'Wasn't a planned thing': Paige VanZant spills on naked photo antics

Former UFC fighter Paige VanZant has opened up about the series of nude photos she and her husband, fellow fighter Austin Vanderford, posed for during the height of coronavirus lockdowns in 2020.

The pair’s cheeky use of VanZant’s Instagram account when the coronavirus pandemic forced much of the world back into their homes gained widespread attention, particularly with most sporting leagues on hiatus.

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While many of the world’s major sporting codes have found ways to tentatively restart play since the beginning of the pandemic, VanZant and her husband are still grappling with their newfound notoriety.

In an interview with MMA outlet Morning Kombat, VanZant said their’s cheeky snaps had come to pass mostly out of boredom and a desire to do something fun during a time of uncertainty.

“That wasn’t a planned thing at all. It was quarantine, we stayed home for two weeks straight, it was kind of when this all first started,” she said.

“And we’re like, ‘All right, we’re not leaving our house’, and, as husbands and wives do, we’re just naked and walking around our house, doing our thing.”

With the pair unable to maintain their usual training routines with gyms and practice facilities closing their doors, VanZant said it was actually Vanderford who sparked their couple’s newfound nudist streak.

Paige VanZant opens up about nude Instagram pics

While it was Vanderford who started their new hobby, it was VanZant who lobbied her husband to make their fun public.

“Being an athlete, he’s crazy, he’s like, ‘I’m going to go do pull-ups’, and I go out to the garage, and he’s doing pull-ups like butt-naked, and I was like, ‘I have an idea’,” she said.

“It took a lot of convincing on my part to him to keep doing the naked photos, but it was just supposed to be fun, it was such a dark time at the beginning of all this coronavirus, the pandemic, and trying to have fun.

“We’re married, like to be naked, I guess.”

The nude portraits have been a hot talking point for the couple, with Vanderford asked about them several weeks earlier during an appearance on the MMA Junkie podcast.

“We had fun especially in quarantine doing the nude photos and stuff,” he said.

“It was just fun for us to do and something that we wanted to do, so we went with it. It wasn’t due to any request.

“We just came up one day, and honestly, I think I was running around the house naked, I was out doing pull-ups or something, and the idea kind of sparked, and we did it.”

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