A new UK study has shown that while women may dominate the fitness influencer industry, their male counterparts are still earning more.
The Fit List, compiled by UK sports nutrition company Forza Supplements, calculated the earnings of top Instagram influencers in the fitness category based on their charges for social media posts and commercial deals.
While 42 of the top 50 fitness influencers in the list were female, the highest earner was Joe Wicks (The Body Coach) despite being placed number 21 in the list of who had the most followers.
Speaking on the results, Forza Supplements managing director Lee Smith said: “Fitness is big business and millions of people want to get in shape like the top workout gurus they see on social media. Clearly female fitstagrammers are far more popular on social media and 42 of the top 50 are women, and none of the top 10 is a man.
“…Yet there is a clear gender pay gap amongst the very highest earners because Joe Wicks is making three times as much as the highest ranked female on the list, even though she is number one and he is at [21].”
However, Smith was quick to add that Wicks’ financial gains may come from his business endeavours instead of Instagram deals, and that “Joe Wicks may be the top earner now, but I suspect he is going to get toppled by a woman in the next few years, thanks to the power of Instagram.”
