Jean-Claude Van Damme hosts press conference in grey tracksuit and hotel slippers

Jean-Claude Van Damme is one of the biggest action stars of all time thanks to movie classics like Universal Soldier and Bloodsport.

And shortly after touching down in Australia on Thursday, the 59-year-old movie star raised eyebrows as he hosted a press conference in Sydney.

Bizarrely, the ‘Muscles from Brussels’ was wearing hotel slippers for the occasion. 

The Belgian actor was dressed casually in grey tracksuit pants with a matching zip-up hoodie for the press call.

He wore a navy blue T-shirt underneath with the words ‘Keep calm and know we survived the co-op’.

Jean-Claude also wore a black baseball cap from his line of merchandise ‘JCVD’ and a pair of dark shades to shield his eyes. 

After taking questions from the media, the martial arts expert gave them an unexpected thrill as he performed a karate kick for the waiting photographers.

Jean-Claude enjoyed immense international fame in the 1990s, heading up such successes as Lionheart, Double Impact – where he played twins – and Hard Target.

He also starred in the film version of Street Fighter, alongside Australian pop sensation Kylie Minogue. 

More recent gigs include roles in The Expendables 2 and voice-over work on Kung Fu Panda 3.

Jean-Claude will take to the stage at the Wesley Conference Centre in Sydney on Friday and the Convention Centre in Melbourne next Wednesday for a live ‘in conversation’ show.  

Tickets are still available for the event through Ticketmaster, with some lucky fans being able to buy the opportunity to party with the actor – for a price of $1,199.