Real Bodies: ‘I don’t send nudes or anything like that!’

Kavon Everett, 21. Bromley, student. Height: 5’7, weight: 9.5 stone“I thought Real Bodies would be a fun shoot to do, to just get my thoughts out there about what I think of body image. I’ve done modelling stuff before but never anything like this. Before, I didn’t really go to the gym, but recently I’ve been going a lot more. I’ve been more interested in getting my body toned up. I go to the gym in the morning when it’s quiet. I’ll work on cardio, then the rest of my body, building and toning.”Do you think there’s a lot of pressure in the gay community to have a good body?

I would say so, yeah. It depends on the people. For the majority, it’s the first thing they’re interested in and look for. But there’s also people who don’t really care about that sort of thing. That’s not why I work out though. I feel like I look good for myself. I didn’t always go to the gym and I was fine before that.

Do you find people are only interested in bodies when you’re on apps like Grindr?

Well, no one really sees my body until they need to. If I go on a date with someone and it goes well and we do something, that’s the only time anyone sees me. I don’t send nudes or pictures or anything like that. Only on my Facebook do I have one picture that goes down to my chest, but that’s it!

And is that picture more popular than others?

Yeah, it got quite a lot of likes very quickly, compared to other uploads.

How comfortable do you feel being naked?

I’m never really naked much, only when I have to be naked. I would never really just walk around topless or stuff. I found today fine though.

When you’re with another guy, how important is it that they look good as well?

For me, I guess I can be quite shallow. You don’t have to be toned or anything, but I just don’t like larger guys. I don’t really care if you don’t have muscles, but I’m not into bigger men.

What if the guy had a better body than you, would that intimidate you?

No, that’s a good thing. That’s motivation to go to the gym even more.

If you could change one thing about your body, what would it be?

I would be a bit taller.

Diet:

I eat what I want. I know it’s supposed to be 80% what you eat and 20% gym work, but I just eat what I like. There are times when I do detoxes and I eat healthily, but then I end up going back to just eating what I want to eat. I don’t usually feel much better for eating well. If I did, I would keep doing it.

Guilty pleasures:

I binge on chocolate and sweets. My favourite is Cadbury’s Marvellous Creations with honeycomb or a Daim bar.

Ideal man:

A lot of the guys I like are really toned up and muscly, but I don’t want to be like that, I just want to be a bit defined. I would say James Hill who was on Celebrity Big Brother.

Manscaping:

I just do some body shaving. I keep the hair on my head and on my legs, but the middle bits I shave. I guess I do that every couple of weeks or so.

Top Body Product:

Coconut oil. You can use it for everything. It comes in a tub, and it’s all natural, so you can use it on your hair or even to brush your teeth because it whitens them. It’s a really handy thing to have.

Clothes:

I just wear stuff that fit me. I like fitted jeans and fitted trousers, and shirts that show off your physique. Mostly I just wear normal high street stuff like H&M and Topman.

More Real Bodies:

‘Comfortable naked? After a couple of drinks, yeah!’

‘I don’t have the perfect body – but I’m proud of it’