 at 12:00pm PDT