AFL legend Ben Cousins is reaping the physical and mental benefits of his new healthy lifestyle.
The doting dad, 46, recently enjoyed a family holiday in the Northern Territory with his children Angelique, 11, and Bobby, 13, to close out 2024.
Ben was spotted arriving at Sydney Airport from an international flight on Monday, needing little more than a black t-shirt to flaunt the results of his gym regime.
It’s unclear exactly where the retired athlete has been on his travels, but the size of his suitcase and duffel bag indicate he’s been gone for at least a week.
The former soccer player revealed his bulging biceps in the baggy T-shirt, which he paired with a pair of green cargo pants and Vans sneakers for his flight.
Ben sported a deep tan as he walked briskly through the airport shops, stopping only at a Telstra mobile kiosk.
AFL legend Ben Cousins, 46, is reaping the physical and mental benefits of his new healthy lifestyle after a dramatic fall from grace.
The former footballer revealed his bulging biceps in the baggy T-shirt, which he paired with a pair of green cargo pants and Vans sneakers for his flight.
The Dancing With The Stars contestant appears to have continued lifting weights during his time away, his broad shoulders tense against his cotton T-shirt.
In December, the former soccer legend gave his social media followers a little insight into his workout regimen.
“Sometimes you have to drag yourself here… I feel better,” he said after filming a weight training session at the gym.
In the video he shared, Ben performed an incline bench press with dumbbells, before moving on to his shoulders and lats.
He also lay on the floor and did some old-fashioned medicine ball exercises.
In the caption of his clip, Ben also wrote: ‘The days you don’t want to do it, are the days you should do it!’ Go after it.’
ben has converted his turbulent life around after a heartbreaking battle with drug addiction and recently revealed that she is “happier than ever.”
Her change also included working hard to rebuild her relationship with her two preteen children.
Ben sported a sun-kissed tan as he strolled briskly through the airport shops, stopping only at a Telstra mobile kiosk at Sydney Airport.
The former footballer flaunted his bulging biceps in a tank top and black shorts, paired with black sneakers and socks.
“You know, everyone’s path is different, but for me (addiction) didn’t happen overnight,” he told the Ball Magnets podcast in October.
“But there was a bigger picture and eventually it all fell apart.”
Ben said what started as letting off steam at the weekends to “escape” his high-pressure football career soon turned into something much darker.
“For me, I did it in ways that, maybe not at first, eventually became problematic.
“At first it was a strange night drinking with whoever, but quickly for me that didn’t hit the mark and I was having something.”
“I certainly don’t miss or forget the hard work and commitment it took to get back to where I am,” he explained in early 2024.
“It’s a long-term game… You don’t do something and suddenly it changes overnight.”
Ben played 238 games and scored 205 goals for West Coast between 1996 and 2007, winning the premiership in his penultimate season in Perth.
The former midfielder captained the Eagles from 2001 to 2005, winning the club’s best and fairest award in four of those five seasons.
He was suspended by the club in March 2007, just six months after the grand final win over Sydney, for alleged substance abuse and sacked six months later after being arrested for drug possession and refusing to submit to a blood test. .
He returned to the AFL in 2009 with Richmond, before retiring at the end of the 2010 season.
He was jailed on six separate occasions in 13 years and spent seven months behind bars in 2020, when he apparently decided enough was enough.
He’s now on the right track and reading Seven news in Western Australia, and recently appeared on Dancing With The Stars.
Ben has said he only regrets the time it took him to get clean.