Mark Foster strips for charity

Mark Foster stripped off to have his torso painted to promote ActionAid's first PoverTee Day.

The Olympic swimmer - whose muscly chest won him many admirers on celebrity reality show Strictly Come Dancing - posed topless while a T-shirt was painted on to him to help promote the campaign on Friday June 26.

Foster said: "It's like having a bit of a pamper session and massage, it was tickly in parts ­ it was particularly tickly over the nipples."

He added: "The hardest thing was standing still for a couple of hours. I could move my lower body and mouth but I had to keep my upper body really still.

"I wasn't self conscious. I'm used to standing in front of thousands of people in my swimming trunks so having two women painting me was no problem."

The aim of the day is to raise awareness and money for global poverty and hunger by asking people across the UK to simply donate £2 for wearing T-shirts for the day.

All money raised will go to vital ActionAid projects such as school meals for poor children in Malawi, irrigation programmes for struggling farmers in Ethiopia or emergency food aid during droughts in Kenya.

Foster said: "I know times are tough but you'd easily spend £2 on a cup of coffee. If you give it to Action Aid instead you can give a child in Bangladesh a healthy breakfast for a month.

"It's a small amount for us but it will make a huge difference to children and families living in poverty in Africa, Asia and the Americas."