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Essex man David Gandy is the most successful male model of his generation. Here he explains how to turn a healthy gym habit into a lucrative recipe for living Words Dan Jones Styling Eric Down Photography Hamish Brown

he world, or perhaps the internet, likes to bestow unofficial titles. Hepce, Lionel Messi Tis The World's Best Footballer. Stephen Fry is Britain's Cleverest Man. Jersey Shore is history's Most Addictive TV Show. And so ono By the same token, David Gandy is The World's Best Looking Man. The 30-year-old Dolce & Gabbana model made his name by being impeccably chiselled fram head to toe. Well groomed, well dressed, and gym- buffed: Gandy causes female swooning and grit-jawed male jealously wherever he goes. Not bad for a bloke who was a fat kid and a scrawny teenager, and says he still has to overcome painful shyness to talk to the girls who are melting over him. "Inever aspired to be a model," says Gandy. "Ifell into it really, and Ilearned my trade along the way." Although Gandy believes in working things out as you go along, he's a decent enough gent to share his tips for successo We can't guara:n.tee that poster campaigns will follow, but it will sharpen up your style, help you gain and maintain lean muscle, and enable you to ~ Gandy spends more time than the average man in his underpants. So he needs to make sure his workout BREAK doesn't let him down. "If l know l can get to the gym The face (and body) of Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue every day, l'Il do separate muscle-group workouts," he says. "l do pecs, arms, shoulders, and back on separate days, then one cardio session." If you only have a few days to work out, Gandy recommends going all-out for circuits. "Pick exercises that hit every muscle and d030secondsofeach: Maintaining a 28" waist at 6ft2in (188cm) means being disciplined with your nutrition. "If there's something there, l'n eat it,"Gandy says. "lknow l'm weak that way." So he keeps his fridge junk- free and stocked with chicken, hummus and fruit to keep his metabolism fuelled. But the biggest ~nemy is an empty fridge. "If there's nothing there, then you can't eat it:' he says. "But if there's nothing to eat, you'll go out, which is when you'll cheat." Shop online to get a week's metabolic energy delivered to the door and avoid the biscuit aisle. Although he watches his eating habits, Gandy doesn't let them kill his sociallife. "If there's dessert in a restaurant, have it," he says. "Don't be pedantic. l've Dolce & Gabbana's Light Blue fragrance Anna Jagodzinska, also campaign (above) is responsiblefor wearing very little. Looking for some been on planes with guys shaking up their protein bringi ng David Gandy to the world' s inspiration to hit the gym? This is it.This saying: 'l can't have aeroplane meals.' To me tha1's attention. Shot by , it stars is the shoot that transformed Gandy not living life." lnstead, Gandy advises a balanced an ultra-toned Gandy, wearing very little from commerciai model to face of and getting up close and personal with Dolce & Gabbana and overnight star. approach. "llove my food and drink:' he says, though he notes downing six pints of Marston's every night will be a man's undoing. "l1'sdifficult to get definition if you Gandy says. "They're not interested one iota in anyone drink a lot, as i1's so calorific," he says. If you're cutting else apart from themselves, and that go es for a lot of fat but don't want to take a vow of abstinence, Gandy people." He finds the best way to get along with recommends vodka on ice with a dash of cranberry. a difficult colleague or the icy beauty at the bar is to kill your own ego before approaching them. Make it CHILL YOUR EGO you~ mantra for successo Aside from watching England play football, there are "l don't really like talking about myself because l'm few more stressful experiences in a man's adult life always interested in other people," says Gandy. "I take than a big job interview. Gandy is no stranger to them, an interest in where they've been, h.ow they got there, experiencing more in one week than most of us will their life, their family and everything." NB: at the point have in a lifetime. "l might have 10 or more castings they pull out the iPhoto slideshow of their last walking holiday, you are within the bounds of civility to Iose SHIFTYOURBELLY interest and sidle away. Setyollr alarmclockbalfanbollrearly TRUST YOUR WAY "Getup and do your c~rdio before breakfast. You 'Smart-casual' is a phrase don't have anythingin your stomach, soitburns thatGandyregardsasa modern abomination. "l'm all the fat. You eat straight into your fat reserves" a bit traditional with my style," he says. "I went to a week," he says. "And while they're not usually long, a wedding recently in and there were peopie you have to be abie to make an impression in a few wearing flip-flops with a suit - it was one of the worst minutes. I1's pretty difficult." Iooks l've ever seen." He says the best image to try to put across when He reckons British men should revel in traditional you first meet people is one of humiIity and an easy British styIe: sharp tailoring influenced by Savile Row. nature. Trying to impress an interviewer with your And you should err on the formaI side. If in doubt, cut-throat instincts and an iron will can be very off- he says, "thinkMad Men. Donaid Draper has done putting and you're more Iikely to convince them that wonders for men's styIing." Less so their livers. you're a difficult person to work with. Gandy trusts his instincts in his work, too. Like any "People want results," says Gandy. "You want other industry, the modelling business goes through people to meet you and think 'this guy seems like he'lI different trends. He was down on his luck a few years work hard, he's very polite, we'll have a Iaugh with ago when alI the work went to waif-thin blokes who him, and we'll get the best results possible'." could squeeze into spray-on jeans. Many ambitious men and hot wornen are a pain in But he didn't let it get to him. In any working the posterior. Others are merely difficult to engage. environment, you're bound to feel the pressure

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GET ABIGGERCHEST PlIsbfortbepoweroftbree "I do triple-clap press-ups: Iperform one with a double clap, one with a clap behind myback, and then another one with no clap. You need to work up slowly to this"

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~ focusing on the long-term. "I1'sno good saying 'I want he was right. "Success is about having achievabie to re-brand myself, I want to be this person,'" he says. aims and a great team araund you to support you "Iwas never going to be a skinny Dior guy, even when things are difficult," he says. though tha1's where all the money was at the time. Tha1's just not me." ASK THEASSISTANT Gandy trusted his intuition and stood firm, Time spent in America has taught Gandy one or two believing the fad would passo "Ithought, 'this is silly,''' things about styling. The big secret? Use a free guide he says. "l've always been quite a big lad." And luckily to get the best out of the high street, and ask the shop assistant. "People tend to think that personal styling is something tha1's only available to celebrities:' he says. MAKEA GOOD IMPRESSION But actually, i1'sthere in every shop and men in the US use the service a lot more.Gandy says the biggest hurdle Bagyollrdreamjob is asking. "In Britain shop assistants ask 'can I help you?' "Ialways think that the best image to try and we say 'God, no: and run out of the shop." Looking for the best in -store stylist of them alI? and putacross when you firstmeet people Gandy recommends Joe Ottaway at Liberty, in . is one of humility and an easy nature" And, as one of the best dressed men out there today, if Gandy likes him, we like him. mrI

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