By the time Nick Davis steps onto the competition floor in Trainer Games, he’s already breaking barriers.
The New York City–based endurance trainer, fitness coach and former Broadway performer is the only out LGBTQ competitor on the new Amazon Prime Video reality competition series, which debuted Jan. 8. For Davis, the moment is bigger than winning challenges or proving his physical strength, it’s about visibility in a space where he says gay men are still largely unseen.
“I think there are two different conversations,” Davis said during an exclusive interview with Gayety. “There’s the fitness industry, and then there’s sports.”
While Davis acknowledges that queer visibility has improved in certain corners of fitness, particularly among social media influencers and boutique training spaces, he believes representation drops off sharply when it comes to competitive and professional athletics.
“When it comes to male sports, the representation is nowhere to be found,” he said. “There’s quite literally zero representation.”
Davis, who grew up in Needham, Massachusetts, brings a unique background to Trainer Games. Before becoming a fitness coach, he spent nearly a decade performing onstage, including as a cast member in the Broadway national tour of Cats. That foundation in endurance, discipline and performance now fuels his approach to functional fitness, HIIT and strength training.
Over the past five years, Davis has built a coaching style rooted in inclusivity and confidence, emphasizing what bodies can do rather than how they look. That mindset aligns closely with the premise of Trainer Games, a new competition series presented by iFIT.
Unlike traditional fitness competitions, Trainer Games is not solely about speed, brute strength or finishing first. Over six episodes, competitors face physically and mentally demanding challenges designed to test leadership, empathy and resilience. The ultimate goal is to identify one individual with the “x-factor” to become the next fitness superstar, someone who can inspire others along the way. The winner receives a life-changing deal with iFIT.
For Davis, the show also served as a gateway into the broader world of competitive sports, and an eye-opening one.
“Since doing the show, I’ve done an Ironman 70.3, and I’ve got a very exciting marathon coming up,” he said. “I’m getting into the world of sports and realizing that the representation is really not there. Not at all.”
That lack of visibility, Davis believes, has real consequences for gay men who may be questioning whether there’s a place for them in competitive athletics.
He pointed to the broader cultural conversation sparked by recent queer-centered sports stories entering the mainstream, noting that representation doesn’t need to be perfect to be meaningful.
“Anytime something branches away from just a queer audience into the mainstream, it can only do good things,” Davis said. “I love that we’re all talking about it.”
Davis also weighed in on the cultural conversation sparked by Heated Rivalry, a recent sports-centered series that has ignited debate over whether queer narratives can truly move the needle for LGBTQ athletes in professional leagues.
While he stopped short of making definitive claims, Davis pushed back on the idea that such stories are ineffective. He pointed out that the series has gained attention well beyond LGBTQ audiences, with straight male fitness influencers openly discussing it online. For Davis, that crossover visibility matters. “Anytime something branches away from just a queer audience into the mainstream, it can only do good things,” he said, adding that the fact people are talking about the show at all is a step toward normalizing queer athletes in competitive sports spaces.
As Trainer Games prepares to introduce Davis to a global audience, his presence alone sends a message, that gay men belong not just in fitness spaces, but in competitive sports, leadership roles and prime-time television.
Trainer Games is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
