Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas’ nude calendar has raised a gigantic $150,000 for men’s health charity Movember.
Although his mum wasn’t keen originally on the calendar, confused by his want to go nude for charity, Bottas’ calendar has helped raise money for prostate cancer research.
Photographed by German sports photographer Paul Ripke, the initial run 10,000 calendar quickly sold. To meet demand, more were printed to sell more than the expected amount.
[adrotate banner=”10″]
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.
Originating from a set of prints Bottas sold last year, Bottas took to social socal to share his surprise on how successful the project has been.
He said: “Thank you so much for all the support in November,” he wrote. “With the donations and with the calendars we have together raised a substantial amount for Movember – meaning WE have really helped and will affect and save many people’s lives.
“Final figures to be calculated in the next days, but we are talking around $150k of funds raised!”
“It’s mainly for prostate cancer research, so I think it’s for a good cause.”
Speaking earlier, he added: “Last year, when I launched that one photo in Aspen, it was quite popular. And we actually did raise quite a bit of funds. Because I do quite a bit of stuff with Ripke, he’s a good friend, the photographer, and then we started to joke about the idea, ‘Imagine, if there’s the full calendar.’
“And then closer to November, Movember month, we started to think actually, that’s something we could do, something really, really good.
“And we decided that yeah, let’s do it, but for charity. It’s mainly for prostate cancer research, so I think it’s for a good cause.”
Bottas explained he chose Movember due to their strong focus on the subject and his own relation to those who have suffered from prostate cancer.
On top of this, he was keen to suggest Movember’s focus on mental health was also a leading factor on why he chose the charity.
He said: ” I think with men, as well, like Movember, focusing on men’s health, many people do get quite afraid of speaking about those kind of things. And I went like all out, showing myself, trying to be an example. As a human body, you don’t need to be shy.”
Asked about his family’s reaction, he admitted that his mother was not originally convinced by the idea.
[adrotate banner=”10″]
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.
“I did get a message from my mum, like, ‘What is this?’”
He said: I did get a message from my mum, like, ‘What is this?’ She doesn’t really understand English either that well, and she saw some of the videos that I posted, and she was quite confused and protective. Like, ‘Are you sure that’s the path you want to go?’
“So then I explained the charity thing, and so it’s fine. I’ve had questions, people asking like, why did you do that? Like why do you want to show your ass?
“But then when I explained the charity aspect and people kind of get it. And we had so much fun, you can imagine, making that, taking those pictures.
“We had this art gallery on Monday [in Las Vegas] and people who came there, they had no idea what was going to happen.
“And they were so confused when we started to show every print, step-by-step, they were like, ‘What’s happening here?’ But then they kind of got the idea that, okay, it’s funny and for charity. It was good fun.”
[adrotate banner=”10″]
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.