Joe Wicks had a “little cry” before meeting Princess Anne.

The 39-year-old fitness expert became a household name when the nation was gripped by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown periods with his home workouts. As the nation was forced to isolate, Joe became a steady guide for millions with his home workouts as people were unable to go to the gym and in order to boost their mental health.

Following this, Joe bagged his own, The Body Coach and continues to inspire millions every day while promoting a healthy lifestyle for both adults and children. But one year on from his first stream on March 23, 2020, Joe found himself nominated as part of the late Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday Honours of 2020.

The Epsom-born online turned TV star was presented an MBE by Anne, Princess Royal, during a ceremony at Windsor Castle. During this day, the King’s sister spent around six hours acknowledging those who had been recognised with various honours, all while taking time to learn about the people she was meeting.

“I don’t live to far, everyone laughed, everyone was jumping out of Mercedes and big cars, me and Nicky got out of an Uber,” Joe laughed. Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, he revealed: “I took my brother Nicky because all through the lockdown workouts, he was in my ear, we had the shoutouts so we had the AirPods in, he’d ring me and I’d keep it in my ear. It was a joint effort.

“Every single day, I was there doing it with him, so we went together.” Joe revealed that due to his surname being Wicks, he was one of the last people to meet the royal due to the ceremony going in alphabetical order. He explained that because of the long list as the Royal Family were making up for missing ceremonies due to the pandemic, his day took around five hours before he came face to face with Zara Tindall’s mum.

“I got a bit emotional in the last room building up to it,” Joe explained. He continued: “I was so proud and nervous. I had a little cry and then obviously walked up to Princess Anne – she was so lovely. She was like ‘So Mr. Wicks, tell me, have you finally recovered from all those workouts in lockdown,’ that calmed me down. It was lovely that she knew that. It was really nice, then I got the MBE and I’m really proud of it.”

But Joe says that despite helping millions, he never once thought about being recognised but admits its a “lovely” way to recognise his achievements. The impact Joe had on people hit him recently while he was out for a run in Margate, where he was taking part in a roller disco with supermarket giant, ASDA.

“Someone at the end was like ‘You saved my life in lockdown,'” he said after his encounter with the supporter. He said: “It always means so much because they really mean it.” The woman explained to Joe that during the lockdown periods, she found herself in a “dark” place but his home workouts continued to pull her through.

He said: “When you hear that, you remember the connection that you had with people. It really is really special, I’m proud of that, I’m proud of my impact during that time, even though it was a really difficult thing.” Being a dad was part of the reason Joe decided to team up with Asda’s Rollback campaign. The supermarket giant are slashing the prices on dozens of products that people buy on a weekly basis, with over 4,000 products reduced by an average of 25%. He said: “It’s very much linked to my my mission, which is trying to get people in the kitchen inspired to cook again because a lot of people are struggling with it. And also just to put good food on the table for them, when they do that, it’s so beneficial to their mental health, their mood, their energy.

“This is this is a partnership really about that. Can we take that mission and that message to customers in reality, you know, cheaper shopping, you might see the advert of me on the treadmill – the Rollback advert, we’re bringing the roll back and making Asda the place to go for a family shop on a budget.”

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