Muscle man Leon Scott, 34, currently plays for West Auckland Town F.C., competing in the ninth tier of the English football league system.
But you may recognise the handsome ex-Darlington FC midfielder from one of his many fashion campaigns.
Leon got into modelling when he was asked to wear Sik Silk’s first ever clothing range in 2012.
From there, he has appeared on billboards in the US and starred in campaigns for JD Sports and Footasylum – working as both a fashion and fitness model.
“I always wanted to feature in a magazine or in a fashion shoot, but I knew with my size I was too small,” he told SunSport.
“As a kid I always had to eat a lot of carbs, because otherwise I’d lose a lot of weight.
“I educated myself and learned what I needed to do to bring my weight and muscle mass up.
“I needed to be very careful with that because I was still playing football at a decent standard, and once you become a certain size there’s a borderline between being a fashion model and a fitness model, and I wanted to be both.
“Whatever I do I go all in. I knew I was playing at a good level but it was about where I was going to progress my career more.
“I was honest with myself, I probably wasn’t the best of footballers, but I was always the first one in and last one out.”
For super-fit Leon, training didn’t end after a two-hour session with his club.
While many players would head home and rest, the County Durham boy from a council estate would push his body further.
“I would lift weights for an hour and half, then potentially finish on a high-intensity circuit.
“My energy production was very high, so I ate a lot of carbohydrates.
“If you were looking to gain more volume, you would eat 200, 300 and potentially 500 calories more than necessary.
“For me, it’s about slowly gaining strength. And that’s how I discovered that I got bigger over time.
“My daily nutrition would start with oats and blueberries, this would be my favorite breakfast every morning.
“By mid-morning, I’d have two eggs, a protein bar. Then, at noon, I ate chicken, rice, and potatoes and tuna in my jacket.
“Right before I paint myself, I have some sugar like a chocolate bar, a plate of Rice Krispies or two or 3 bananas.
“After that, I would have my protein shake. Like until 10 or 11 o’clock.
“I would say that I eat between 2,800 and 3,500 a day.”
The beginning of her modeling career came here from one place.
Presented for Whitthrough Town FC, he saw through Sik Silk, a logo now used on figures like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, pose in his beating.
“I bet on Whitby Town and a young man came up to me after the game and said he had a clothing logo and if he would be interested in modeling it.
“Some other people had told me in the afterlife that I deserve to be a model, but I never thought about that.
“I did a shoot for him, I did it loose in an alley in Scarborough.
“Then the logo exploded and it attracted a lot of other people and I was wondering if it could be a role-playing style for them.
Soon, JD Sports, Footasylum, and many clothing houses reached out to Leon and made him their poster boy.
“It’s surreal,” he says.
“I was just a little kid on municipal property and I campaigned around the world, in Los Angeles, New York and Las Vegas.
“Then I saw my face in the windows. It didn’t seem genuine to me.
Scott, who later signed for Darlington, his teammates were excited for him.
But he is very grateful to his former boss and close friend, Martin Gray.
“Being soccer soccer, the boys have their jokes. All healthy and congratulated me.
“But football started to get tough. I hosted campaigns that were shot this weekend.
“I had to tell my manager what the payment was and what I was doing, but I was lucky that he let me go.
“He knew that he enjoyed playing football and that he had given everything, so for me it was a difficult selection.
“He said,” We have a game next Saturday. This crusade in Los Angeles will not take a position next Saturday. “So if I look to do it, I might come back next week.”
Behind each and every one of the wonderful boys hides a wonderful woguy. Leon’s longtime wife, Melissa Jacques, has supported him as a footballer and model.
They watched others in a gym 17 years ago, when she was six pack higher than her assignment as a private trainer.
“He met me when I was in Middlesbrough when I was young,” revealed Scott.
“We’ve been in a combination for 17 years, and she met me first as a footballer, then as a fitness and fashion model.
“It was a bit difficult for her at the time because my face was all over the post and I was contacted through women on Instagram.
“But there has been much acceptance among us. If there were problems, we talk about them.
“I think that’s why our dates have been so strong 17 years later.”
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