Bodybuilder & Adult Actress Joanna Thomas Dies at 43

Joanna Thomas, the famed female bodybuilder and adult actress, has died at the age of 43. Despite her long career in bodybuilding, Thomas is perhaps best known as the subject of the 2005 documentary, Supersize She. The documentary showed Thomas training for the 2004 Ms Olympia competition while dealing with family issues and her work in the adult industry. Thomas was an active competitor in bodybuilding between 1997 and 2013.

Bodybuilding icon Dave Palumbo posted on Instagram saying that Thomas had died on April 27. Palumbo said that Thomas’ cause of death was “unknown.” Palumbo’s wife, Amanda, paid a similar tribute to Thomas saying:

Joanna was a former training partner of mine when she lived in Florida and a very dear friend of almost 18 years. She will be very missed. Thanks for always telling it as it is and being an unconditional friend. Love you Jo. May you now Rest In Peace.

Fellow bodybuilder Isabelle Turell said in her tribute to Thomas that the English native once got them invited to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s birthday dinner.

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Thomas’s Funeral Was Held With Only Immediate Family in Attendance in May 2020

On July 14, Cornwall Live reported that Thomas was found dead inside of her home on April 26. Thomas lived in the town of Camborne in Cornwall in the southeast of England.

A Facebook post from Thomas’s brother said that her funeral was held in Camborne on the 14 of May 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the funeral was only attended by immediate family members. In a separate post about his sister, he referred to Thomas as “a loving daughter, sister, auntie, niece and cousin.” That post ended with the words, “I hope Jo’s life inspires others to pursue their dreams and to aim high with dedication commitment and compassion.”

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Thomas’s Sister Was Also a Champion Bodybuilder

Cornwall Live said in their report that Thomas was a native of the Camborne area and attended the Camborne Science and International Academy. From there, Thomas moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to pursue her bodybuilding career. The Daily Mirror reported that it had been Thomas’s intention to go to nursing school but fell in love with bodybuilding after joining her sister at the gym. In a 2003 interview with Bodybuilding.com, Thomas said that her sister was a British bodybuilding champion who retired in 1998.

At 21, Thomas became the youngest female in her generation to earn a pro card. During her time in the United States, Thomas trained at the famed Golds Gym in Venice, California. On her Instagram page, Thomas said that she returned to the United Kingdom from the United States in 2013.

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Thomas Said on Her GoFundMe Page in 2019 That She Was Struggling to Walk & Had Been Suffering From Mental Health Issues

In 2019, Thomas set up a GoFundMe page in an attempt to get herself back into health and fitness. Thomas mentioned on that page that she had been suffering from mental health issues. Thomas wrote on her page, “I achieved numerous competition successes, including a 1st in the 2001 Jan Tana Classic and competing twice in Ms Olympia in 2001 and 2004 with seventh being my best position to date. The professional bodybuilding career is not always a long one, however I was lucky enough to compete at a high level for a decade. Building the body that I had took a huge amount of hard work and commitment. It was reading, but also punishing, both physically and mentally.”

Thomas said that she was struggling to walk to due osteoarthritis and was in need of a knee operation. Thomas was also seeking money to buy a car. At the time of writing, the page has raised just over $1,500.

According to Thomas’ PornHub profile, she has close to 18,000 views on the site.

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