By Howard Koplowitz
Tony Catanzaro, an Ozone Park personal trainer, bodybuilder and fitness model whose buff physique has been featured on the covers of romance novels, is one of 24 finalists in Redbook magazine's America's Hottest Husband contest.Catanzaro's wife Tina wrote a 500-word essay explaining why her husband was hot after seeing an ad in December's Redbook. A month later, she received a call from the magazine notifying her that her husband was a finalist.”Besides how he treats me, he's just a wonderful person,” said Tina, 40. “He helps anybody, anywhere. He'd give the shirt off his back. He deserves all the good that he gives out.”Tony said most men who work out do so for selfish reasons, but that he chooses to inspire people.”Most guys, they just want to lift weights and look good,” he said. “They're not giving anything back. There's more to me than just a pretty face. I can do everything myself. I do all my cooking. I get my hands dirty. I even cut my own hair.”The couple, who have been together since 1993, first met when they both tried to go to a nightclub that turned out to be closed. They wound up meeting each other at another club, where Tony entered a hot body contest.”When I saw him smile, I thought, 'That guy's gorgeous',” Tina said.A half hour later, Tony approached Tina.”I went to my friend Nick, 'The most beautiful woman in the world is looking at me,'” Tony recalled. “I met her right after my mother passed away. I feel like she's a gift from my mother. A gift from above.”It was love at first sight from there.”The night I met [Tina] back in 1993, the way I looked at her that night, I still look at her today,” said Tony. “Like Rocky and Adrian, you know?”Tony said he would win many hot body contests that he entered. “They used to kick me out because I'd win so much,” he said.He started working out when he was 15. “I got a bench for my birthday and then I bought some weights. I've been working out ever since,” Tony said, noting that he established his physique without any outside help.”I never had a trainer. I never had a nutritionist. I did everything from trial and error,” said Tony, who named Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone as his idols.He has since established a personal training business out of his Ozone Park home, where he works with six clients in 15 to 20 one-hour sessions a week.”I'm not just a personal trainer, but a life motivator,” Tony said. “My main goal in life is to get people in shape – physically and mentally. I like to get people's fire started for some reason. I feel like that's my calling.”Online voting for America's Hottest Husband is underway at Redbook.com and runs until March 18.Should he win, Tony said, “I think it would help me help the world and get my name out there more. If people realize what I'm all about, that would help me conquer my goal in life.”With the support of his wife, Tony has been reaching out for votes.”I feel positive about [winning],” he said. “I have a bigger campaign than Obama.”Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
