A Britain’s Got Talent star who wowed judges 10 years ago has come out as trans and officially changed their name.
Ashley Gray, who you may better know as Gabz from the ITV talent show, reached the Britain’s Got Talent finals back in 2013.
The then 13-year-old impressed the judges performing self-penned rap track The One, which later reached number six in the UK charts.
Now a decade later the singer has shared some “exciting news” with his 110,000 TikTok followers.
Using the pronouns he/him, Ash said: “So, if you didn’t know, I’m trans and I’ve been waiting on the gender clinic waiting list for quite a while.
“I waited seven months and then yesterday I had my first appointment, which is really exciting.”
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The now 23-year-old continued: “It went really well, I mean I just cried the whole time, but it went really well.
“Which means I’m going to be able to change the name on my passport and my gender mark on my passport, which is exciting.”
Ash – whose TikTok name is Ash Gray songs - revealed he officially changed his name to Ashley a couple of months ago.
Explaining the journey he had been on and what is next to come, Ash said: “I feel like a lot of the waiting around for the stuff is money problems.
“It’s so expensive, so going through the NHS it is free. I feel like I’m going to have updates soon on when I can start T (treatment).
“I’ll have to see how long it’s going to be for top surgery, because hopefully I won’t have to fundraise any more for that. Hopefully I’ll be able to do it through the NHS.
“I’m just really excited and I will keep you guys updated now because I feel like I’m actually getting somewhere with this.”
Ending the two-minute video, Ash said: “Love you guys, thanks for all the love and support on my last video. Bye!”
Fans showed their support in the comments, which left an overwhelmed but happy Ash “crying on the bathroom floor” from the outpouring of love.
One follower wrote: “Proud of u watching u on bgt years ago your doing amazing can’t wait to see your journey as a new u x.”
Another said: “Well done Ashley be proud you are what you are and we love you xx”
A third said: “I’m so proud of youuu!!!! You can see how much this means to you.”
While a fourth added: “This made my day (which has been pretty rough) Congratulations!!!!!x”
A year ago Ash “reintroduced” himself on Instagram, writing: “If you didn’t know I’m nonbinary & this journey has been really confusing for me & I’m sure for some of u too.
“I’ve decided being nonbinary is no longer going to be a burden for. me or hold me back or keep me hiding.
“I wanna be myself 100% authentically always! Hopefully in the future loads of kids like me won’t have to grow up so confused not fitting any labels.”
At the time he said people could still cause him Gabz, which was his stage/artist name – but he since looks to have changed all his social media profiles to Ash Gray.
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