The enigmatic Anthony Joshua: How single father-of-one boxer, who went from smoking ‘six spliffs a day’ to £200m fortune, still lives with his mother, wants to have SIX children – but tells any love interest they will also be marrying his family
- Boxer, 34, lifted lid on parts of his private life away from the ring on the BBC
With wealth topping an estimated £200million former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua could be forgiven for splashing the cash on a luxurious lifestyle with a glamorous model in tow.
The 34-year-old father-of-one still lives with his mother in a £175,000 council house he bought her and says he is very single.
In fact his private life is so carefully guarded, the most the majority of the public know about him is his talent for boxing.
But his recent documentary with Louis Theroux has lifted the lid on his upbringing and lifestyle now.
Among revelations were that he used to smoke cannabis six times a day from the age of 13, the first the moment after he woke up.
Joshua also denies previous links that had been made to Cara Delevingne and Bella Hadid
Cara Delevingne and Anthony Joshua attend the NBA Live basketball match between the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks at the 02 Arena on January 16, 2014
Nicole Osbourne, who is a pole dancing instructor, is the mother of Joshua’s young son
In 2009 he found himself in Reading Prison on remand before a court case for what he has previously described as ‘fighting and other crazy stuff’. He is understood to have been around 19 at the time.
READ MORE: Sheepish Anthony Joshua blasted for ‘WEIRD’ Louis Theroux interview
And he also speaks perhaps properly for the first time about his relationships and son with childhood sweetheart and now former partner Nicole Osbourne.
Joshua discloses ‘Amazing woman, you know’ and that they got together in around 2005 when they were 15 or 16, he adds ‘So much respect’.
He says he does not have a girlfriend at the moment – and insists he is telling the truth.
In an amusing moment he declares: ‘Imagine me going home to my missus now.
‘She’d be like, ‘you denied me!’ this, that. I don’t want that stress, I’ll be honest with you.
‘I don’t have no missus no.’
Joshua also denies previous links that had been made to Cara Delevingne and Bella Hadid.
He insists: ‘I haven’t actually been with any of those girls, by the way. ‘
Anthony Joshua and his beloved mother Yeta, who he says he still lives with in her London home
Anthony Joshua with mother Yeta Odusanya at Gala Dinner at the Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
The boxer said he would usually meet women in petrol stations or the local supermarket, adding ‘It could be anywhere’.
READ MORE: Anthony Joshua reveals he was wearing his Team GB tracksuit when found with eight ounces of cannabis on him by police in 2011
He and Louis then engage in jokey roleplay where they discuss going to Pizza Hut on a date.
Later when he is asked about his current home, he replies: ‘My place is in London. I still live with my mum.
‘In our culture you grow up with your family. We grow up in our own family homes for a long time. We support our parents. Why am I going to move out and leave my mum by herself for some girl?
‘When a man marries she becomes the child of the mum. When a girl gets with me, she isn’t just marrying me, she’s marrying my family.’
Joshua’s admiration and respect for his mother Yeta, a social worker, is something he has spoken about previously.
And she said in 2017: ‘I also remember one of your trainers, and he said ‘you know what mum, your boy, your son is going to be a world champion one day’.
‘And I was like ‘what’s he talking about’. I didn’t take it quite seriously until he qualified for the Olympics.
Joshua’s admiration and respect for his mother Yeta, a social worker, seen centre with him and his sister, is something he has spoken about previously.
Joshua said ‘When a man marries she becomes the child of the mum. When a girl gets with me, she isn’t just marrying me, she’s marrying my family
The fighter, 34, tends to keep his life notoriously private, aside from a few snaps on Instagram
‘When he won the Olympics, I didn’t really want to watch it, because I don’t really like watching him, I was sat down and that was the longest nine minutes of my life.
‘I had the paper over my face until the end then when I heard he won I was just so excited, so excited and I started jumping up and down.
‘It was very nice, a very proud moment.’
Joshua has previously spoken of his desire to have a big family himself.
Speaking on the Jonathan Ross show in 2021 about children, he said: ‘I want to have loads.’
The programme also features a nice moment between him and his aunt.
She recalls: ‘He was a good boy, he’s always been a good boy. When he was teenage he was even better.’
As they both laugh she added he had got into boxing as just a hobby ‘To keep him out of trouble, initially wasn’t it, going to the boxing club.’
But it was where Anthony Joshua the boxer was born, as he explains: ‘And the next minute it’s like ‘This is Anthony Joshua’ and everyone knowns me as Femi: Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua.’
The aunt – who is not named – says she separates his public persona as Anthony from the person she knows as her nephew Femi.
She adds: ‘Femi is Femi, my nephew, my son, family. But people in the world, it’s Anthony, a boxer, so I want to see how he’s feeling in that life. In that part of his world. Femi comes first.’
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