AEW star Will Ospreay has opened up about some of the toughest personal battles he has faced away from the wrestling ring, including his struggles with body dysmorphia and ADHD.

Speaking to Muscle & Fitness, Ospreay revealed that his issues with body image became particularly noticeable after he won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in October 2017.

The AEW star recalled seeing criticism of his physical condition on social media and admitted that, at the time, he had very little understanding of training or nutrition.

“I first discovered my body dysmorphia, and I won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, in October of 2017,” Ospreay said. “And I remember one tweet was saying ‘He is in the worst shape,’ and they were right.”

Ospreay explained that he would go to the gym but did not understand areas such as sets, targeting different muscle groups or counting macros. Despite being surrounded by wrestlers who could have helped him, he felt too embarrassed to ask.

“I didn’t understand working out, why you do sets, and why you focus on one body part, and macro counting. I would go to the gym, but I really didn’t know what I was doing, I’ll be honest, and I was so embarrassed to ask the boys, they’re all jacked, I felt like such an idiot, to try and (ask) ‘Could I workout with you?’ so I never went to the gym.”

Ospreay also discussed being on the autism spectrum and later discovering that he had ADHD. He said he did not receive his ADHD diagnosis until he was 27, several years into his career in Japan.

“I was on the spectrum for autism, but I didn’t find out I had ADHD until I was 27,” he explained. “I was like, five years into Japan, I had already made a bunch of mistakes, like a lot of issues going on. At first, they thought it was depression. They thought I had insomnia because I couldn’t sleep.”

Ospreay said receiving the diagnosis helped him better understand his behaviour and gave him ways to manage some of the difficulties he had experienced.

“(The ADHD diagnosis) opened my eyes and gave me a lot of insight into why I’ve been making these mistakes and how I could mitigate them.”

The former AEW International Champion admitted that he still experiences triggers, including a recent incident on X where he responded to criticism and later regretted doing so.

“I still have triggers, I had one a little while ago on Twitter (X), where I just went back at somebody, and I wish I didn’t do that, but on the positive side, wrestling is something that I have been able to lock in and focus on.”