SATIN STEELE:
Bodybuilding's Brightest Star

As recently as 1990, we here at Female Physique magazine knew she'd be a star, but we had no idea she'd shine so brightly.
As East Coast editor at the time, I had submitted several pictures from a regional contest in Florida, the Orlando/Orange County Classic. FP saw fit, for reasons of space and perceived reader interest, to run only picture from that show... but what a picture! In her first physique contest, a former gymnast named Janet Steele stunned the audience and judges with a solid, muscular physique, an electrifying, acrobatic posing routine and a charisma that easily bridged the distance between the stage and her audience.

Look at the photo of the heavyweights' lineup at that contest, published here for the first time. Half of the lineup consists of the area's "veterans", women who've put three or more contests under their belts and are ready to crack the national level on their way to pro status... yet Janet looks like a pro planted in a lineup of novices. And this after only seven months of weight training!
One year and three contests later, she had assumed her nom de sport of "Satin Steele", and began establishing what would become an amazing record of wins. She still holds the title of bodybuilding's winningest athlete; in 27 contests out of 28 she's never placed lower than second, and has failed only twice to take the overall award after winning her weight class.
In an exclusive interview conducted two months after Satin's first Ms. Ultima try, I asked her about that remarkable record.

FP: So, where does the record stand now?
SATIN: Gosh, let's see... I always have to stop and think about it! (laughs) I think it's 9 second place awards, 18 first places and 16 overalls. And the one last-place finish.[She's correct - ed.]
FP: An amazing record! That's quite a few, too: 27 contests in 8 years! Most competitors are lucky to do one or two a year. How do you keep up a pace like that?
SATIN: Well, my "secret" for that - if you can call it a secret - is that I watch my weight and my diet very carefully all year 'round. I don't let myself get fat between contests; since I'm doing a contest every three or four months I don't really have an "off-season", but I never let myself get more than ten to fifteen pounds heavier than my contest weight. I think that's why so many girls have trouble being in more than one or two contests a year; they have to diet so severely after gaining so much weight that it's a strain on their systems.
FP: The only major title that's eluded you so far is the big one... the Ms. Ultima. In fact, you made news when, in your first Ms. U appearance, you came closer than anyone else to dethroning then-4 time winner Eve Coriander. Do you think if you'd dieted more stringently or maybe eliminated just a little more water or something, you'd have kept Eve from her fifth Ms. U?
SATIN: I thought so at first, when the announcements were made and I came in second. But after seeing the scores, and seeing that I'd missed the title by only two points, I was mystifed. What did Eve do or I didn't do that caused the judges to think she was that tiny bit better than me? 'Cause I felt then, and still do, that I was pretty damn sharp that night! Best shape of my career... until next time, that is!
FP: There are those who've said that Eve's latest win was political, that she won over you because she was better known within the sport, and that the judges didn't want to award bodybuilding's top women's title to a first-timer no matter how great she looks.
SATIN: I've heard that too; I've gotten several fan letters and spoken to several fans in person who've all told me I deserved to win. While I do appreciate all the support... and I do agree I should've won (laughs)... that kind of second-guessing isn't really very productive. If it isn't true, it's unfair to the judges who are trying to make a difficult decision between two very closely-matched physiques. And if it's true that the judges are using criteria other than what they see on stage to make their decisions, then it's unfair to the contestants. And it's also unfair to Eve herself, if she won not because she's really the best bodybuilder but only because she's the best-known or most popular or whatever.
FP: Speaking of "next time"... in the face of that kind of uncertainty as far as judging goes, how will you be preparing for the next Ms. Ultima?
SATIN: Same as for any other contest. I just make sure I'm as good as I can be and not worry about others.
FP: I certainly agree that you looked fantastic that night. But sitting here now, at least to me you look equally fantastic now. What's different about you now than from when you're in contest shape?
SATIN: [thinks a moment] Well, the best example I can show you is my abs. [Standing up, she hikes up her blouse to just below her breasts with one hand, and pulls the front of her shorts down about two inches to reveal her abs, which she then flexes.] My abs aren't quite as sharp as they could be; right now they're a little blurry.
FP: Satin, I don't see it! They look ripped to me.
SATIN: Well, thanks, but I see it. Plus when I'm really ripped I've got this vein that runs up along here [tracing a path up her abs with her finger] out of my bikini. A lot of guys write me to say that vein's a real turn-on for them. But then I get mail from a lot of guys who say they love my overall vascularity.
FP: Your strategy of staying close to contest shape year-round helps your career off-stage, doesn't it?
SATIN: Oh, yes! I've been told a number of times that I was hired for a particular photo shoot or whatever because they knew I'd show up hard, ripped and vascular. Plus, I contend I'm the busiest guest poser in the sport today because when the fans come to see me, they're seeing me in 90 to 95 percent of my contest condition. I'm very proud of that!
FP: As well you should be! Although we do get a few letters here at FP, especially in the video division, from people who'd like to see you in a fuller, heavier form.
