"My father was very abusive. He used to beat my mother. So it was one of those things where I knew I had to get stronger because one day I thought...
Terry Crews reflected on his past and how it shaped him to be the man he is today.
Terry Crews, while climbing the Icelandic Highlands in Running Wild with Bear Grylls’s Monday episode, opened up about his childhood trauma and what it was like growing up with a “very abusive” father.
Recalling his past, Brooklyn Nine Nine’s Lieutenant Terry Jeffords divulged that it was the negative energy of his past that he morphed into something positive and started focusing on health and fitness. Even though it may look inspiring, Terry got candid and went into the details to explain it wasn’t glamorizing at all.
"I was naturally just wanting more," he shared. "You've got to know, growing up was not a good experience [for me]. My father was very abusive. He used to beat my mother. So it was one of those things where I knew I had to get stronger because one day I thought I'd have to fight him. That's how it started out."
Terry, 52, further talked about the time when he was not so fit and shed light on the topic of mental health and the struggles of being a sportsman.
"After my time in the NFL, one thing I noticed is that if you make everything sports-specific, all of sudden, when the sport is over, guys just waste away,” he went on. “You've got to understand, there was a time in my life where I got overweight because I was depressed. I'm depressed, I need something, I need a change, I need to go to the gym for 21 days straight. That 21-day period turned into 21 years."
Terry’s Wild with Bear Grylls episode will be aired on Monday on National Geographic at 9 p.m. ET.