Tom Ball's distinctive look when he first appeared on Britain's Got Talent made him a recognisable face from the ITV show in 2022.
The BGT singer, 26, bowled over Simon Cowell with his rendition of Sam Smith's Writing's on the Wall, going on to finish third in the competition. So fans were left gobsmacked when he returned just a year later to perform and looked like a different person.
Speaking to The Mirror about the reaction from fans, he said: "I was incredibly humble. I put a lot of work and effort since January to that time to improve my health. Ultimately, it wasn't a goal of trying to look better or be more appealing in any way.
"It was purely I want to feel better. I want to be able to stand on stage and not get tired. I wanna be able to sing better. I just want to be healthier and subsequently, you know, you end up looking a little bit better, and I had a haircut. It was a really nice moment. It's flattering and so if anyone thought I had a glow up, thank you very much."
Tom, who has type one diabetes, shared how he is now super focused on his health. He told us: "I'm back on diet, watching what I'm eating, how much I'm eating and make sure I'm eating the right stuff and going back to the gym. I'm in the gym four times a week at the moment with a PT trying to just ensure that I'm back into full health for the year that we've got ahead, which is a really exciting year."
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PR)The singer added: "In terms of my diabetes, it's ongoing. Never ending. It's relentless, obviously, there is no cure. So I've got this forever, so I've got to stay on top of it and if I don't, I become very unwell." Tom has revealed he gets recognised more for his appearcne on TV as Noddle the Cat, rather than his own audition.
"I think before I lost the weight and had a haircut, I'd get recognised as Tom a lot more," he said. "Now people go 'Noodle' and I guess because that was when I was on TV looking like this, and it still happens quite a lot, especially at an airport. In airports it's where it happens the most."
The singer was rushed to A&E just two days before the ITV talent show final in 2022. Despite his excitement at being on the show, the heightened emotions around the show caused Tom "great stress" and "worry", which impacted his health.
Tom's diabetes diagnosis means that there is "always a chance of hospitalisation". His readings started to go awry because he was "focused on so many other things" rather than his health. He shared: "Diabetes isn't just food managed and insulin managed. It is everything. Two days days before the final, between the semi final and the final, in the middle of the night I developed ketones and developed ketoacidosis.
"It essentially means that I needed assistance to bring me down to a nontoxic level of readings. I went into A&E and didn't sleep at all. I think it was like a day later or two days later, I was back up to London, ready to do the final." According to the NHS, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a serious condition that can happen in people with diabetes. It's where a lack of insulin causes harmful substances called ketones to build up in the blood. It can be life threatening and needs urgent treatment in hospital. He shared: "In terms of my diabetes, it's ongoing. Never ending. It's relentless, obviously, there is no cure. So I've got this forever, so I've got to stay on top of it and if I don't, I become very unwell."
Tom has been living with diabetes for 17 years and admitted he is "used to those really scary moments". He told us: "I had one not so long ago. I wasn't hospitalised, but I very nearly called an ambulance and so it does knock you for six, and you feel awful for potentially a couple of days. But because I've had it for 17 years, those moments come and when there's something so important that you really care about, you kind of just have to get through it and do it and and try not to focus on what's just happened.
"Focus on the future of what's to come, because you can dwell on that and you can feel rubbish about it, and you're going to feel rubbish about it. You've got to be kind to yourself, but also know that what is at stake and push for it and not let it hold you back." The singer, who was working as a teacher at the time, added: "I wanted to also be an example for myself and for my students and for anyone else with any condition that you can do anything, anything that anyone else can do that doesn't have that condition or that doesn't have that situation. I wasn't gonna let it hold me back in any way."
Tom revealed he didn't even get chance to speak to his family about his scary hopsital incident as he was so focused on the Britain's Got Talent final. "I think we just got on with it," he confessed. "We know it was a scary moment. I had my wife with me, or my fiancé at the time, and we went to bed eventually, woke up the next day. I think I slept all day to recover, and then we went up there and did it. I think BGT superseded it in terms of things to talk about because it was such an incredible moment." He has since been working on his health and fitness so that he can "feel better" and "be able to stand on stage and not get tired".
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