How did Henry VIII get so many wives when he was so ugly?

Henry was quite attractive and sporty in his youth and did not begin to put on weight until a sports injury slowed him down.

But ugly or not, the fact was he was king, and some women are attracted to men of wealth and power regardless of the man's looks.

There is some evidence that at least some of his wives really liked him.

He was very good-looking in youth. His first wife married him for love. All the rest are kind of doubtful.

Power attracts. But there is no accounting for taste!

he was well built

You didn't say no to the king.

In his youth he was close to 6ft 2, muscular, athletic and handsome. He had a genetic tendency to put on weight, just like his grandfather Edward IV, who was in his day called 'the most handsome prince in Europe.' I am not sure about the 'blow to the head theory', as he always was a show off and had a ruthless streak ( callously executing 2 of his father's hated ministers the moment he became king, when they were only doing miserly old Henry's bidding. Not as if they could refuse)

He was king of england, they were queuing up to marry him! All a woman's job in tudor times was to marry well, and have children,and a king was the best you could get, marriages in those days were political among the upper classes, love did not come into it, parents arranged marriages and the son or daughter would be told who they were going to marry.

Being a powerful king makes a person quite attractive to some.

Henry was considered quite handsome as a young man; as he aged he gained weight, suffered from various illnesses, ageing poorly.

He wasn't always ugly and he was King.

He wasn't and up to his riding accident, from which he never recovered, was considered a very "handsome man". The accident left him with a severely ulcerated leg. Even with today's medical advancements, ulcerated legs are still difficult to treat and 500 years ago, I should imagine, nigh on impossible. He then became morbidly obese and aged considerably, apparently, he didn't "age well", it is also thought that he had syphilis, which would not have enhanced his looks.