A Scouser who appeared on Saturday night's Romeo and Duet hopes to change the ways of mainstream media.
Callum Crighton, originally from Allerton in Liverpool, appeared on the ITV dating show in a bid to find love. He made a lasting impression as he wore a bold pale blue suit with gold eye-catching jewellery and styled his shoulder length blonde tresses in tight curls.
The Liverpudlian also rocked a unibrow, which he admitted to using as a pick up line on dating apps. But as well as looking super stylish on the show and hoping to go home with a date, Callum also hoped to change the way that people think about those who are slightly different.
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Speaking about being approached to appear on the show, Callum told the Liverpool ECHO that he had reservations about it at first. He said: "I'm a musician so I didn't want people to think that I was selling me out by going on television. But then I decided it could be a really great opportunity to get myself in front of the general public, who normally wouldn't see me.
He continued: "Saturday night TV is normally predominately watched by families, teenage kids who can't go out yet and that. It's more of the general public compared to the kind of circles that I move in.
"So I thought it was a good opportunity to represent the fact that you can be different, you can be bold and you can be queer. You can have a different style, like have a unibrow and do whatever you want. You're still a normal person, not this scary, illusive, 18 plus figure that can't be seen on Saturday night television."
Callum said that since appearing on the show he unfortunately received a lot of online hate from internet trolls. He said: "I got quite a lot of hate on Twitter, by people making fun of the way I look and homophobic people."
But he managed to put a positive spin on it as he said: "But, I also got a lot of love. And to be honest, I always think I would go through a million people sending me horrible messages if I could just have one or two teenagers who are going to grow up to be queer or LGBTQ+ and see me on the telly and be like 'oh I can do that'.
"I think it's worth it. I really want to be visible but not for the reasons of personal gain. It's because when I was growing up I didn't have anyone like me to look up to.
"There are gay people in the media, such as Graham Norton, and there are plenty of drag queens. But there aren't any just happy, queer adults who aren't a drag queen or a gay guy in a suit with a beard.
"I think there's a gap for someone like me. There's going to be a lot of kids growing up who are going to turn out like me one day and I would love to just let them know that you can exist as a happy, queer adult."
The singer said that since appearing on the show he had received support from "lovely" host Oti Mabuse. The presenter had shared one of his Instagram posts as she said: "Love always wins."
Callum said that Romeo and Duet is offering a "big step forward" in mainstream media, even by having Oti as the presenter. He said: "A woman of colour holding a prime time Saturday night spot and hosting alone is something that is normally unheard of. Normally it's straight white men such as Ant and Dec or Dermot O'Leary. So the fact that Oti is doing it, I think it is such a big step forward in terms of representation and giving other people a chance to really shine."
"I think that's why there's such a stigma towards people like me, because I think general families aren't exposed to people like me. Doing things like this is a great way to ease people into the idea that queer people are all around us and we're actually just really normal."
Callum said that Romeo and Duet might not be the last that we see of him in the public eye. While he couldn't reveal too much, he did tell the ECHO that he had been working on a music video for the official cover for the song that he sang on the show - Hungry Like the Wolf.
The video also features his close friends singer Zuzu and ITV The Responder's Emily Fairn. To keep up to date with Callum's next ventures, visit his Instagram.
Romeo and Duet returns on ITV and ITV Hub on Saturday at 7pm
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