he won't do that. He just lives for his wife and kids.
It's an act, I'd be massively surprised if he doesn't have some awakening in the interrogation room before the show is up. If you watch his career especially the last 5 or so years he's a hugely predictable person how he speaks and acts.
I don't think it's an act. He has demons and now no outlet to work towards and periodically release the built up pressure from. He's also had a mess of a relationship with his dad, which is something that will haunt him very probably for the rest of his life. The fuel from a messed up past not used in the correct manner is a primed timebomb that just needs the right flashpoints to trigger it, which is why Ant mentioned what he did and honed in on road rage, where you're more likely to already be wound up before a direct confrontation.
Bellew, like so many retired sportsmen, needs to find an outlet that replaces decades of routine and coping mechanisms. That's tough even for those who aren't fuelled by rage and are just bored, but even more tasking when you've not dealt with the issues that very probably aided him and brought the successes to his sporting life.
I get what you're saying, and Bellew is a bunch of verbal cliches, but his mannerisms and non verbal actions are big tells and insight into what he is, or is trying to deal with, in this show, imo. I said to the OH he's on the edge early on in the episode where they all duffed him up, and he let slip some terrible choice words (really calling other participants cnuts and what have you) and lashed out in a way, as a former world champion, he should be ashamed of. Nevermind for show, as for show, you rarely see that kind of behaviour from the normal show, and when you do (they had the Geordie one who'd lost his brother do the same) it always revolves around deep-seated issues that overspill and manifest as we see. If Bellew acted that, then
Creed won't be his only Hollywood gig!
If you're around enough powder kegs, I think the mannerisms are quite easily identifiable; Bellew's status doesn't belie what he is carrying with him and I actually think the affable, intentionally insufferable and mouthy scouser is
the act and persona - we've seen him basically be a terrible team-mate, using physical and verbal intimidation in every challenge that requires controlled aggression, snarling at those who fail and having terrible levels of empathy (compounding feelings of failure at the worst possible time) again nothing to do with words
to camera or hamming, but rather him showing himself not being, let's say, in the best state of mind. The insights into his psyche along with Joey, Fash and the athlete girl revealed sides to them I think they would rather people not know about - the above definitely is oil to water as far as Bellew the fight promoter is to the guy who looks like he needs nary a reason to kick off.
Fash tries his best not to look unhinged, but every time he's on TV, he further confirms he's clearly not altogether there.
Joey, when all the layers are stripped back, is an extremely self-centered individual, who understandably prefers to go it alone and have faith only in himself. The lovable idiot who doesn't know anything about anything that is basically TV gold for those who laugh at him, shows his real self when under duress. Not that that's bad, just that it's different from the generalised perception of him.
If you can be arsed, re-watch the episodes or flashpoints and see how much overlap you actually think there is between the Bellew in this show and the Bellew you've seen even in those The Gloves Are Off pre-fight hype jobs, where acting out could be an avenue to sell the show.
For me, it's a marked difference. I'm taking away from this show that Bellew better find something to replace boxing, pronto. I actually found Bellew the fight seller the more fraudulent than the one we're seeing here, personally. If this show was used with intention of projecting an image, the one he's put forth would be more embarrassing than anything - lashing out indiscriminately and even having women in that crossfire, is surely not the 'look' he'd be going for.
