From claims to cameras: Overweight insurance salesman becomes model

Red-headed British model Gwilym Pugh used to be an insurance salesman, pudgy and shy, said the Daily Mail on Thursday.

Today he’s a svelte, bearded fashion model with a portfolio that includes GQ magazine and a coffee table book about hot guys with beards.

His transformation began from a home office, selling insurance and recovering from knee surgery, the newspaper reported.

“At that time I was pretty overweight, working 12 hours a day, plagued with injuries which meant I couldn’t train at all,” he told the Mail Online. “The business was doing okay, but I decided I needed to get my life in order and wanted to get healthy again.”

Fast-forward five years, after cleaning up his diet, working out, joining a folk band and having a barber convince him that facial hair could be his signature look, and Mr. Pugh’s career is “soaring,” the newspaper reported.