Overweight salesman becomes model after losing 40kg

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Gwilym Pugh, an insurance salesman in 2006, transformed into a fashion model after losing around 40 kilograms.

Pugh was unrecognizable gained 239,000 followers on Instagram and fans all over the world thanks to his remarkable ginger beard.

In Pugh’s overweight years, he said he started his own insurance company at the age of 21 in 2006 and he operated the company in his bedroom.

Pugh in his overweight years. /Daily Mail Photo

Due to his early knee injuries and 12-hour daily work, Pugh soon put on a lot of weight, reaching 127 kg at the age of 22.

However, Pugh decided to put his life in order and get healthy again.

“I had to do something about it or stay unhappy forever,” he told The Sun.

The turning point was when he joined a folk music group and his barber suggested him to change his look.

“He told me that if I was playing the guitar in a folk band I had to have a beard,” Pugh said in an interview with the Daily Mail.

Pugh followed the suggestion of a barber and started to grow a ginger beard. /Photo via Instagram

Since then, Pugh started to grow a ginger beard, which eventually became his iconic look afterwards.

He started to lose weight through work-outs and healthy diet and soon started posting photos on Instagram, where he got the attention of Welsh tailor Nathan Palmer.

Pugh was since signed with top London agency AMCK Models and photographed for a lot of brands, including David Beckham's whiskey project and new male grooming brand, House 99.

Pugh was photographed for David Beckham's new man grooming brand, House 99. /Photo via Instagram

“Around five/six years ago I was very overweight at around 280lbs (130kg) with ginger hair, pale skin and, to put it lightly, not a particularly happy chap, so this is something I genuinely never thought I’d see.” Pugh wrote next to one of his snap in 2016.