“I’ve Always Felt Like I Looked Too Skinny Or Too Fat”: 987 DJ Avery Aloysius Opens Up About Battling Body Dysmorphia And How He Copes With It Now

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We are not going to lie.

When we first heard about 987 DJ Avery Aloysius Yeo’s latest assignment for mewatch's The Down Low Challenge Show, we were bemused.

The 28-year-old jock, who goes by Avery Aloysius on-air and on social media, fronts the new 16-episode show, which sees him taking on various challenges.

8days.sg was on set for the episode in which Avery was coached to walk and pose like a model before a grueling hours-long shoot.

We wondered aloud if this was even a challenge for the ex-fitness trainer?

This writer observed Avery as he pouted for the camera, showing off facial bone structure some models can only wish they had.

And don’t get us started on those lustrous locks that’s part Tarzan, part hunk on the cover of a romance novel. 

“All of this...” said Avery as waved to the set up for his shoot, “... is not something I’m used to, and I find it really awkward, and it shows on camera.”

On set, we sensed a bubbling excitement when the Republic Polytechnic graduate shared that this is the first time he was being featured and interviewed in this manner.

When we probed about his thirst traps on socials and … a conspicuous Zoom profile picture we heard from colleagues, Avery whose mum is semi-retired and is the youngest of five siblings, was all too ready with an explanation.

“Oh God! I think I know which picture you are referring to even though I haven’t been [on Zoom] for a while,” he laughed calling it an “interesting picture” before asking if we wanted to see it.

This writer obliged and got a peek, and it was definitely ‘thirst-trappy’ with Avery lounging by a beach chair in a pair of swim shorts. He would later send us the photo upon our request.

Yes, we get all the fuss our colleagues made when they were in online meetings with him.

“It was taken when I was on holiday by the pool in Chiang Mai last year and when I was setting up my Zoom account, this picture got ported over from Google,” he explained.

And no, Avery didn’t give us any inclination that he had plans to change the profile picture too.

“I am not very tech-savvy," he quipped.

Naturally, this has gotten Avery much attention though he shares in the middle of the shoot that he gets uncomfortable when some folks take things a little too far.

“When I am at a club or bar, strangers, or people I barely know come up and start unbuttoning my shirt to touch my abs. Some just don’t say a word and start feeling my biceps up,” he shared.

Avery surmised that it might be because he dresses a certain way, which tends to show off his well-defined chest, and that emboldens some to act the way they do.

“For them, they feel like it’s an open invitation not realising that it isn’t and that I’m actually uncomfortable about it,” he said.

But for all the praise he gets for his sculpted body, Avery revealed that in his mind, he never feels it is good enough.

“Germaine [Tan] (his co-host on 987’s The Down Low) and I have concluded that I have body dysmorphia. For every shirtless picture you see of me, that is only 10 per cent of the time I think I look good,” he revealed.

8DAYS.SG: You mentioned that you “never feel good enough” and only 10 per cent of pictures you take of yourself get posted online?

AVERY ALOYSIUS: People don’t realise many of my topless pictures don’t get posted. In those moments, I’ve always felt like I looked too skinny or too fat.

Germaine has stepped in many times asking me to stop it. We spend so much time together and she knows how I behave and she has become my voice of reason, bringing me back down to earth during such episodes.

When did you first realise you probably have body dysmorphia?

When I started going to the gym and lifting all these heavy weights.

Ironically, when I started getting muscular, it became quite an issue because there was never a time I was satisfied with my progress and achivement.

It was a very weird struggle as I was always either too big or too small and questioning if I was too fat.

How recent did those thoughts creep back in?

A few days ago, after I came back from a nine-day trip in Ireland. I literally looked at myself in the mirror then packed myself up to the gym.

I spent like two hours trying to burn off all the fat I thought I saw.

What does Germaine say when you start tumbling down the rabbit hole?

Each time I start feeling uncomfortable about my body, I will tell her, and she wakes me up by saying, “You don’t realise that your body is not what you think it is”. It will always end off with a funny comment like how I have good hair (laughs).

We are guessing there is still pressure to maintain the body that the public sees.

It took me quite a while and I think I have progressed to where I now feel like I have some control over those thoughts.

Now, it has become a personal thing where I have put in the time and effort and not having [my current physique] go to waste.

Do you think you are handsome?

Wah! I personally don’t think I am, and I always tell people I have flaws like everyone else.

Whether other people [find me handsome], that’s subjective because I am not everyone’s cup of tea.

You mentioned you are single now. How long has it been?

Oof! It has actually been a while. I was in a relationship for a few years until February 2023.

Single and looking?

(Laughs) That is such a scary question to answer! I am single and going to leave it as that.

You mentioned that you love solo traveling. Should a special someone come about, will that still be something you will do?

A hundred per cent.

It’s something that I have loved doing since I was 19.

The first time had me spending a month between the south of Bangkok to Vietnam.

Being able to be alone during those times is what makes me truly happy and at my most carefree.

I am not saying I don’t like to be with other people but being alone in another country has a different air to it.

For The Down Low Challenge Show, you are all about pushing boundaries. Which was the most difficult role you had to undertake?

Every challenge is different in its own way, and I have a newfound respect for every one of these professions.

The most demanding one would be where I had to clear human waste from portable toilets under the hot sun.

We will look out for that episode. Which of these professions will you truly consider other than radio?

There was an episode where I attempted to be a stuntman.

Though I only got a glimpse, it was the one I was most tuned into due to my background in fitness and martial arts.

But I probably won’t as I don’t think I want to sustain an injury and miss other opportunities (laughs).

Photos:  Timothy Yap for Huang House Productions, averyaloysius/Instagram

You can listen to Avery and Geramine on 987FM's The Down Low weeknights from 8pm to midnight.

Catch an episode of The Down Low Challenge Show here or in an episode below: