A former Married At First Sight groom has shared before and after photos revealing what happened to his body after he stopped taking steroids.
Daniel Holmes, 32, was addicted to the bodybuilding drugs for a decade, but finally kicked the habit in 2021 after starring on the Channel Nine dating show.
The Sydney-based fitness coach updated his 100,000 Instagram followers on Tuesday on his natural – or ‘natty’ – progress since quitting performance enhancers.
He posted a photo of himself when he was ‘sauced to the brim’ on steroids and compared it with a picture taken after almost two years clean.
Daniel’s physique is noticeably less bulky and vascular these days, but his muscles still look impressive and defined thanks to his hard work in the gym.
Former Married At First Sight star Daniel Holmes has shared before and after photos revealing what happened to his body after he stopped taking steroids
The Sydney-based fitness coach, 32, posted a photo of himself when he was ‘sauced to the brim’ on steroids (pictured) and compared it with a picture taken after almost two years clean
Daniel hoped to show men they don’t need to ‘juice’ to have a good physique.
He previously revealed getting hooked on steroids was one of the biggest regrets of his life as it ‘completely f**ked’ his metabolism.
‘I eat so clean but it’s very difficult for me to get, like, lean now,’ he told Daily Mail Australia last May.
‘Like, if I were on steroids right now, I’d be shredded, but I’m not because it’s taken eight months and my body’s still trying to get back to normal, almost like I can feel it.
‘Don’t get inspired by the steroid scene. It’s not good. It’s a drug addiction. It’s a straight-up drug addiction.’
The gym fanatic used steroids from the age of 23 right up until he went on MAFS on season nine last year at the age of 31.
‘What a lot of steroid addicts – like myself – would do is a “blast”,’ he explained.
‘That’s when you do a lot of steroids for a competition. And then you would do what’s called “cruising”, when you come down to a low dose, and then continue.
‘And then when you’re ready, you go back up and “blast” again. That cycle is essentially something I’d done since I was 23. I’m 31 now and stopped before MAFS.’
Daniel hoped to show men they don’t need to ‘juice’ to have a good physique
Daniel is pictured during his days as an active steroid user
Daniel said he didn’t realise he was addicted to steroids until he decided to stop.
‘It had just become a normal part of my life. I would tell people at times that I’ve come off, but we never really come off – we just lower the dose and do it less frequently. You know, it’s scary,’ he revealed.
He credited his then-girlfriend Carolina Santos, with whom he had an affair on MAFS, with helping him cure his addiction after they met on the show.
Daniel said last November steroid use is a lot more common than people may realise.
Responding to an Instagram follower who asked if he was using again, Daniel said: ‘I’ve had some DMs saying this kind of s**t. I guess because I’ve been posting [photos] of myself in the gym lately I must be on steroids again.
‘But, you know, I don’t blame you all because the reality is everyone is on steroids, literally.’
Daniel didn’t realise he was addicted to steroids until he decided to stop before joining MAFS
He credited his then-girlfriend Carolina Santos (right), with whom he had an affair on MAFS, with helping him cure his addiction after they met on the show
He went on to reveal the biggest sign that someone is using steroids.
While it may seem obvious, he said the one giveaway is that they just look bigger than they should be – so if you suspect someone is juicing, they probably are.
‘If you ever see someone in the gym and you’re like, “I wonder if that person’s on steroids?” They are. You know what I mean?’ he said.
‘It’s like, imagine you’re at a nightclub and you go, “Hmm, I wonder if that person’s on cocaine?” They are. Same s**t.’
