The Fitness Buff is a radio show about sports and physical fitness, but unlike other shows of its kind, it’s broadcast live from Paradise Lakes, a luxury nudist resort in Florida, and its hosts and often its guests are all nude. We asked founder Pete Williams about his show…

Nudist Day: When and how did the Fitness Buff start?
Pete Williams: I was thinking of launching my own show on AM 1340 in Tampa Bay, which is a “brokered time” station. That means anyone can purchase air time, create their own show, sell their own advertising, and control all of the content. I’ve worked in sports radio, but the last thing the world needed was another sports talk program. In recent years, I’ve been writing fitness books and contributing to publications such as “Men’s Health,” so I thought a fitness program would be a different approach to take. I already had been doing some media consulting for the Paradise Lakes clothing-optional resort and they signed on to sponsor the show. I already was considering calling it “The Fitness Buff,” so that worked out well. It also was a nice coincidence that AM 1340 is WTAN – “The Tan Talk Network.” Our first show was on October 21, 2005. We’ve been on every Friday afternoon since.

ND: Which came first: Buff or Fitness? In other words,we’re you a nudist before this all started?
PW: That’s hard to say. I’ve been involved in sports and working out since childhood. Though I like to think of myself as a lifelong nudist, at least in spirit, I wasn’t raised in a nudist household and didn’t start visiting nude beaches and clubs until after high school. I’m the staff writer for the American Association for Nude Recreation’s (AANR) monthly publication “The Bulletin” and have written for it since 1994.

ND: How has the radio show been received?
PW: We’re received tremendous response. I thought the fact that we broadcast from Paradise Lakes in the buff would be a bigger deal, but most people kind of shrug when they hear about it. Here in the Tampa Bay area, where we have so many nudist resorts, nude recreation is practically mainstream behavior. I frequently run into people who say they’ve been to Paradise – or know somebody who has. We invite all of our guests who live in the Tampa Bay area to appear on the show live and the only people who have turned us down are those who can’t make it because of scheduling issues. (Since we air at 5 p.m. and Paradise is a little north of town, it makes it tough for some people to leave work, especially trainers who work with clients immediately after work.) Not everyone who comes out disrobes for the show, though some guests have.

ND: Has the regular press generally made a joke of the nudist aspects of your venture?
PW: Quite the contrary. The Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times, the local newspapers in the Tampa Bay area, understand what a big business nude recreation is because of the nudist resorts in Pasco County, just north of Tampa. They’ve covered our show much like they would cover any other radio program. The coverage has been fair and objective. We’ve also had queries from a number of prominent national publications, and I’m told there might be some coverage in the coming months.

ND: Tell us about your curvaceous blonde co-hosts…
PW: Any radio show needs to appeal to both male and female listeners, which is why I didn’t want to go back to the overwhelmingly male demographic of sports radio. My favorite talk shows have banter between male and female hosts and that’s what I wanted to create. Plus, if we were going to talk fitness, it couldn’t be all men’s fitness. We needed a female perspective. Sabrina Vizzari, my co-host, is a perfect fit for the show because she’s a fitness nut, has worked for several nudist resorts, and is terrific on radio. I don’t think of the women on our show as “curvaceous blondes.” They all have lean, athletic physiques and work in some aspect of the fitness industry and/or are avid recreational athletes. Plus, we’ve had female guests and guest hosts with black, brown, and red hair.
On a related note, having a nude radio show has helped us generate publicity, but we’re a serious fitness show. Our guests have included best-selling fitness authors, fitness magazine editors and writers, prominent trainers and national fitness personalities, nutritionists, representatives of fitness equipment manufacturers, and local race directors. We celebrate the beauty of the human body and the athletic physique, but if we were a show that focused solely on nude recreation, we’d have run out of material a long time ago.

ND: Many, including nudists, argue that exercising in the nude is unsanitary, never mind the ancient Greeks. What’s your opinion on this?
PW: The only instance I can think of where it would be unsanitary is if you’re working out nude in a gym and did not place a towel between your body and the gym equipment. Using a towel is proper nudist etiquette and just plain common sense.

ND: Can you tell us anything that might not be widely known yet, such as a future event you’re planning?
PW: We’re always got various shows and ideas in development. Probably the most concrete “scoop” I can give you is that we’ll soon have a live Web cam for the show at www.fitnessbuffshow.com.

Related Links:

• Fitness Buff web site