Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
From the sound of things, UFC star Paige VanZant and husband Austin Vanderford aren’t so much trying to drum up publicity, they just seem to really like being naked.
Paige VanZant’s journey through UFC stardom has been a wild one. Still only 26-years-old, VanZant was once considered one of the brightest prospects in the newly minted strawweight division—when she marked her 2014 Octagon debut with a TKO victory of Kailin Curran.
A couple of notable losses, and a recurring injury have blighted her more recent performances inside the cage. But, over the last half decade she’s become as notable for her workout outside MMA as she has in it, if not more. VanZant had a strong run on season 22 of Dancing with the Stars, making it all the way to the show’s finals—and eventually placing second. She released an autobiography, Rise: Surviving the Fight of My Life, and has had semi-regular appearances as a guest on other TV shows and media. She’s also become notable for her very strong social media presence.
With over 2.5-million Instagram followers, VanZant has one of MMA’s most dedicated online followings. Likely in no small part due to the fact that she’s willing to get a little risqué with the content she posts there. Over the past month, especially, she and husband Austin Vanderford have made numerous posts featuring both fighters working out, cooking, gardening, and generally hanging around the house while in the nude.
In an interview with MMA Fighting, VanZant and Vanderford spoke about their recent social media presence. Notably that they don’t see this as some sort of publicity stunt, or attempt to gain attention. It’s more just a chance to share how they live their day-to-day life.
Vanderford spoke about growing up in the wilds of Alaska and how he was warned that his tendency toward exhibitionism might get him in trouble in the lower 48, which it did.
“For one, I started wrestling since I was five, so I’ve been wearing one of those singlets my entire life so there isn’t a whole lot that it doesn’t show,” Vanderford said with a laugh. “That’s one. Two, before I left Alaska to move here to the states to go to school and all that, my mom gave me one word of advice before I left. She said ‘Austin, the rest of the world isn’t like Alaska. You can’t just go outside and go pee wherever you want. You can’t show yourself off, so be careful.’ Fast forward like a year later, and I actually got a ticket for ‘scattering rubbish’ cause I had peed in a park or something. There might have been a few beers involved.
“I’ve just never been shy about that. I have fun. My wife sees me naked all day everyday anyway, so I thought the rest of the world deserves it, too.”
For VanZant, she says that their posts on social media are really just a way of spreading the love they have for one another to others.
“It’s not really a social media stunt – it’s not to get attention,” VanZant said. “I just think I want to spread the idea, we’ve been married for over a year and a half, and just to love your significant other, and have fun with them, and [show] how important it is to just make the most of the relationships that you have.
“We’re really just having a really good time and trying to spread love. We’re married, so I’m not embarrassed, I’m not shy about the way we live our life at all.”
And, if all that happens to lead to them getting a shot on Disney’s reality series Naked and Afraid – in which couples are tasked with surviving without clothes in the wilderness for 21 days – well that’d be just fine. VanZant said she’s sent the show “my sales pitch.” So it could just be that the next time fans see VanZant won’t be in the cage, but back on reality TV, and this time in her altogether.