Rock your body! AJ McLean opened up about his body transformation and how much weight he’s lost since he began competing on Dancing With the Stars.
The Backstreet Boys member, 42, who is teamed up with Cheryl Burke for season 29 of the ABC series, exclusively told Us Weekly on Monday, September 5, that he’s “lost probably seven or eight pounds” since the show’s start.
“It’s almost a pound a week,” he explained, noting he started training for the dance competition about seven weeks ago.
Burke, 36, quipped, “I keep telling him he needs to eat,” to which McLean responded, “I am eating, but it’s almost like I’m fasting.”
The musician explained that he eats in the morning and “a little bit of lunch” before eating again at night, but it’s still coming off.
“I don’t think people understand though how many calories [you burn],” Burke told Us. “It’s not just you running on a treadmill [while training], so you end up burning way more calories than if you were just running on a treadmill or at the gym.”
McLean added: “Ya, it’s true.”
The father of two, who performed virtually with his bandmates on Monday’s DWTS episode doing the Cha-Cha to their song “Larger Than Life,” had lost even more weight earlier this year while quarantining amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’ve lost almost 20 pounds,” he said. “I started in March working out.”
The Florida native spoke out about his body evolution in September, after dropping 15 pounds.
“The transformation is unrecognizable, and I couldn’t be happier,” he wrote via Instagram at the time. “Still got a ways to go but now that I’m dancing like I never have before it’s coming. #dwts #healthysoberlife #transformationtuesday.”
McLean told Us in April that he got creative with his workout routines after gyms closed due to COVID-19.
“I’ve been FaceTime training for the last month. I’ve been grain-free for a month, dairy-free — pretty much — for a month [and] sugar-free,” he explained, noting that he was bike riding in addition to other workouts.
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Kayley Stumpe
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