Kit Connor Felt Pressure To Be More Muscly

Kit Connor has revealed he felt pressured to bulk up after reading fan comments criticizing his physique. The 20-year-old who plays Nick Nelson in Heartstopper, spoke with Vulture and said he started going to the gym because fans began saying his body didn’t match the drawings of his rugby-playing character in Alice Oseman’s webcomics and graphic novels that the show is based on. He said “I wouldn’t say I was forced into it by fans, but it was me as a young adult coming to terms with the body that I had and feeling I wasn’t completely equipped to play the role “That wasn’t a good way of thinking, but I was a teenager. I still am.”

The actor sent the internet into a media frenzy when he appeared in a YouTube video with fitness influencer Nathaniel Massiah, where Kit revealed his buff physique and spilled all on his workout routine. The internet went mad and were amazed at his transformation. One user wrote ‘this boy got BUFF in such a short time omg’ another said ‘So proud of Kits progress’. The workout began with Kit revealing that he normally trains with dumbbells, so spends some time focusing on achieving the correct form with an empty barbell. The rest of the workout includes the shoulder press machine, dumbbell flys and standing cable curls. Revealing in the video that he generally does 3 sets of 12 for most things, maybe 4 sets. He goes on to say "I used to do push/pull/legs, but I would do legs like once a week... And then I decided to change to shoulders and arms, chest and back, and then legs." In the video, Kit once again opened up about his motivations for getting into the gym, saying "The reason I got into the gym in kinda deep, to be honest," reiterating that the he started hitting the gym after fans were saying he was ‘too skinny’ to play his Heartstopper role. He goes on to say "I was doing 200 push ups a day and the only thing that was developing was my chest "If you look in Heartstopper, there’s a couple of points where I’m wearing quite a tight shirt and...the boobies were looking quite large."
When trainer Nathaniel posted this video to YouTube, and subsequently some snaps from the workout. Heartstopper fans flooded the comments, with one saying ‘Bros going to go into the next season looking like a bodybuilder and I'm here for it’ However, others also empathized with him opening up about why he started going to the gym, due to online pressure, with one user writing ‘the reason why he went to the gym is so sad. poor kit, he deserves better’ The video also sparked conversations around Kit possibly starring in a Marvel movie, speculating this might be why the actor has been hitting the gym, to achieve a superhero physique.

Users were fan-casting Kit as ‘Hulkling’ saying he would be a great fit, mainly because in the Marvel Universe, Hulkling’s boyfriend is Billy Kaplan, who Kit’s Heartstopper co-star plays in Agatha all Along. However, during a recent interview with MTV’s Josh Horowitz at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Kit shut down the rumors, saying “My friend did send me this rumor, no I’m not… not that I know of,” Kit says he now has a much healthier relationship with his body now and finds working out to be good for his mental health. #heartstopper #netflix #fitness #muscle #lgbtq #queertok

[gracecarter]

Fans praising his transformation after pushing him into it smh

[andreahancock]

Kit deserves so much better, that fandom forced him to out himself and now this. Imagine the pressure he's under. He deserves better

[Miacash]

He's perfect he didn't need anything to change he will always be perfect

[fernandabluntkrasinski]

If his fans (or haters) said that he was too skinny for his Heartstopper character, now new fans want him to play Hulkling in the Marvel Universe because of his big muscular body, Hulkling is the love interest (now husband) of Wiccan (Joe Locke’s character in Agatha All Along)

[sophroniel]

he looks perfect for the role, it's so sad, people need to leave folks alone

[Zan_Chris]

Did these people who complain actually read the books? I never saw Nick as buff. He was a UK High School kid with bulk, not chiseled abs.

[MadMc]

Kit doesn’t deserve that hate on his build. I honestly thought he looked amazing in all the films and fit his character very well

[J_Mock]

It's really a bit of a shame, because regardless of whether he was a "hulking giant" or whatever, he already looked pretty damn buff during the first season (way more than a typical 16 year old), and moreso during the second season.... This third season, he was even beefier and more buff than ever (and most people _should_ realistically be able to recognize that he clearly seems to be naturally built as more of a "beefcake" (in a good way)... I really hope he's working out and stuff _for_ himself, because he's definitely never been "too skinny" to play the role.... Why do people put so much pressure on him? Force him to come out, put pressure on him about his body image... I just don't get it.

[Nelly_belly]

AHHH NO KIT IS PERFECT THIS MAKES ME SO SADDD

[tap-ep]

Hey Kit
Believe me, I am not one of those fans. The pressure has to be on hold, fans. This is a perfect being playing a perfect actor. USA 🇺🇲loves you, Kit, however you are, you had lotsa years to be in gym sooner later, should always be totally be up to you!! We back Kit, so back off Kit, let him be Kit. Your beautiful. You being buffed of course, is catching eyes all over the world, but would've been fine your timeline to do it.!! WE LOVE YOU, KIT!! NEVER MIND THE NOSIES, DO KIT WHEN KIT FEELS COMFORTABLE.!! OMG!! YOUR LOVED BY, LET'S SEE, THE WORLD.🌍❤!!LOVE YA!!

[alsouguitar]

These people really didn't get the main point of the show!

[grogsgalaxyambience]

honestly i think his old physique was more of a rugby-build, whereas now his build is a more of gym-bro build. obviously whatever he wants to do with his body is his choice, but his body was perfectly fine then too.

[winter]

I literally think the season 1 kit was more realistic and looked much more comfortable as he was.

[AB-zlnh]

Poor guy. I already thought he looked like a typical teen who played Rugby. He was taller and thicker than Charlie.

[Ohnomcrose]

who the heck even commented those awful comments ....

[TLN]

Hes perfect people need to shut their mouth

[ThemeParkLuke]

He shouldnt have felt the need to change. Are they fans, or bullies?

[EmpressOfExile]

First off, fans of the source material are *100% **_entitled to speak freely_* about things that didn't match in the show 🤔
That's literally just _critique of the art_ which *_is not_* "bullying" and *never* will be 👏💯

Kit feeling self-conscious due the critique of his character is also a *_normal reaction_* for a young adult to have... _Especially one_ who's grown up in the social media era of constantly judging everything about everyone and comparing lives online‼️👍

[shockingheaven]

Yikes. Once again the "wholesome" fandom bullying the actors.

[chizaraaaaa]

wait yall I haven’t watched her in a long time, she’s bi?