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By Alexander Lawrie
A GLAMOROUS band manager has ditched her ‘rocknroll’ lifestyle – to teach fitness techniques she learned on the road.
Tyla Wilson, 43, travelled all over Europe as tour manager for Stiltskin while she was married frontman Ray Wilson.
The superfit model – who was once the face of Club 18-30 – tried desperately to curb the wild ways of Wilson and his bandmates by introducing them to fitness routines and healthy snacks.
But now Tyla has given up the riotous rockstar lifestyle for good so she can set up her own fitness studio in Edinburgh.
She said: “Tour managing Ray and the boys was both challenging and exciting. It involved everything from driving the tour bus across Europe to organising gigs and hotels.
“My focus was also to motivate the guys to stay physically fit and here I led by example introducing them to exercise in both their hotel room and fitness suites.
“Even if they only had a spare half hour to work out I encouraged them to do what they could. Inevitably, they sometimes strayed off the straight and narrow, but hey, it was rock and roll after all.
“My nutritional knowledge was tested to the limit. Tour schedules are exhausting and finding healthy food on the road can prove difficult, but it is essential to keep up the energy levels needed to be on top form.”
Tyla was so focused on keeping the band fit and healthy, she even made them do exercises in their hotel rooms and replaced their hot dogs and pizzas with healthy alternatives.
She said: “We’re work out in the hotel room. I’d do stretches, press-ups and sit-ups. I;d take little bits of equipment, such as skipping ropes, that we could use.
“They used to have really rubbish food on the road, but I’d have a cooler bag with fruit, nuts and yoghurt.”
But Tyla – who first got involved with the ex-Genesis frontman Wilson in 2000 and married him two years later – soon started wishing she could put her own dreams first.
Working as Stiltskin’s tour manager while they played to sell out crowds in Germany, Austria and Poland was fun, but she wanted to do something for her.
She said: “We all had a really close relationship and it was fun. But at some point you decide you want to put down your roots. It was always about Ray’s tour. Now I wanted to do something in my own right.”
So with the encouragement of the band, she juggled working as a band manager and full-time model with studying for fitness training qualifications.
Siz years on, Tyla has split from Wilson and moved back to Edinburgh where she has set up Tyla Wilson Personal Training.
But she insists things are still amicable with her ex, saying: “We’re still very good friends. We have similar personalities, as we’re both very self motivated. He really encouraged me to carry on studying when we were on the road.”
And she says that touring with the band taught her a few lessons about fitting in exercise – lessons she now passes onto her clients.
She said: “In everyone’s lifestyle there’s always time. It’s all about looking after yourself, and taking some me time.
“It all goes back to my love of dance and music and arts. I like sculpting people and motivating them.
“You’ve got to enjoy life. I think a good rule is to try and be healthy 80 per cent of the time. I really love chocolate and the odd glass of wine.”
Tyla is now based at TheClub, in Edinburgh’s West Bowling Green Street, and also visits clients in their own homes.
