Then & now Mr Motivator, fitness guru

IN THE 1990S, viewers of UK breakfast television were roused out of their slumber by a man in a dazzling, technicoloured lycra bodysuit.

Every morning, Derrick Evans, better known as Mr Motivator would bound onto the set at GMTV, bust some dance moves, and urge the nation to have a BLT for breakfast – a Bum, Legs and Tum work-out. Forget Jane Fonda and Cindy Crawford – Mr Motivator’s outfits were tighter and more fabulous, and on the back of his TV success, he sold more work-out DVDs in the UK than anyone else.

And then, in 2000, Mr Motivator mysteriously vanished off our TV screens. Had he pulled a muscle? Did his tight lycra pants give him a wedgie? Was he whisked off to space by Zig and Zag?

Turns out that Evans, after trying and failing to start his own TV show, had moved back to his native Jamaica, where he embarked on several fitness and tourism ventures, including Jamaica’s first paintball park.

He also, unsurprisingly, became a motivational speaker, hired by companies to jig up their employees and make them more productive.

Now comes the news that Irish Mr Motivator fans have been waiting for – Evans is donning his day-glo bodysuit once again to join the line-up at Electric Picnic in Stradbally next weekend.

He’s made the move into music, releasing a single, In Da House, accompanied by a suitably motivational video. But you won’t see him rapping on stage in Stradbally – you’ll find him at the Picnic’s Electric Ireland zone, where he’ll be leading daily dance work-outs on Ireland’s first sustainable-energy dancefloor. Every time you bust a move on this floor, you’ll be generating electricity to power the Picnic.

He and his wife, Palmer, have four kids, Carolyn, Ebony, James and Abigail. The family divides its time between London and Jamaica.

With Evans appearing at such events as Bestival in the UK, and with his autobiography in the pipeline, expect to see more of Mr Motivator popping up where you least expect him. Better carry extra-strong Ray-Bans just in case.