Asiri Kuttige on leaving Sri Lanka, modeling underwear & his favorite kind of “cream cake”
Asiri Kuttige left his native Sri Lanka with nothing besides a small backpack.
Mark
Asiri Kuttige left Sri Lanka for the United Kingdom with nothing besides a small backpack. In it, he packed a pillow and sandals.
It’s fair to say one item wound up being a little more practical than the other!
But don’t blame Kuttige for packing poorly: he had never previously left Sri Lanka. Located about 880 miles off the southeast coast of India, the island nation of 23 million people is known for its breathtaking tropical landscape. A beautiful place to grow up, it can also be stifling. Though Kuttige and his Catholic family grew up as religious minorities in the majority Buddhist nation, their conservative sensibilities were the norm.
Once Kuttige suspected he was gay–he had come across an article in a magazine–he knew he had to leave. “If I stayed in Sri Lanka, I could never be myself,” he tells Queerty.
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Now as an out gay man who splits his time between London and Spain, Kuttige is enjoying a life that he never thought was possible. He’s had a fruitful career in children’s TV and is passionate about his creative pursuits. When he looks in the mirror each day, he’s proud.
That wasn’t always the case. For much of Kuttige’s life, he suffered from body dysmorphia. A dedication towards fitness and wellness shifted him spiritually.
And OK… it also gave him a ripped bod!
“I do this for myself,” he says. “When I stand in front of the mirror, if I feel good, that’s enough.”
The closeted, shy kid who left his school uniform on at the beach would be proud. Better yet, Kuttige enjoys complete acceptance from his family. Though his father passed in 2014, he came out to his mother last year, after all of this time.
She responded with unequivocal love.
“She said, ‘Nothing changes, you are who you are,'” he says. “It was amazing.”
During a moment of downtime, Queerty recently caught up with Kuttige to chat about his transformation, his fitness routine and his dreams of being an underwear model. Here’s what he had to say…
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QUEERTY: Why have you decided to share your story?
ASIRI KUTTIGE: I often receive messages on Instagram, particularly from Asian men who are struggling with their identity or feel afraid to come out because of cultural expectations or family pressure. Many of them are still living with their families and feel they have no safe space to be themselves. I realize that being able to live independently in the U.K. is a privilege, and if sharing my story can give even a small sense of hope to someone who feels stuck or alone, that means a lot to me.
All my life, I’ve gone through body dysmorphia and things like that. I always told myself “I’m not good enough, I’m ugly, that’s why nobody really likes me.” Things like that. I tried to end it end it a few times. But I just kept going. I said to myself, “There has to be something else. There has to be something else.”
You’ve certainly found it. How did you keep going?
I think if I really want something, I really work for it. I won’t stop. People have said to me, “Oh yeah, you’re at a certain age, you will never have abs.” Things like that. I don’t to challenge anyone, but I also want to prove, “Is that true?” I do it for myself. I don’t do it for anyone else. It’s not a competition. That’s how I keep going. If I have a goal, I just keep working towards it.
Suffice to say, you look great! What’s your fitness routine?
I had a crazy one. I trained seven days per week. But then I just felt it was too much. So I’ve cut back to six days. Now at the moment, it’s five days. I think that’s OK! I do push-pull legs, full-focused full body workouts. That’s my routine.
How do you get yourself to show up at the gym even if you don’t want?
For me, part of it is about confidence and self expression. Since I was very young I have had the dream of modeling underwear or swimwear, so building my physique has been a way of working towards that and feeling confident in my own skin. Another motivation is the environment of the gym itself. Wherever I train there is always someone stronger or fitter, and I see that as a positive thing. I often use that as motivation to push myself a little further each time.
What do you eat on your cheat day? Please tell me you have one…
I still eat quite clean. But when I go out, I don’t want to feel guilty. I love cakes and pastries! I love cream cakes. I love cheesecake. I don’t feel guilty having some of those.
You mentioned you want to model underwear or swimwear. How do you feel when you’re wearing a speedo?
Amazing, amazing, amazing! I never, ever thought I would be able to wear one. I’ve always been a shy kid. In Sri Lanka, after school you would always go to the beach, because it’s an island and beaches are everywhere. We would go to the beach after school four or five times per week. Everyone would take their clothes off and jump into the water in their underwear. I was the only one who wouldn’t go. I would keep my uniform on, because I was too shy.
Well, now you’re certainly not! Along those lines, do you prefer thongs or jockstraps?
Oh my God! Oh my God… that’s hard. Uh… thong! Thong!
What’s your favorite muscle to work out?
There’s two of them: glutes and pecs. I have a dedicated page for that as well. Just a dedicated page for workouts for glutes and pecs.
What do you do for fun?
I love TV shows, so I love watching stuff on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV. At the moment, I’ve recently finished Outlander. That’s one of my favorite shows. I also play piano. I have one at home. Then I like cleaning. I’m a clean freak and love things organized and tidy. That’s probably one of the reasons why I’ve never found love!
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