Ty Pennington Reacts After Trolls Criticize His Body in Shirtless Video

03/01/2022 09:00 am EST

Ty Pennington is hitting back at body shamers. After the HGTV star was bombarded with comments dubbing him "grandpa" and "fat" following a shirtless dancing video he shared last month, the 57-year-old HGTV star on Tuesday responded to those who criticized him, asking for "grace."

In the video that sparked the flurry of negative comments, Pennington was shirtless and dancing on the beach. Pennington explained in his Tuesday post that it was an "honest moment" capturing him trying to make his wife, Kellee Merrell, laugh. However, the clip "was then picked apart by strangers- with a lot of views, comes a lot of hate!" The Extreme Makeover: Home Edition star said that he was called "'disgusting,' 'gross,' 'omg he's so old now,' 'grandpa,' 'he got fat' (which btw I'm pushing my stomach out but ok)." He went on to reflect on the recent and ongoing body positivity movement.

"I wondered, if I was still young and fit, would I be getting the same comments?" he wrote. "There has been such a force behind accepting all shapes and sizes and aging in the female community which is AWESOME (keep it coming) but maybe let's give that same grace to men?"

Pennington revealed that "on a daily basis" he is "inundated with comments like 'NOOOo what happened to him???!!!'" and said some have even questioned if he stopped working out. Pennington noted, "'what happened' is, it's been 22 YEARS since I made my television debut!" While the home builder and renovator said that he doesn't "have a six pack anymore or a luscious head of hair," he wrote that he does "have is wisdom, empathy, life lessons and at 57 years old, I've TRULY never been happier! Anyways, all this to say: I'm human and I have feelings. Yes, I am older but I think it's pretty cool." Pennington ended the post by giving a shoutout to model Paulina Porizkova's social media campaign, #sexyhasnoexpirationdate, adding of his appearance, "I have wrinkles and sunspots and grey hair but that's okay."

Pennington shared the post alongside a black and white shirtless photo that his wife snapped. Pennington and Merrell, a social media manager, tied the knot in December after becoming engaged over the summer. The couple is currently hard at work renovating their gorgeous 19th-century home in Savannah, Georgia.

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