Former X Factor contestant Dylan Holloway has opened up about his transition, saying coming out as a transgender man has helped him “celebrate his old self”.
Dylan, 31, says he knew he was trans from about the age of three, often wishing he could dress “like the other boys” and felt like a “caricature” as a teenager when trying “to be a girl”. In 2012, he auditioned for show with friend Simeon Dixon as the duo MK1 and wowed fans.
After deciding to quit the band in 2014, he went solo, he came out as trans in 2020, had top surgery and started taking testosterone, which initially meant he could not sing in lower or higher ranges and had to stop performing. Almost two years on, his voice “settled” and he felt his new lower voice was better than ever, so decided to create “male and female” duets between his past and present selves under the name Dylan and the Moon.
Dylan, who went by the name of Lots while performing on the ITV show, said: “I think my past self would be really proud of my duets, and I think they would be grateful that I didn’t let go of my past. During my transition, I was going to take all of my music offline and remove everything and start a new life as Dylan. But my mum being an absolute legend said it’s a beautiful part of your life, don’t throw everything away, you might regret it.
“I listened to her and I realised that version of me got me through my darkest times, so to put them in a box and hide them in the shadows would have been an utterly cruel decision to make. I started to celebrate my old self and being really compassionate to that version of myself.”
Dylan “knew (he) was trans” when he was about three years old, always wanting to wear “stereotypically boy clothes” and play with Hot Wheels. He explained: “I used to say things to my parents like, ‘Why don’t you dress me like the other boys?'”
As a teenager he tried “really hard to be a girl” and did “difficult things” like wearing makeup and having his hair straightened by friends, but he soon realised he was “playing a caricature”. At 17, then known by his former name, Lots, he moved to London to pursue music and join a band.
Looking ahead, Dylan hopes his upcoming documentary, which does not have a release date yet, will “challenge people’s views” about trans people. He also dreams of being on BBC’s Later…with Jools Holland to perform one of his songs with the “old version” of him being “projected on to the stage” while he is singing.
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