F45 hit with shock orgy revelation

A comedian has claimed people are having sex at F45 gyms before a crowd member took it further by claimed they knew someone who had attended a post-workout orgy at one of the franchises.

New Zealand stand-up comic Joe Daymond posted a TikTok video where he asked his audience if they had heard ‘what is happening’ at F45. ‘People are f***ing,’ he said.

Voices from the crowd can be heard calling out ‘it’s true’ and ‘that’s correct’.  

A female voice then chimed in to say she knows someone whose friend was a trainer and ‘had an orgy at the End of Challenge party’.

Challenges are group routines of 45-minute intense workouts to be completed over a period of eight weeks and parties are sometimes held to celebrate completing them. 

After repeating the story for those who couldn’t hear Daymond asked the audience ‘which specific F45 had hosted the orgy’.

He quickly clarified he wasn’t asking in seriousness but ‘for the joke’. However, he invited people to leave their F45 stories in the video’s comments.

One person claimed the orgy had happened in an Auckland suburb, and that they had attended.

Another confirmed that F45s did indeed have a different type of workout available. ‘I’ve heard from many (people) it’s like that there,’ they said. 

A number of people reacted with amusement to the purported revelation. ‘For the price you pay.. gotta be some perks,’ one person wrote.

A number of people said they were keen to join the particular F45 in question or asked tongue in cheek which one it was so they ‘could avoid it’, while it played on some suspicious minds.

‘Everyone looking at there partners that go to F45 – ahhh I’m calling to cancel my partner’s membership,’ one person wrote. 

‘Well their share price had been crashing so they gotta revisit that business model,’ another said. 

The  once-booming global fitness empire, founded by Australians Adam Gilchrist and Rob Deutsch, has seen its share price on the New York Stock Exchange drop from $23 when it listed in July 2021 to just 75 cents.

The prospects for franchise chain have been even further dimmed over the weekend as it was forced to tell the US financial regulator the Securities Exchange Commission that it has under reported its losses for the past two financial years.

F45 blamed the errors on accounting issues and said these affect its numbers for the fourth quarter of the 2021 financial year to the March quarter of this year’s financial report.

‘The extent of the errors and any resulting adjustments is not yet known as the company’s analysis has not been completed, however, the company expects that its net loss for the non-reliance periods will increase materially as a result of these changes,’ an F45 spokesperson said.

F45 previously reported a loss of $274 million for the 2021 financial year but said it will not be filing revised financial statements until August

The company, which has been built off the back of the claimed benefits that come from an intense 45-minute workout, says it is fixing internal issues following a purge of board members.

‘Management continues to assess the effect of any restatements on the company’s internal controls over financial reporting and its disclosure controls and procedures,’ a spokesperson said. 

The newly admitted financial reporting errors date back to when Mr Gilchrist was involved with the business before stepping down as chief executive in July 2022.

Mr Gilchrist pocketed a $10 million golden handshake even as nearly half the company’s employees, 110 in all, lost their jobs because of the newly unearthed financial problems.

Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg, who was invested in the company leading up to its $2billion float on the New York stock exchange, continues on as a director. 

F45 co-founder Adam Gilchrist (pictured Wahlberg at the 2021 share float in New York) left the company shortly after it listed

F45 was valued at $2billion when it was floated on the New York Stock Exchange but its share price has fallen from $23 when it listed in July 2021 to just 75 cents

Mr Deutsch, who says he hadn’t spoken with Mr Gilchrist for years, left the company in 2020 and has decried the public listing as something that ‘definitely wasn’t in the best interest of the business’.

He also described paying ‘has-been actors and sportspeople like David Beckham’ to promote the brand as ‘an epic fail’.

Beckham and former professional golfer Greg Norman are suing the company in a US court case, claiming they are owed a combined $22.5million for their promotion of the brand.

Meanwhile, several class actions have been launched in the US, claiming the company misled investors about its finances and operations.

In Australia desperate F54 owners have been flogging off their franchises at cut price deals with one listing on anybusiness.com.au at a paltry $50,000. 

Almost 10 per cent of the about 500 F45 gyms in Australia are on the market, according to an ABC report in April.

Branded F45 gym gear is being sold off by struggling owners on Facebook Marketplace

Since July, nine Australian F45 gyms have collapsed into liquidation with some owing creditors hundreds of thousands of dollars, while some customers have been left out of pocket.

Branded F45 gym equipment has been appearing on Facebook Marketplace.

Everything from dumbbells and kettlebells to spin bikes and foam mats are up for grabs, with discounts available for those buying in bulk.