23 hours Ago By [email protected] (Rose Hill)
It's hard not to notice when Rylan walks into a room. Not only because he towers over you at 6'4, but his loud laugh and easy charm instantly draws attention. "Now if you don't like me, f*** off!" Rylan laughs as he tells the Mirror about how he's changed the way he deals with situations while also keeping the same values since entering the intense glare of the showbiz spotlight.
It's been 12 years since he stepped onto The X Factor stage with the help of Nicole Scherzinger as he engaged in a love-hate relationship with judge Gary Barlow. Since then he's become a constant on TV, hosting everything from radio shows and Strictly It Takes Two to Big Brother and This Morning . "I think over the years I’ve been very lucky with what I’ve done," he tells us as he takes a break from hosting charity event JustGiving Awards on Wednesday evening.
"If you met me before or after The X Factor you’d think he was the f***ing same person! I could have changed really, really easily with the life I’ve got and the bank account that came with it. My mum would hit me [if I lost myself]. There isn’t no way I couldn’t not be grounded from her.
" There are two celebrities that come to mind for Rylan on who changed the trajectory of his life - Nicole Scherzinger and Katie Price . "Nicole, in a sense, because she was the one that chose me in the beginning. I will always hold her dear to me," he says.
"Actually, I look back at before X Factor where I knew Kate very well and still well obviously and I remember her saying how she dealt with ‘Jordan and Kate' and that’s what I took from ‘Rylan and Ross’ and that makes it a lot easier [to deal with the showbiz life]." However, Rylan explains that 'Ross' - his birth name and non-showbiz self - is more prevalent now than it's ever been. "Yeah, I do show a lot more of Ross now than I did in the early days because I’m lazy and I don’t put the Rylan voice on as much.
But 'Rylan' is my armour." Asked if he really does think it's lazy, he replies instantly: "No, it’s clever!" Does he feel more himself now that he's older? "100%. I’m not so conscious of trying to impress everyone and be liked.
Now if you don’t like me - f*** off!" Rylan is blunt when it comes to speaking about certain people in the industry and says there are "abso-f***inglutely" people he can't stand in the showbiz world . Addressing Frankie Bridge's recent remarks about "b******t" she's noticed in the industry, he says: "Yeah, Frankie’s a real one! There are a lot of a***holes, there always has been, there always will be. But hopefully, one day, us nice ones will be able to take over.
" Has he got any advice to anyone wanting to step foot into showbiz? "Don’t do it! Be a doctor! I don’t need the competition," he jokes. "No - just be yourself and don’t be an a***hole." Rylan is the perfect host at the JustGiving Awards , which celebrated extraordinary people raising money and awareness for various charities.
Among the winners was Bridgerton's Jonathan Bailey, who raised over £38,000 in honour of his friend who died from Motor Neurone Disease. Inspirational Maya Tohid also won teen fundraiser of the year after raising over £10,000 by completing 100km of running during her 24 sessions of radiotherapy after being diagnosed with a rare brain tumour in 2023. "All of them being here tonight has just been a dream come true - it just makes you realise how important people are," Rylan said.
"It doesn’t matter if you work on the TV or in a supermarket. None of that matters - people are important and it just goes to show anyone can do what these people have done tonight." Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .
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