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‘In my brain, I was sexy,’ Gym Class Heroes frontman laughs on the show, airing Saturday at 11 a.m. on MTV. By James Montgomery Travie McCoy Photo: MTV News When he was 17 years old, Travie McCoy wasn’t the long, lean sex machine most know him as today. Quite the opposite, in fact. “Travie McCoy at 17 [was] crafty, artistic, but not sexy at all,” McCoy laughed. “But in my brain, I was sexy.” But pretty much only in his brain. As an oddly proportioned kid growing up in Geneva, New York, McCoy was a gangly mix of dreads, tats, piercings and, of course, more than a little baby fat. It’s the kind of thing he and his Gym Class Heroes mates can look back and laugh at now, but at the time, the situation was downright dire, as you can learn on the next episode of “When I Was 17,” airing Saturday at 11 a.m. on MTV. “When Trav was 17 — I don’t know if he’d want me to tell you guys, but he looked like a hot mess,” laughed Gym Class drummer Matt McGinley, who met McCoy in high school and soon formed the group with him. “Trav kinda was big, tall, was a little pudgier than most kids. He was a pretty gnarly-looking kid at 17.” Of course, as we all know, McCoy overcame his awkward phase and has since gone on to become an emo/hip-hop heartthrob of the highest order — the guy who, at one point, had Katy Perry on his arm . And with his first-ever solo album, Lazarus, due next month, his sex-symbol status can only get bigger. So perhaps it’s a good thing to look back on his old high school photos and laugh a bit. “When Travis was 17, he had no game,” his friend Chelsey laughed. “[He was] very tattooed, dreads, piercing.” “When I Was 17” — this week featuring McCoy, Kris Allen and Kourtney Kardashian — airs Saturday at 11 a.m. on MTV. Related Videos Sneak Peek: ‘When I Was 17’ Episode 5 Related Photos When I Was 17 | Ep. 5 | Celebrity Photo Flashback Related Artists Travie McCoy Gym Class Heroes

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Travie McCoy Recalls His ‘Hot Mess’ Days On ‘When I Was 17’