Alex Bowen
In this powerful conversation, Alex Bowen opens up about grief, the loss of his friend to suicide, and the heartbreak of losing an unborn child, sharing how fitness, vulnerability,...
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Who are you?
Hi, I'm Alex Bowen. You may know me from Love Island over a decade ago now. I'm a father of one, I bet to be a father of two, so I'm super excited about that. I run my own fitness company called Pure 45, where I helped to change men's and women's lives through physical performance and hopefully mental performance as well. And yeah, obviously my wife and that as well. Olivia Bow. And I'm here today to talk about men's mental health.
How has fatherhood shaped your perspective on protecting mental health?
So when I became a father, it was very difficult for me. I was an only child, didn't really have any brothers or sisters, didn't really know my dad growing up. So I wanted to be the best dad that I could be. And the way that the world's changing, I just want to push my son in the right direction, make sure he's got great values. I want him to even small things like hold the door for people please and thank yous. I just want him to be a really good person and that's my main aim for my son and my daughter. That's on the way as well. So that's a really massive thing for me.
What have been the biggest challenges of fatherhood so far?
So the biggest challenge for me, I would have to say, is just being more present. I feel like I'm very, my life is all based around my phone or my work and stuff like that, so being present around my son has just been very, very important. Being an only child, it was kind of always about me, especially not knowing my dad as well. I feel like my grandparents and my mom kind of gave me more attention than a normal, lonely childhood, I guess. So I've got that selfishness about me, but not selfishness in a bad way. I just feel like I've always wanted and got to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. And now that I've got my son, that's completely changed and I feel like it's changed me for the better. But that transition over to just being able to go to the gym when you won, or just even go and see your friends when you want. Now you've got to kind of plan it. It's not just all based around you, and I feel like it's made me a better person.