NFL Hall of Famer Troy Aikman has some very famous neighbors at his home in northern California — but their paths haven’t crossed yet.
In an exclusive interview with Luxury Handbag Shopping, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, 58, said he’s been spending part of his summer at his property in Montecito, near the residence of Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle.
“I haven’t run into them,” Aikman said, while speaking to Us about his EIGHT Elite Light Beer. “But they are there, from what I can gather. I think anyone with a heartbeat knows that they’re out there. But I’m not hanging with them, that’s for sure.”
Aikman joked, “I don’t think they’re drinking much light beer.”
While he might not be sharing any cold ones with the Duke, 40, and Duchess, 43, this summer, Aikman explained how he still manages to enjoy a few beers while being in “the best shape of my life.”
“I’m more mindful of what I’m eating and what I’m consuming,” Aikman said of his dedication to health and wellness. “No processed foods. Those who know me know I love beer. But those who know me know I also love to work out. They thought, well, isn’t that a contradiction of your lifestyle? Instead, I think it’s a total compliment because I really do feel like life has to be celebrated.”
Aikman, who retired in 2001 after 12 seasons with the Cowboys, admitted that there’s “no question” it’s gotten harder to stay in shape as he’s gotten older — which has led to him trying out some unconventional methods.
“A lot of players give it up when they retire just because they’ve been doing it their entire lives,” Aikman, who now works as the color analyst on ESPN’s Monday Night Football explained. “It is a real commitment. For me, I hate the word obsessed — it’s almost like perfectionism. I have been pretty consumed in my health and wellness as I’ve learned more.”
He continued, “I’ve done all the biohacking stuff. I don’t even want to begin telling you how many hours it takes of my day, between workouts, saunas, cold plunges, hyperbaric chambers, all of it.”
As for EIGHT Elite Light Beer, named after the jersey number Aikman wore with the Cowboys, the low calorie, low carb brand recently unveiled its new slim can for easy summer drinking.
“I think there is this trend towards wanting to be healthier that has never really been applied to the alcohol space,” Aikman argued. “If you go down any aisle in the grocery store, there is a ‘better for you’ section in every aisle it seems. With EIGHT, there is now [that aisle] within the beer cooler.”
He continued, “We list our ingredients on our packaging. We have three ingredients: water, malt and hops. We’re additive free and people are beginning to understand what that means. They don’t want all the syrups and sugars and all that added stuff. That’s really why I made the beer to begin with.”
Aikman and his Monday Night Football broadcast partner, Joe Buck, star in a new ad campaign for EIGHT. In a recently-released commercial, which aired during the NBA Finals, Aikman boasts about the additive-free nature of the beer with some comedic relief from Buck.
“We’re building a lot of momentum,” Aikman said of the brand. “We continue to hone in on our messaging. We’ve improved our packaging since we first launched. At the end of last year, we came out with a long neck bottle, which was a real game changer for us. I’m actually someone who prefers beer in a bottle, if not on draft. So that was a big move. And now we’ve launched the slim can and shot some commercials, as well, that have started to air.”
The new slim can is available wherever you can find EIGHT Elite Light Beer. For more information, visit eightbeer.com.
