The 20-year-old earned a standing ovation for his rendition of All I Want

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Transgender singer Felix Shepherd won enthusiastic support from all four X-Factor judges on Saturday with an emotional performance on the ITV talent show.

“I’m here to prove I’m more than just a transgender guy, and we can be overlooked. I live a normal life – I sleep in too late, I annoy my mum – I’m just an everyday sort of person,” Shepherd said.

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The 20-year-old songwriting student from Birmingham earned a standing ovation from the audience when he sang Kodaline’s All I Want. He told Simon Cowell and fellow judges, Robbie Williams, Ayda Field and Louis Tomlinson, that he had been born Emily and had then undergone private treatment paid for by his mother, a nurse.

The transition resulted in the loss of his high singing voice, he said. “Obviously my voice has dropped, I had to adapt. Literally, in February I had a falsetto and it disappeared.”

The arrival of baby Colette Coco Josephine Williams, the daughter of judges Williams and Field by a surrogate mother, was also announced on Saturday.