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TV star talks about health setback

Ex-Bachelor Oliver Sanne: “I was close to being in a wheelchair”

Oliver Sanne
Oliver Sanne from 2017, then newly crowned Mister Germany (left), has built up quite a bit of muscle over the past few years. The picture on the right shows him moving into the RTL "Summer House of Stars" (collage). Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Bernd Wüstneck, RTL

October 22, 2024, 12:28 pm | Read time: 7 minutes

Since Oliver Sanne became known to a wide audience as “The Bachelor” in 2017 on the RTL dating show of the same name, he has changed a lot physically – and not for the first time in his life, by the way. The recent transformation, which has left the 38-year-old with many kilograms more muscle mass than just a few years ago, followed a serious health setback. At times, he even discussed the possibility of a wheelchair, as he revealed to FITBOOK. But then he not only fought his way back to life under his own steam but also got himself back to his personal best. Of course, it’s not easy to maintain this. You can read the whole interview with the former “Bachelor” at FITBOOK.

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Would you have recognized him immediately? His temporary housemates in the Sommerhaus der Stars (Tuesdays, 8.15 pm on RTL) certainly had to look twice when former Bachelor Oliver Sanne turned up at the filming location – a long infamous farm in Bocholt – together with girlfriend Jil Rock. In fact, he has not been out of the public eye in recent years. We have seen him on TV shows from time to time over the years (“If I liked an offer, I went for it!”). In 2020, for example, Sanne took part in Das große Sat.1 Promiboxen and the following year in RTL’s Ich bin ein Star – Die große Dschungelshow (I am a star – The great jungle show). Since then, the 38-year-old has expanded his presence even more. Why? FITBOOK spoke to him about this, among other things.

Oliver Sanne in a FITBOOK interview: “My big brother was my role model”

FITBOOK: Oliver Sanne, your passion for fitness is obvious. When did that start? As a teenager, you were still quite chubby – you once referred to yourself on Facebook as an “avid online gamer and burger enthusiast.”
Oliver Sanne: “Absolutely. My older brother was my role model back then – he’s ten years older than me and athletic. One day, he said to me: ‘Oli, if you want to be successful, you have to make something of yourself! He then encouraged me to join him at the gym, and within three and a half months, I had lost 30 kilograms. After that, I noticed how everything changed. Suddenly, I was perceived differently, and my self-confidence grew. Since then, I’ve been the ambitious type. That’s how I developed my passion for fitness and my discipline, and I’ve stuck with it ever since.”

Not only that. You’ve also turned your passion into a career.
“Yes, I do online training, health advice, corporate fitness, everything across the board. That’s what I can do and what I’ve learned. I studied fitness economics and also did a bachelor’s degree in it. Then, I acquired a number of licenses and certificates and completed further training in various areas relating to nutrition, health, and fitness. I continued this pursuit until I earned the title of Mr. Germany.”

What made you decide to enter this competition?
“There was a time shortly beforehand when I didn’t feel 100% in shape. Then I registered for these Mister elections. It was more of a lighthearted decision, as a friend of mine was participating. So, I worked specifically on getting back into shape. Shortly after winning the title, I was offered the Bachelor. Participating provided me with an opportunity to establish myself in the media industry.”

Oliver Sanne
Oliver Sanne was voted Mister Germany 2014 in Düsseldorf around ten years ago. Back then, he weighed around 20 kilograms less than he does today.

“I was on the verge of a wheelchair. I had to undergo five operations”

But then you suffered a serious health setback.
“I call it a herniated disc deluxe. I was on the verge of a wheelchair, I had to undergo five operations, and I was confined to a hospital bed for 13 weeks. In total, it took me more than a year before I was able to move normally again. And I’m not talking about training here, but about getting up from the couch without having to support myself. The doctors told me at the time: ‘You’ll never be able to do strength training like you did before. It was precisely this sentence that was the deciding factor for me to prove it to everyone. With rehab, I then stepped up the pace step by step to regain my strength. I fought my way back to life, metaphorically speaking. And speaking of beating myself up, I only switched completely to hypertrophy and muscle building after Promiboxing 2020 simply because I wasn’t entirely satisfied with my physical shape back then when I was boxing. Today, I’m stronger, more muscular, and fitter than ever before.”

Oliver Sanne, 2020 bei „Das große Sat.1 Promiboxen“
On “Das große Sat.1 Promiboxen”, Oliver Sanne was already much stronger (and more tattooed) than he had been before

“I’m strong and heavy, a muscle man. But I’m not a stage athlete””

How do you train to stay in this shape?
“I do strength training about five times a week and endurance training twice a week. One session lasts around 70 to 80 minutes. The endurance training is either classic, in which case I go for a run on the Stairmaster, for example, or I go to play basketball or boxing, for example. I would also like to clarify that my regimen does not constitute traditional bodybuilding. I am robust and heavyset, a man of muscle. However, I am not an athlete who competes on stage. That would be a completely different body shape. Nevertheless, of course, strength training is my main focus. And I split it up, so I work my muscles specifically, sometimes several times a week.”

“I was assured that the fridge would always be full. They weren’t lying, but of course, vegetables alone weren’t ideal for me”

During your stay in the “Summer House of Stars”, there wasn’t much in the way of training. And you didn’t get your money’s worth nutritionally either.
“Yes, vegetarian weeks! Of course, we didn’t know that beforehand. During the contract talks, I was assured that the fridge would always be full. They were truthful, yet a diet consisting solely of vegetables was not optimal for my needs. I have to eat several times a day and maintain a certain regularity in order to achieve what I look like now. As a larger individual with a peak weight of approximately 120 kilograms, my caloric needs are substantial.”

What do you eat at home?
“Typically, I consume meals six times daily, and my diet maintains a consistent pattern 80 percent of the week. In other words, I traditionally eat a lot of fish and meat with various vegetables on the side, plus different sources of carbohydrates. Potatoes, rice, potato noodles, normal pasta, and so on. I then eat this in different variations.”

“Jil regularly cooks me three to four dishes for the day

I understand that your partner, Jil Rock, takes the lead in cooking.
“Exactly. She’s the better cook, does everything a bit nicer and quicker than me. Jil studied the same thing as me and also did a Master’s degree in sports psychology and coaching with a grade of 1.0. She works in the healthcare sector and knows a lot about healthy eating. The fact that she regularly prepares three or four meals for me during the day is a huge help, which I gladly accept. We then cook fresh meals together in the evening.”

Oliver Sanne und seine Freundin Jil Rock
Oliver Sanne and his girlfriend, Jil Rock. They visited RTL’s “Summer House of Stars” together.
More on the topic

“The reality TV thing was always on the side”

You are not allowed to reveal when next on TV. But even without such productions, you are presumably not idle?
“Yes, that’s right. Some of my colleagues from the reality world have been known to quit their jobs and just want to be influencers. They seem to have the whole wide world ahead of them! That’s not my style, apart from the fact that when I started out ten years ago, I wasn’t allowed to use Instagram and co. to this extent for contractual reasons. I always continued to work as normal, according to the motto: ‘Cobbler, stick to your last.’ In addition to the fitness topic, there is also personnel recruitment. I work as a headhunter. Participation in reality TV has consistently been a secondary endeavor for me. If an offer appealed to me, I accepted it. That’s how I’ll continue to do it.”

This article is a machine translation of the original German version of FITBOOK and has been reviewed for accuracy and quality by a native speaker. For feedback, please contact us at info@petbook.de.

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