Lee Priest

Lee Priest, whose full name is actually Lee Andrew Priest McCutcheon, was born July 6, 1972 in Newcastle, Australia. He was being raised by his grandfather, who had very high hopes for the youngster. When he was 13 he was enrolled in a boys gymnastics club, and it was there that young Lee discovered weights. It was not intended for him to be lifting heavy weights, but he would arrive to gym class early and lift. This early introduction to weights is what began the spawn of “The Blond Myth”.

At the age of only 14 years old, 8 months after he began weight training, he had gained considerable muscle mass. He entered three local bodybuilding contests in his home town. He was competing against much older boys than himself, and he won all three shows. These first three wins were paramount in setting the foundation for Lee Priest to make bodybuilding a passion and way of life. At first his family was wary and skeptical of Lee being so involved in weight lifting like any normal parents would be, but they came around and have been his biggest supporters.

As Lee Priest progressed, his idol would be no one else but the great Arnold Schwarzenegger. The famous Austrian bodybuilder, as well as other pros like Tom Platz and Eddie Robinson were great inspirations to Lee, and encouraged him to continue to grow as much muscle mass as possible.

By 17 years of age, Lee had won Mr. Australia. If he was considered the number one bodybuilder in his entire continent, then he figured it was time to expand his trophy list and do some travelling. He entered the 1990 IFBB World Championship in Malaysia and took home fourth place.

It wasn’t until April in 1993 that he came to the United States. He was hungry for competition, and entered the Niagara Falls amateurs. This event had ties to the Niagara Falls Pro Invitational and Lee Priest would be seen by scouts. But by a chance of extreme luckiness, he was spotted a few days before the competition by NPC President Jim Manion, who was very impressed with Lee’s physique and insisted that he go Pro. Low and behold, on the morning of the 1993 Niagara Pro Invitation, Lee Priest was registered as an IFBB pro. He received an impressive ninth place in his first professional contest.

Lee Priest has since competed in 42 competitions, been married to a female bodybuilder, and opened his own line of supplements dubbed Assassin Nutrition.