Jesse Metcalfe Talks About Pressure to Stay Fit During His 'Desperate Housewives' Days

Jesse Metcalfe is opening up about his days as heartthrob John Rowland on the hit ABC series Desperate Housewives and the pressure he felt to remain fit, even when he wasn’t filming.

The actor, now 43, played the constantly shirtless gardener during the first six seasons of the show, which began in 2004.

Click inside to find out what he had to say…

In an interview with i-D, Jesse was asked, “You were positioned as this perfect ideation of masculinity. How did that affect your body image, or sense of self as a whole?”

“Being a sex symbol is very much about the roles that you play and my roles put me up on a pedestal. But my appearance was also criticized and picked apart by a lot of people in the media. Having your shirt off in every episode of Housewives brought a lot of pressure,” Jesse said.

He continued, “You have to stay in the best shape you can and then between projects, everyone expects you to stay in that shape 24/7, 365. That’s not realistic. That’s why paparazzi catch actors between projects looking ‘out of shape’ — they’re taking time off and that includes the gym. You can run your body into the ground working out, not to mention the other things male actors do to stay fit.”

Jesse said the perception affected him getting cast in other projects.

“I was definitely caged by it. The industry tends to think if you look a certain way that’s all you have to offer. The best thing I could’ve done at that time was be patient, which I was not. I did a string of indie films that didn’t work and should’ve kept my nose clean, so to speak. Between jobs I just didn’t know what to do with myself,” he said.

Earlier this year, Jesse left his current show after five seasons.