Wellness and Physique Competition returns to Opera House

WITH the Opera House having being closed since early 2020, the venue has been looking for a strong start to its re-opening.

And this weekend, the theatre got that in more ways than one with the UKBFF Channel Islands Wellness and Physique Competition.

The high-energy competition sponsored by BodyRox gym showcased local and regional athletes across a range of categories.

In a very tough field, athletes were compared and marked on categories such as body symmetry, quality of muscle, stage presence and ability to pose on stage.

The JEP spoke to overall winners Luc Langlois and Hayley Burrows about their competition experience and how it felt to be awarded the winning trophies:

Luc Langlois

Overall Men’s winner Luc Langlois placed first in both Junior Bodybuilder and Bodybuilder Over 90kg categories.

He said that it was “nice to win” the overall award particularly given he is still classed as a junior.

Fresh of his success, he is due to compete in the Bridge finals in two weeks time.

“It [was] the same routine I used when I competed ten weeks ago, so I already had it in my mind, I had done it four times already today – I’d got a fair bit of practice in before the evening show with the pre-judging earlier on,” he said.

He added that intends to spend “a good chunk of time” to keep growing” and “get as big as I can in that time” to compete again and that “hopefully it’ll be another successful season” next time around”.

Hayley Burrows

Overall Women’s winner Hayley Burrows shared that she is “over the moon” and “very proud” and that “to have your hard work validated and acknowledged makes all the little sacrifices worth it”.

Hayley also placed first in the Wellness category.

She described her routine as being like “muscle memory” since she spent an hour a day in the lead up to the competition practising and “really drilled it in”.

“I had a blast choreographing my routine. My aim was to express myself in a way that truly reflects my personality with extra sass!”

She will be competing at the British Championships at the end of this month, and added: “I need to lock back in even harder over the next two weeks [for] another exciting challenge!”

The team at BodyRox were delighted to bring their event back to the Opera House stage.

Anita Othman from BodyRox said: “We had been looking forward to this show for the past five years, and it truly meant a lot to finally bring it to life.

“We received so many positive comments about the show, the venue, and the overall experience. That’s what matters most, and we are incredibly grateful for that.

“The event was a success, and we’re proud of what we achieved together. The audience loved it, and that’s the bottom line. We’ve already had so many competitors asking to enroll for next year, and we’d love to secure a date for our next show at the Opera House.”