Rebecca Jade, a 43-year-old bodybuilder from Llanelli, Wales, says she will not give up her training even though her coach has told her she has developed too much muscle for the Pro Masters Bikini category. She insists she would rather lose points for having too much muscle than not enough.
Rebecca wakes at 4am every day to train and is now considered a pro athlete in her field. She was stunned when she finished sixth in her first professional bodybuilding competition, believing her "alpha female" figure was to blame.
Coach's feedback
Rebecca, who has 19,000 followers on Instagram and more than 126,000 on X, said: "My coach thinks I've now grown too much muscle and conditioning for Pro Masters Bikini. I might need to find a different category because my body is not within the guidelines for bikini anymore."
She added: "I've become bigger and more muscular. But that isn't a bad thing - I'd rather lose points for having too much than not enough. I don't want to shrink and undo all my hard work."
From running to bodybuilding
Before taking up bodybuilding, Rebecca did long-distance races around the world. She had been due to compete in a race through the Amazon jungle in 2021, but the event was postponed twice due to Covid travel restrictions. Instead of stopping training, she entered a bodybuilding competition.
She said: "I found a coach and told him I wanted to do one bikini preparation season before going back to running. I didn't build any muscle specifically for it. I came second in my first amateur show and won my second. I also earned a pro card, so I started thinking I was quite good at it."
Rebecca completed the Amazon run in 2022, winning the first two stages and finishing in the top 10 for both genders despite several injuries. She said: "The Amazon is one of the most hostile environments in the world, with things that want to eat you. You have to run carrying your backpack. I was in the top 10 alongside the men, but I got very injured. When I came home, I knew I needed a break from running, so I decided to give bodybuilding a proper go."
Competition success and future plans
Rebecca has been a regular at bikini competitions since 2023, winning in Wales and at NFM UK, before finishing fourth in Great Britain and at a world event in Málaga. Believing she needed more muscle, she spent 18 months training hard with a new coach. This summer, she got two class wins, two overall victories and two professional cards.
She said: "I also went to the British finals for my first pro show and finished sixth. It wasn't the result I wanted because I hoped to finish in the top three, but I did my very best. The feedback is that I'm now too developed for bikini."
Rebecca has no intention of losing muscle to fit the Pro Masters Bikini criteria, especially since her physique is popular with viewers on Babestation. She is now moving into the Figure division and plans to return to the stage in late 2027.
She said: "I get up at four, go to the gym and sometimes take selfies there to use on social media. Then I come home, eat, get ready and spend the day working. My body has become conditioned to that routine. Even on a rest day, I wake up at four and have to remind myself I don't need to get up. I've worked extremely hard to build this body. I'm not going to undo all that work just because the judges don't like it."
Defending Sydney Sweeney
Rebecca also defended actress Sydney Sweeney after criticism of her recent advert for sports prediction platform Novig. The campaign, which shows the actress posing scantily clad with sporting equipment, sparked backlash from female athletes who accused it of sexualising women in sport.
Rebecca said: "I believe women have a right to their own bodies and how they wish to showcase all their hard work. If Sydney wishes to make money from it, then good for her. Sex has always sold. Male athletes also do it, so I don't see what the problem is. We should live and let live."
She added: "For years, women fought for their rights-our bodies, our choices. But now, all of a sudden, it becomes a problem if people don't agree with their choices or if those choices don't align with their own. Athletic bodies are works of art. They show hard work, discipline, blood, sweat and tears, and years of consistency. They should be shown off and celebrated if the athlete chooses to. Her body, her business."
Rebecca works as a model on Babestation, which she first joined as a 23-year-old in 2006. After nearly 20 years away, she returned to the adult channel in November 2025 and says it pairs well with her bodybuilding hobby. She said: "Some of my callers just want to flirt and talk, while others want me to be horrible to them. They like the dominating, alpha female side of me. They call me a muscle goddess. Muscle worship is really popular, particularly when I'm ripped and veiny and my body fat is extremely low. When I'm shredded and at my most muscular, that's when I'm busiest. My viewers love the muscles, even if they mean I no longer fit the criteria for Pro Masters Bikini."
