Sam Worthington proud of his paunch

Australian actor Sam Worthington has defended his recent weight gain, insisting his paunch is "healthy" and "human".

The Avatar star was photographed earlier this week (beg09Jan12) on a beach in Hawaii sporting a fuller figure and the pictures were published with a headline containing the phrase "Clash of the Xmas puddings", a reference to his role in action movie Clash of the Titans.

However, Sam Worthington is adamant he is proud of his bulging belly, as he "hates" working out at a gym and is happy to have normal body issues.

He tells News.com.au, "Clash of the Xmas puddings, that's good. I like it. I hate working out. I like the fact that I've got a paunch. It's good, I think it's healthy.

"Sometimes all these eight-packs and things you see in the movies, yeah that's all well and good, but I've seen Gerard Butler, he's got a paunch. He's not (in 2007 movie) 300 anymore and there's something kind of nice about it, human."