Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Chambers Whittle was a manager at Dreamboys, a male strip club in England’s second city of Birmingham. Every Friday and Saturday night, he would dance for crowds of women with his Herculean abs out. “What more could you want than a few hundred girls screaming at you?” the 27-year-old joked over the telephone. 

But with the introduction of the U.K.’s first lockdown one year ago, Dreamboys — classed as a “non-essential” business — was forced to close, along with clubs, pubs and other social venues. Due to the restrictions, it’s remained closed for most of the year. 

Friendly and warm-natured, Whittle, who goes by the nickname “Champ,” is grateful to have kept his regular day job at a motorbike shop, but as a born entertainer and fitness fanatic, he has struggled with the limits placed on his daily life. 

“There's times when I’ve felt very emotional. The pandemic has hit me hard,” he told me.