Dolvett Quince can be heard yelling, urging and coaching his clients on each season of the hit show, The Biggest Loser each week. Dolvett’s honest and down-to-earth persona quickly made him a fan favorite. The Stamford, Connecticut native has been a personal trainer for over twelve years. Some of his notable celebrity clients are Justin Bieber, Janet Jackson, Q100 host Bert Weiss, Boris Kodjoe, and Nicole Ari Parker. The life of the handsome trainer may seem all glitter and gold, but he had a hard childhood that gave him the backbone to be what he is today.
When his father ran out on the family when Dolvett was just five years old, Quince says his mother spent so much time focused on getting him back that she neglected her children. He and his three siblings eventually found a home with a Jamaican couple, but all was not perfect. Their only source of discipline was through physical force.
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“My adoption was bittersweet, because I had parents who were loving enough to [adopt] four strangers,” he said. “That’s a beautiful story, however, they’re very old school with a ‘you spare the rod, you spoil the child’ sort of mentality. So they only knew what they knew– and that was to beat it out of me."
The verbal, mental and physical abuse instilled serious self doubt into the teen, but eventually he found his own strength within — an asset he uses in his trainings today. “I’m only in the position that I’m in now because that experience gave me a voice at a very young age,” Dolvett said.
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Quince further revealed that while the physical and mental abuse destroyed him for several years, he was able to find...
...strength within himself. "I’m able to help the underdog. The weaker person, the woman, the child, the obese person, the athlete that can’t get all the way to the finish line because I understand,” he spoke in a soft tone. “I understand what it’s like to still believe in yourself when no one else believes in you and to push that out of someone.”
But the hardcore trainer that helps people lose weight and carve out their best bodies is not just who Dolvett is. He is also intent on showing manners and being a gentleman.
“I’m a renaissance man. People don’t know that about me. Growing up I watched James Bond, I wanted to be Sean Connery. Denzel Washington. Billy Dee Williams. Because those guys spoke to me,” he said. “Those guys know art, they know nice cars, the right watch, the right suit. I’m not Rick Ross, I’m a classy guy. I believe in chivalry.”
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When asked about the image of young Black men today, Quince explained that there are not enough Black men teaching the youth to be real gentlemen. But under his roof, there’s a standard. “I say this to my son: be a gentleman. They’ll be girls in your life who will say, ‘What are you doing that for?’ It doesn’t matter, you do it for you. The young lady that appreciates it, she deserves it.”