The woman that was called out by Joey Swoll for her 'inappropriate' exercise has spoken up and told her side of the story.
Swoll had previously called the content creator out on social media after a controversial clip of her carrying out a certain gym exercise went viral.
You can listen to his blistering rant in the video below:
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The bodybuilder and fitness influencer asked her to 'please stop filming this content at the gym', citing that minors could be around and he would be furious if his child was spotted in the background of these videos.
He also stated that he would ban her from the gym if he were the owner, which has prompted his 7.4 million TikTok fans to mostly side with him.
This has brought on a lot of hate to the woman, known on Instagram as @strongbyfelicity, who has since responded to trolls, saying that there is 'no changing her'.
Now though, Felicity has come out to explain her side of things.
"It requires flexibility, stamina and strength"
Speaking exclusively to LADbible, Felicity firstly explained exactly what the exercise was.
She explained: "I was doing an exercise to help me achieve the Leg Behind Head Yoga Pose.
"It is an advanced hip opener that requires flexibility, stability, and strength."
The fitness influencer said that the smith machine adds weight resistance by turning a static pose into a dynamic exercise, working on leg strength and flexibility, and it is a huge reason why she reached her mobility and flexibility goals.
"They are calling me a 'sex offender'"
When asked about what she made of getting called out by Joey Swoll, she answered: "I think it’s upsetting to be cyber attacked and targeted by an influencer’s fanbase.
"I’m sure this happens to a lot of people and that I’m not the only one - I find the culture and community very negative."
Felicity admitted that she didn't know who Swoll was at first, having been flooded with negative comments on her accounts.
She said: "It bothered me at first because they are calling me a 'sex offender' because of what Joey said about me and I never been called that before.
"They are also attacking my physical appearance, intelligence, race, gender and sexuality. Everything you can think of.
"However, they don’t know me and I realised nothing they can say or do can stop me from loving myself, working on my fitness, and my journey to becoming the strong and powerful woman I want to be."
"Sexuality is not about who you have sex with"
Felicity shared she had been shaped by experiences with bullying during her school days, and had grown 'from being a quiet little girl that was afraid to be weird to becoming a confident woman who cares a lot less about what people think'.
Now she's hit back about people shaming her for her sexuality.
She said: "People have been using women’s sexuality and confidence against them for centuries. Most of the comments are about me sexualizing myself.
"The truth is sexuality is not a bad thing in my book, I think a woman who owns her sexuality is powerful.
"Sexuality is not about who you have sex with, or how often you have it.
"Sexuality to me is being in tuned with what you want and desire. Not being afraid to ask what you want and to take up space as a woman."
For Felicity, it wasn't just a case of trolls shaming a woman for her sexuality, but her being called out as she finds her feet as an influencer.
She added: "To everyone that is afraid to be themselves because of bullies or fear of being laughed at - just know that people don’t hate on people that don’t have potential.
"They hate on people that are making their way to the top if they aren’t already there yet."
LADbible has contacted Joey Swoll for a comment.
Topics: Social Media, TikTok, Viral, Instagram, Health
Joshua Nair