ITV has agreed to invest up to £3 million in Joe Wicks’s health and fitness platform The Body Coach, deepening the broadcaster’s push into digital consumer brands.
The deal has been struck through ITV’s AdVentures Invest fund and will see The Body Coach advertise across ITV’s linear channels and its streaming platform ITVX, giving the app access to one of the UK’s largest broadcast audiences.
Wicks launched The Body Coach app in late 2020, building on the enormous profile he gained during the Covid lockdowns when his daily home workouts became a fixture for millions of households. The app provides personalised training plans, healthy recipes and access to online communities designed to keep users motivated.
A new television advertising campaign will launch on 1 January, with commercials airing during programmes fronted by Wicks on ITV1 and ITVX.
Wicks said the partnership marked a significant milestone in the brand’s growth.
“I never imagined when I started my bootcamps in the park over 12 years ago that The Body Coach would grow into a brand reaching millions of people,” he said.
“Working with ITV allows us to bring a positive, supportive message about health and wellbeing into homes across the UK at a time when people really need it.”
The investment comes at a pivotal moment for ITV and other public service broadcasters, as traditional television faces mounting pressure from global streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon, as well as digital advertising platforms owned by Meta and Google.
The backdrop has been further complicated by recent reports that Comcast, owner of Sky, has held talks about acquiring ITV’s broadcasting arm — raising wider questions about the future of UK public service media and domestic news provision.
AdVentures Invest, launched in 2021, is ITV’s answer to these structural shifts. The fund takes minority equity stakes in early-stage and consumer-facing businesses, alongside venture capital investors, in return for long-term advertising commitments on ITV’s platforms.
The Body Coach now joins a growing portfolio of AdVentures-backed businesses, including the location app what3words, online furniture comparison site ufurnish.com, and online estate agency Strike, which later traded as Purplebricks.
For ITV, the strategy is designed to generate new revenue streams beyond traditional advertising, while helping consumer brands scale quickly through television — still one of the most powerful brand-building tools in the UK market.
As for Wicks, the partnership cements his transition from lockdown fitness phenomenon to a fully fledged digital health entrepreneur, with one of Britain’s biggest broadcasters now backing the next phase of The Body Coach’s growth.
