William baker, md

Dylan Holloway looks back on his time on The X Factor fondly – even though he felt a ‘burning scream’ in the pit of his stomach.

The 31-year-old was one-half of hip-hop duo MK1, along with Simeon Dixon, and reached the live finals under the mentorship of Louis Walsh in 2012.

More than a decade later Dylan told Metro.co.uk hehas finally found his voice as an artist beginning medically transitioning into a man during the pandemic.

‘I finally realised the person I’d become was a caricature that I’d embellished and a bravado for TV,’ he recalled of the moment he started his gender affirmation surgery.

‘I always knew I was a trans guy, but I was on such an autopilot trying to become the person that I thought everyone wanted me to be.

‘I felt I had strayed very far from the path that my life is supposed to be on and I wanted just to return to myself and learn about who I was and make that kind of music again.’