Rylan Clark using fake name to release music

Rylan Clark has returned to his music roots - but he is using a false name to avoid being "pre-judged".

The 35-year-old shot to fame in 2012 as a contestant on The X Factor and has since established a successful career as a television and radio host.

While Rylan was dismissed as a novelty act on the show, he still holds ambitions of being a successful musician and claims to have released tracks under a pen name.

Sharing details on Jessie Ware's Table Manners Podcast, he said, "I write music. I've done quite a lot of songs for myself. Some have been released, but not under 'Rylan', and they've done well, which is fun. I've released a couple of tracks that have done well and I'm happy with."

He went on to explain why he isn't releasing music under his own name, saying, "I'm not ready for that yet. When I started out on X Factor I had a very easy role to play on that show, and that was to be the one that everyone talks about and my job wasn't to sing.

"I think if Joe Public read tomorrow, 'Rylan's bringing out a CD', people would go, 'Shut up', and it would be pre-judged."

Acknowledging the impressive career he has carved out since he entered the spotlight, he said, "I've been really lucky over the last 12 years. I've been successful in my career and I've done really, really well.

"And this hand is telling me, 'Don't tell people it's you because they'll pre-judge'. But there's this curiosity killed the cat hand going, 'Could you do it all again from scratch? Could you replicate what you've done for yourself again?'"