SATIN: Well... as much as I'd like to oblige all my fans, I can't really say that I understand the appeal of that. I see so many women come in ripped to shreds for a show, then a month later they've gained twenty pounds and all that great definition is gone! Sure, her arms might be an inch or two bigger, but you look too soft at that stage! I like looking ripped and hard all the time, and I like to think most of my fans do too. Now... I wouldn't object to gaining twenty pounds of good quality muscle! [laughter]
FP: Let's go back to the beginning. How did you get started in bodybuilding?
SATIN: Well... I was a gymnast in junior high and high school. Devoted practically my entire life to it... managed to keep good grades, but never had time for a social life... but I thought it was all going to be worth it when I qualified to compete on the U.S. Gymnastics Team at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea. Up to that point, that was the proudest moment of my life, especially since I'd had to put up with a lot of crap during my career about how I "wasn't a good representative" of women's gymnastics because I was "too tall", "too muscular", "too heavy" (I only weighed 115 lbs. at 5' 1" when I was sixteen, for cryin' out loud!), even heard from one official that my bust was too big! So I felt exonerated in a way when I qualified for the team, because I was that good a gymnast! Then...
[At this point, Satin fell very quiet. The interview was obviously taking a direction that was disturbing to her.]
FP: Would you... like to continue this interview at another time...
SATIN: No! No, I'll... I'll be fine...
FP: Your experiences in gymnastics caused quite a bit of pain, it seems.
SATIN: Yes, it did... but that's not what gets me upset when I think about those times...
FP: Take your time. When you're ready, just tell your story.
SATIN: You sound like a therapist!
[The laughter lightens the somber mood somewhat, and Satin is able to proceed.]
It was the day that I was to leave for the airport to meet the rest of the gymnastics team, to catch the plane for Seoul. My dad, my mom and my brother Johnny were coming along to see me off. I remember being very excited about everything in my life... I'd just graduated from high school, top ten percent of the class, I was going to compete in the Olympics, it was supposed to be my first trip to a foreign country.
Then, out of nowhere, this 18-wheeler came plowing across the median... I remember this horrble noise as the car was being thrown for what seemed like miles through space... and the next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital with a cast on my leg.
FP: My God!! What happened?
SATIN: Well... basically what happened was my world had been shattered to pieces. The crash had broken my leg... both bones in the lower leg, and a hairline fracture in the femur, the thigh bone. The cast went from my ankle all the way to my hip... had to wear that goddamn thing for three months. So there went my shot at Olympic gold.
But then I got the really bad news... that my dad was killed in that crash, and Johnny's back was broken; he wound up paralyzed from the waist down.
FP: That... that must've been a rough time for you.
SATIN: It was. ...But your readers are more interested in how this led to a career in bodybuilding.
FP: If you're willing to continue...
SATIN: Of course. Anyway, like I said, I had to wear that cast for about three months. My right leg shrank down to practically nothing! The physical therapist... I didn't actually have any trouble walking again, but they assigned me a PT anyway... the PT suggested I take up weight training as a way of getting the sizes of my legs to match. Even suggested Southside Gym, since Katie the owner only charged by the month, no long term contracts.
FP: And that's when the bodybuilding bug bit you?
SATIN: Well, I have Katie to thank for that... or blame as the case may be! (laughs) She's become one of my best friends; she saw my potential right away. I'd see pictures of female bodybuilders every once in a while, in a magaine or something, during high school. I'd thought it was pretty cool, women having muscles, but it wasn't something I saw myself doing. I was already pretty muscular from gymnastic, I had these broad shoulders and thick thighs, and I was always getting razzed about it. Guys always pinching my arms, wanting to see my biceps, then telling me "girls aren't supposed to have muscles"! But that was also about the time I met Matt, who's always been very supportive, bless his heart.
FP:So it was Katie who first encouraged you to be an actual bodybuilder?
SATIN: For the most part, yeah. After my leg filled out, Katie put me on a special nutrition and training regimen. I found out I liked the feel lifting, of pitting my strength against heavy weights, of feeling myself getting stronger and stronger. Then, when I saw my muscles getting bigger... that was it. I was hooked. In my first three months of training I put on, I think it was like twenty pounds of muscle.
FP: Wow!
SATIN: Yeah! Katie said she'd never seen anyone, man or woman, get so big so fast. She said I had the most perfect genetics for muscle building she'd ever seen. So, about six months after I began training, Katie suggested I enter the Orlando/Orange County Classic. I won the heavyweight class and the overall.
FP: First time out of the chute!
SATIN: Yeah!
FP: How much did you weigh at the time?
SATIN: Ummm.... about 137. Up from 119 when I first entered the gym. With 15 1/2-inch upper arms!
FP: And the rest, as they say, is history. How about the future? Where do you see women's bodybuilding headed?
SATIN: First of all, I have to thank Female Physique magazine for continuing to support women's bodybuilding so enthusiastically, at a time when it seems the other bodybuilding mags are abandoning us for the "fitness" crowd. Now, I have nothing against the fitness competitors or the fitness contests, but I do resent the attitude I feel from a lot of people that real women's bodybuilding should just shut down and go away because "everyone" likes the fitness contests better. First of all, if you talk to as many people outside the sport as I do, you find out that even the "fitness women" are too muscular for most people's tastes.
