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LA CITIZENS and the internet at large were treated to an extremely delectable dish on the weekend when The Bear star Jeremy Allen White went for a shirtless jog, immediately prompting speculation as to whether the actor was flaunting a revenge body.

White was wearing itty-bitty shorts, joggers, a towel and a cap, his rippled, if pale physique gleaming in the LA sun.

Commenters reacted online as you would expect to this unsolicited aperitif: hungrily and thirstily.

“Damn,” someone commented.

“I like his pasty legs,” one praised.

“He needs some sunblock, but that is my boo,” another joked.

This probably wouldn’t normally catch our eye, except for the fact that Jeremy Allen White (JAW), 33, recently separated from his wife, Addison Timlin. The former couple were married in 2019 and share two young daughters. So, the question has to be asked: is this a revenge body? Or just a guy going for a run in the hot sun without sunscreen? Here’s what we know.

Who is Jeremy Allen White?

In the event that you’ve been living under a pop-cultural rock this past year, White is the star of Hulu dramedy The Bear, the second season of which dropped in Australia on Disney+ last week. The show about a gourmet beef kitchen in Chicago was one of the most critically acclaimed of last year and season 2 is tracking the same way with near universal approval ratings. Capturing the claustrophobic intensity of a working kitchen and the effects of stress on those who occupy it, the show is at turns LOL-funny, heart-warming and utterly engrossing. In season 1 a character got stabbed in the arse during a heated argument and it was treated as a battle wound. Before his breakout in The Bear, White was a mainstay on long-running Showtime hit Shameless, where he played the Gallagher family’s gifted but complicated older brother Lip.

Is Jeremy Allen White Usually Ripped?

Difficult to say. On The Bear he’s usually sporting plain white Ts, though his tattooed forearms do indicate that like the restaurant he works in, which specialises in ‘Original Beef’ sandwiches, JAW might be packing underneath his tightey-whiteys and no stranger to clanking iron. On Shameless, Lip was often rugged up in hoodies — Shameless is also set in frigid Chicago — plus it enjoyed a crazily prolonged, decade-long run, meaning JAW hadn’t really grown into his body yet. A loved up Instagram shot from 2020 with former wife Timlin, shows decent striations in the biceps area, which could lead some to conclude that JAW’s always been jacked.

WHAT IS A REVENGE BODY/POST-BREAK-UP THIRSTY FLEX?

Pretty much what it says on the tin. Post break-up guys hit the gym to stack on size or yank definition from previously flabby torsos, repairing punctured self-esteem in the process. When you’re sufficiently happy with your rig, you put it on show, either with an insta-selfie accompanied by a requisite casually modest caption — Tom Brady gave a masterclass in how to execute this play after his well-publicised split with former supermodel-wife Giselle Bündchen. Or, you can let the papps do the work for you — as JAW might be doing in these latest shots — and take a faux-innocent shirtless run through a busy city on a hot afternoon. Either way, you announce to the world that this particular piece of prime beef is back on the market, while communicating (rather transparently) to your ex that you’re over them, look what they’re missing out on, this could have been yours, yada, yada. As White may have discovered playing chef Carmy on The Bear, revenge is a dish best served scorching!

WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES TO THIS BEING JEREMY ALLEN WHITE’S REVENGE BODY?

Well, none of them are particularly appetising (yes, we’re running with food metaphors until further notice). JAW’s next movie is starring alongside renowned body transformation expert Zac Efron in wrestling film The Iron Claw. “You’re trying to consume as much as you possibly can, and, to be honest, you don’t feel great,” White said in interview with Esquire US on preparing for the role. “I was training as well, but, I don’t know, trying to get that big, it’s no way to live.”

In a break from his usual routine, White said he ate around the clock, “never stopping.”

“In the morning, I would have waffles, almond butter,” he said. “In the middle of the day, I was eating turkey patties and avocado all the time. It’s really just gross.”

While White described “eating all the time” with disdain, he pointed out that Efron — who plays former pro wrestler Kevin Von Erich — made his transformation appear effortless. “Zac’s a maniac,” White said about his costar. “He’s so focused and knowledgeable on training, diet, all that. In terms of a physical transformation, I think he kind of blew us all out of the water. He looks really amazing in this thing.”

So, it’s possible that White’s current body is simply residually ripped from shooting The Iron Claw and that after beefing up, he’s now in a cutting phase, hence the run and more streamlined physique. Finally, there is one other possibility that we have to grudgingly acknowledge. And unfortunately, this is a bland dish lacking spice: Jeremy Allen White just went for a run on a hot summer’s day. Yuck, who wants to eat that?

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