Anthony Callea has stunned fans by debuting a dramatically transformed physique in a sweaty new gym selfie.
The 43-year-old looked worlds away from his early Australian Idol days as he flexed his toned arms and muscular legs during a workout in Melbourne.
Sharing the image with his followers, Anthony joked about the aftermath of an intense leg session.
‘Feeling your legs the next day is overrated,’ he wrote.
‘I feel as though I may need to be carried out of bed tomorrow morning. I hope Tim brings me a vodka in the morning rather than a coffee.’
In the mirror selfie, Anthony was seated on a padded bench, leaning forward with his phone in hand as he locks eyes with the camera.
Anthony Callea has stunned fans by debuting a dramatically transformed physique in a sweaty new gym selfie
The 43-year-old looked worlds away from his early Australian Idol days
He also showed off a closely shaved haircut and a deeply bronzed complexion.
The singer flashed his defined biceps and shoulders in a sleeveless white tank top featuring a bold graphic print.
He paired the look with short, striped gym shorts that highlighted his muscular legs.
The post quickly attracted hundreds of likes, with fans flooding the comments section to praise his dedication and dramatic transformation.
‘OMG you look different!’ one fan wrote, as a second commented: ‘Quite the glow up’.
Anthony previously made headlines when he opened up about the horrific moment Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson attempted to out the singer as gay on season two of Idol in 2004.
Revealing all in his memoir Behind The Voice, he claimed the controversial judge wanted him to come out on live TV.
The singer said Dicko, 60, ‘seemed more concerned about my sexuality than I was’ and tried different tactics to force him out of the closet ‘as part of the show’.
Anthony is pictured performing on Idol in 2004
‘One night, right after I’d finished my performance, the judges were giving their comments, and Dicko said something along the lines of that he saw my target audience as being ”grannies, girls and gays”, which I guess was his way of throwing the ‘G’ word out there (alongside some others),’ Anthony wrote.
He went on to say Dicko ‘didn’t get what he wanted’ despite his relentless pursuit to fuel the rumours which circulated at the time.
Despite the uncomfortable situation he found himself in, Anthony said he received plenty of support from other contestants, judges and staff members on the show who helped him brush off Dicko’s comments.
Nevertheless, after almost two decades, the Australian Idol runner-up said he forgives Dicko for his actions and believes he had the ‘right intentions’.
‘I get that times and social temperatures change, and in hindsight, it was not out of the ordinary behaviour from him,’ he said.
‘He still gave me constructive critiques, which mostly I agree with, no matter how much they were driven by the theatre of the show.’
In 2021, the former Australian Idol judge painted a slightly different picture when he spoke on the TV Reload podcast about Anthony’s homosexuality during his stint on the singing competition.
He claimed he told Anthony, who was just 21 at the time, he could help him hide his sexuality despite the hitmaker insisting he wasn’t gay.
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