Reality star-turned-athlete Spencer Matthews: ‘I operate better when I have goals to chase’
By Sara Keenan, PA
After experiencing long periods where he felt like he “lacked purpose”, the Spencer Matthews we see today is vastly different to the reality star who appeared on Made In Chelsea in the 2010s.
Matthews, 37, has now turned his focus to fatherhood, entrepreneurship and becoming a world record-holding endurance athlete.
“I’ve gone through years and years of not caring about anything and going out all the time,” says Matthews, who collaborated with The Turmeric Co. for the recent London Marathon, which he ran in three hours and four seconds.
“I’ve certainly had long periods in my life where I’ve felt that I’ve really lacked purpose. I’ve not really enjoyed the things I’m doing and just been a half version of myself,” he suggests.
“I think for anyone ambitious, you want to try to live up to what you can be – and that only really started for me a few years ago.”
Matthews, who interviews athletes for the podcast Untapped, suggests a shift around fitness and wellbeing helped change his mindset.
“To me, my physical and mental health is probably the most important part of my life plan,” he says. “If you’re not well and healthy and living a full life, everything you’re striving for feels a little bit more pointless.”
In recent years, Matthews has committed himself to gruelling endurance challenges – including running 30 marathons in 30 days across the Jordanian desert in 2024, then taking on seven triathlons on seven continents in 21 days in 2025 (which was dubbed ‘Project Se7en’). Matthews’ 30 In 30 challenge earned him the Guinness World Record for “the most consecutive marathons run on sand”, and he clocked up two further records during Project Se7en.
“Endurance challenges are great goals to have,” he explains. “I operate better when I have goals to chase.”
Matthews, who founded non-alcoholic spirits brand CleanCo in 2019, says staying focused helps him maintain a sense of direction.
“Boredom is a bit of a trigger of mine,” he explains. “But now, I haven’t felt bored in a very long time.
“For me, unless there’s something to target, it’s quite easy to bend the rules on exercise. I find having one massive goal a year fun to work towards.”
For Matthews, mindset is key to success in any kind of race – and having a sense of purpose helps too.
“I feel very privileged to be able to do some of the events that I’ve done,” he says, adding that “being able to travel the world and raise money has also felt quite purposeful to me”.
He suggests that having a cause has helped him push through difficult moments, pointing to his Project Se7en challenge supporting James’ Place, which focuses on preventing male suicide in the UK.
Matthews recalls a particularly difficult moment during an Ironman triathlon challenge, which consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon run in Cape Town, South Africa. “I had about 15 minutes in the water where I was really struggling and felt quite frightened,” he says.
“But I had to stop and think: I’m in Cape Town doing an Ironman – this is something special.
“I myself don’t have any experience with suicidal thoughts, but I thought, imagine waking up and not wanting to be here anymore. All of sudden it rationalises where you are and I found that moment quite helpful to understand that what I was doing could potentially help some of these men who are not in a good headspace.”
For those who want to take on any kind of challenge themselves, Matthews says: “It sounds silly, but really making an effort to try and enjoy training and races helps.
“When you start to feel crushed, tired, full of lactic acid, slow and heavy, that becomes a pretty serious reality. If that’s all you’re thinking about, it’s pretty difficult. So try and enjoy it.”
He also stresses the importance of remembering that discomfort when exercising is temporary.
“Any pain you’re feeling is going to come to an end,” he says. “You will regret giving up almost immediately. Just strap in for the pain, try and enjoy it and it’s a lesson that you’ll remember.
“You’ll remember that pain and you could perhaps use it in other ways.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Matthews suggests that going “too hard all the time” with exercise might mean “there are consequences to pay”.
With research from The Turmeric Co finding that 47% of people admit they use pain relief just to keep exercising, Matthews says that recovery is just as important as training. “We’re human beings. We’re not machines. I focus on easy wins that exist to give myself an edge so I can train and not get injured,” he continues.
“Turmeric is a great example of a scientifically proven concept that is affordable and really easy to use. It’s one shot in the morning, full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory.”
Away from training, Matthews, who is expecting his fourth child with wife Vogue Williams, says maintaining balance at home is essential to his wellbeing.
“I spend time with my kids and my wife. I try not to sacrifice the things that matter,” he says. “I work very hard and fortunately so does my wife.
“We spend our evenings together – we’re usually in bed early and our evenings are about winding down together.”
Having once lived a very different lifestyle, he says the contrast is clear.
“I’ve gone through years of not caring and going out all the time – I know which I prefer,” he says.
“If you put in the time and consistency, good things happen. It sounds obvious, but it took me a long time to realise that.”
Matthews collaborated with The Turmeric Co. to highlight offer free joint support turmeric shots to those who ran a marathon this April – the public can get involved too here.