Second, the prize money has to improve; or at least let's see some parity between what the men and the women are awarded. There's absolutely no excuse why the top prize in the Ms. Ultima to be half what the top men's prize is. Even with interest in women's bodybuilding supposedly waning, our audiences are easily as large as the men's shows.
Finally, but just as importantly: the judging criteria has got to be consistent. Flexibility to meet changing times is all right, but this indecision over whether to judge muscularity or "femininity", whatever that is... as though a woman can't be both!This attitude of rating a woman down for being "too" muscular... it's just ridiculous! No other sport puts limits on how much its athletes can achieve! Does the NBA tell Grant Hill he's not allowed to score more than 30 points a game? Or the NFL tell Daunte Culpepper not to throw passes longer than 55 yards? So if I want to explore the limits of my abilities and see if I can develop 20-inch biceps, as long as I'm keeping my physique proportional, who the hell are the judges or the federations to say I'm going too far?
FP: Whew! Something you obviously feel very strongly about!
SATIN: Yeah. Don't get me started!!
Actually, I think I may be leaning a little hard on bodybuilding. I was starting to see the same attitudes forming in gymnastics.
FP: What do you mean?
SATIN: It's part of why I abandoned gymnastics and embraced bodybuilding. I was actually visited in the hospital by an official of the gymnastics committee, expressing her "condolences" that I wasn't going to realize my dream of winning Olympic gold. When I said I could try again in four years, I was actually told to my face that the federation was not going to support my trying to make the Olympic team again!
FP: What?
SATIN: She said there were people in the ruling bodies who were relieved that I wasn't going to compete this year because I was "too old" - at eighteen!! In four years at the '92 Olympics I would be 22 years old, and the federations only want to support 13 and 14 year olds. That was when I realized there was no future for anyone who wanted to continue to compete in gymnastics as an adult. I could become an instructor, or an official and carry on the tradition of discouraging all but the youngest from continuing to compete.
FP: I'm surprised they'd be so blunt.
SATIN: Well, it was a blessing in disguise. In bodybuilding I found the perfect outlet for the athleticism and the theatricality I'd been developing in gymnastics all those years. In fact, my routine at my first contest was adapted from the floor routine I would've used at in Seoul. And when I saw that there were women in the sport who were in their 40s and still competing... well, that decided where my future loyalties would lie.
FP: Well, gymnastics' loss is indeed bodybuilding's gain. Speaking of gains, do you intend to develop 20-inch biceps?
SATIN: Like I said, I intend to explore my limits, and hopefully exceed them. Maybe it will mean 20-inch biceps. (She raises her arms in a double biceps pose) They're at almost 18 inches now, so I'm only two inches away. "Only"! (laughs) I remember I gained an inch and a half on my upper arms in six months; but it's taken me the next seven years or so to gain the next two and a half inches. My arms have only been eighteen inches for about a year, and I'm frustrated now that they haven't gotten any bigger. (smiles) But I'll find a way!
FP: And we'll be watching.
In the past you've been reluctant to talk about the... "other" activities for which you've become famous lately...
SATIN: You mean, the "heroine" stuff.
FP: Why does that embarrass you to talk about it?
SATIN: Because I honestly don't see what's the big deal. I'm surely not the only one who sees that in certain circumstances someone needs to do something to help people in trouble. I just usually jump in and do it.
FP: Yet in most of these cases, you're the only one who will.
SATIN: Doesn't speak well for the rest of humanity, does it?
FP: Well... it certainly speaks well for your selflessness and courage.
SATIN: Courage? Are you kidding? Most times I'm scared s--tless! Oops, can I say that?
FP: We can edit that out. I've always felt that courage is the ability to "feel the fear, and do it anyway."
SATIN: "Feel the fear and do it anyway." I like that. It certainly describes me.
FP: Anyway, you have to admit that most of the "situations" you find yourself in aren't exactly normal!
SATIN: Yeah, you got that right. It isn't every day you have to face down a 100 million year old dinosaur skeleton that's been brought back to life by a clandestine terrorist group!
But I still think the media's blown it out of proportion. The fact that I happened to be in my stage costume [Satin's trademark white bikini posing suit and pink cape - ed.] a couple of times when these things happened made me look like a comic-book heroine, I guess. Great video for the 11 o'clock news!
FP: But the publicity certainly hasn't hurt your career.
SATIN: It's really been a double-edged sword. There are people out there... not many, thank goodness, but enough to be nuisances... who think I staged these dangerous situations myself, just as publicity stunts!
FP: Well, there are people who still believe the earth is flat.
SATIN: On the other hand, a lot of people do come to see me at my personal appearances because they've seen me on TV or in the paper, who otherwise wouldn't follow bodybuilding. And I have managed to turn a few people on to bodybuilding.
FP: So it all works out for the best after all.
SATIN: Yeah, I guess it does. I'd still rather be famous for being the world's best female bodybuilder than for being some sort of "superheroine".

Back to "Satin Steele" home page