Matt White
10-07-2005, 12:36 PM
WACKY Michael Jackson has been pumping iron like there's no tomorrow, say showbiz insiders.
Friends claim Jacko is so bulked up they've started calling him "Buff Daddy" in a light-hearted nod to his new muscles and three adoring kids, say sources.
But fans aren't so sure about the moon-walking King of Pop's new "ripped" look.
They think the kind and loving artist who appealed to the wide-eyed child in everyone with his carefully crafted Peter Pan persona throughout the 1980s and '90s is a hands-down loser as a new Incredible Hulk.
And some even fear for his life.
"I want the skinny old Michael back," says 19-year-old Kathy Leigh Welsome, one of a handful of people who claim to have seen the burly, muscle-bound, button-popping superstar recently climb into a Dumbo ride at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
"I was scared when I saw him. He's so big and strong now. But I'm a wrestling fan and I know what happens when men bulk up like that.
"Sooner or later they wind up looking like Hulk Hogan."
Jackson spokesmen aren't talking about the reclusive songster's iron-pumping transformation from tittering weakling to radio-voiced he-man, but excited insiders with close, unofficial ties to the star are blabbing.
And no wonder. Jackson, 45, has never been so happy, so self-assured and so confident.
In fact, says one, "I just hope he doesn't go overboard with the ego stuff and get a case of the 'big head.'
"For the first time in his life, Michael doesn't have to be afraid of getting trampled by fans or being physically intimidated by other men. But there's a fine line between confidence and overconfidence.
"Nobody wants to see kind, caring Michael become a bully or start pushing people around."
What prompted Jackson to start pumping some mighty heavy iron is anybody's guess.
"Like everything else," says a source, "Michael's playing this close to the vest. About all I can tell you is that even though he was never what you'd call a tub of lard, after he turned 40, he had a battle royal on his hands with middle-age spread.
"He also had a pot belly. He tried to shrug it off, but I know it bugged him."
Tight security and shroud of secrecy aside, sources say they have learned that Jackson commissioned the construction of a sprawling, 28,000-square-foot gym under his Neverland Ranch in California's Santa Ynez Valley.
By the time the top secret facility was finished last December, the billionaire rocker had read, it is said, dozens of books and hundreds of slick magazines on bodybuilding and muscle development.
"He started working out three times a day -- morning, noon and night," says yet another insider who claims he overheard Jackson telling a pal that he now has an enviable body-fat index of zero, which is the Holy Grail of musclemen everywhere.
"And you ought to see the vitamins and bodybuilding supplements he takes -- hundreds of them.
"But you can't say he's gone crazy or is doing something stupid. This guy looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime."
Rumors that Jackson may be taking steroids are unfounded, all the sources agree. They insist that he bulked up with hard work, healthy eating, the astute use of proven over-the-counter bodybuilding supplements -- and sheer force of his legendary will.
One analyst observes that Jackson's resemblance to actor, bodybuilder and new California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could mean he's gearing up for a political career of his own.
"Schwarzenegger wasn't running for governor when Michael started working out but everybody in the world knew that he had ambitions and that his fame as a bodybuilder made him an attractive candidate," says the analyst.
"Why else would he bulk up like this? You certainly don't need 20-inch biceps, six-pack abs and buns of steel to moonwalk across a stage in felt slippers."
Friends claim Jacko is so bulked up they've started calling him "Buff Daddy" in a light-hearted nod to his new muscles and three adoring kids, say sources.
But fans aren't so sure about the moon-walking King of Pop's new "ripped" look.
They think the kind and loving artist who appealed to the wide-eyed child in everyone with his carefully crafted Peter Pan persona throughout the 1980s and '90s is a hands-down loser as a new Incredible Hulk.
And some even fear for his life.
"I want the skinny old Michael back," says 19-year-old Kathy Leigh Welsome, one of a handful of people who claim to have seen the burly, muscle-bound, button-popping superstar recently climb into a Dumbo ride at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
"I was scared when I saw him. He's so big and strong now. But I'm a wrestling fan and I know what happens when men bulk up like that.
"Sooner or later they wind up looking like Hulk Hogan."
Jackson spokesmen aren't talking about the reclusive songster's iron-pumping transformation from tittering weakling to radio-voiced he-man, but excited insiders with close, unofficial ties to the star are blabbing.
And no wonder. Jackson, 45, has never been so happy, so self-assured and so confident.
In fact, says one, "I just hope he doesn't go overboard with the ego stuff and get a case of the 'big head.'
"For the first time in his life, Michael doesn't have to be afraid of getting trampled by fans or being physically intimidated by other men. But there's a fine line between confidence and overconfidence.
"Nobody wants to see kind, caring Michael become a bully or start pushing people around."
What prompted Jackson to start pumping some mighty heavy iron is anybody's guess.
"Like everything else," says a source, "Michael's playing this close to the vest. About all I can tell you is that even though he was never what you'd call a tub of lard, after he turned 40, he had a battle royal on his hands with middle-age spread.
"He also had a pot belly. He tried to shrug it off, but I know it bugged him."
Tight security and shroud of secrecy aside, sources say they have learned that Jackson commissioned the construction of a sprawling, 28,000-square-foot gym under his Neverland Ranch in California's Santa Ynez Valley.
By the time the top secret facility was finished last December, the billionaire rocker had read, it is said, dozens of books and hundreds of slick magazines on bodybuilding and muscle development.
"He started working out three times a day -- morning, noon and night," says yet another insider who claims he overheard Jackson telling a pal that he now has an enviable body-fat index of zero, which is the Holy Grail of musclemen everywhere.
"And you ought to see the vitamins and bodybuilding supplements he takes -- hundreds of them.
"But you can't say he's gone crazy or is doing something stupid. This guy looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime."
Rumors that Jackson may be taking steroids are unfounded, all the sources agree. They insist that he bulked up with hard work, healthy eating, the astute use of proven over-the-counter bodybuilding supplements -- and sheer force of his legendary will.
One analyst observes that Jackson's resemblance to actor, bodybuilder and new California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could mean he's gearing up for a political career of his own.
"Schwarzenegger wasn't running for governor when Michael started working out but everybody in the world knew that he had ambitions and that his fame as a bodybuilder made him an attractive candidate," says the analyst.
"Why else would he bulk up like this? You certainly don't need 20-inch biceps, six-pack abs and buns of steel to moonwalk across a stage in felt slippers."