Britain’s Got Talent finalist and singer-songwriter Gabz has come out as trans and changed his pronouns to he/him.
Gabz first came into the public eye as a 14-year-old competing on the 2013 season of Britain’s Got Talent. His self-written songs captured the hearts of viewers, with his musical talent landing him a spot in the final.
On 25 May, Gabz opened up about being trans in an update to his 110,000 TikTok followers.
“If you didn’t know, I’m trans and I’ve been waiting on the gender clinic waiting list for the NHS for quite a while so I decided to go private,” he revealed.
@ashgraysongs lil update 😁❤️ #transftm
However, Gabz said, he has now been able to access gender-affirming care on the NHS, having been given a first appointment at one of the health service’s new pilot clinics
“It went really well, I mean I just cried the whole time, but it went really well, which means I’m going to be able to change the name on my passport and my gender mark on my passport,” he said.
Wait times for an initial appointment at an NHS gender clinic can be as long as three to five years, despite a statutory requirement that at least 92 per cent of patients using the healthcare service should have a referral-to-treatment time of less than 18 weeks.
The High Court will later this year hear a judicial review against these waiting times.
Gabz also confirmed that he has officially changed his name to Ashley Gray, but will continue to use his stage name professionally.
He also noted the difficulties of accessing gender-affirming healthcare, saying: “I feel like a lot of the waiting around for the stuff is money problems.
“It’s so expensive, so going through the NHS is free. I feel like I’m going to have updates soon on when I can start T [testosterone].”
Followers congratulated Gray for proudly sharing his gender identity, as the singer thanked fans “for the love”.
Gray came out as non-binary last year in a heartfelt Instagram post, saying: “I’ve decided being non-binary is no longer going to be a burden or hold me back or keep me hiding.”
He added: “Hopefully in the future loads of kids like me won’t have to grow up so confused”.
Following his time on the show, Gabz’s debut single “Lighters (The One)” rose to number six on the UK Singles Chart. His most recent EP, “Self Destruct”, was released in 2020.