Ahead of the release of her new memoir, Process: Finding My Way Through, X Factor star Lucy Spraggan has opened up about the struggles and hardships she's faced from both before and after her time on the ITV staple.
Lucy bravely detailed earlier this month how she left The X Factor back in 2012 after being sexually assaulted during her stint on the show.
Lucy decided to open up about the ordeal in an attempt to "rebuild myself and move on" after she kept the reason hidden for over a decade.
The 31-year-old has shared more from her personal life during a recent podcast appearance where she touched upon her identity struggles.
Lucy said that growing up as a child and into her teenage years, she didn't feel or see herself as a girl.
Lucy Spraggan and her fellow X Factor contestants alongside judge Tulisa
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Instead, Lucy would often go by the moniker "Max" and has now admitted that a lack of "options" for gender reassignment surgery combined with her hitting puberty prevented her from living as a male.
"I was Max. I don’t remember being a little Lucy really," Lucy explained on the How To Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast. "And there’s a few pictures here and there but for the majority of my childhood, I was a little boy. I was called Max.
"It wasn’t that I wanted to be a little boy, I wasn’t a tomboy, I was a boy, I was called Max."
Lucy pointed out: "It wasn’t that I was ever pretending to be anything. I was living my most authentic life. I was a boy.
"You are who you say you are," she claimed. "You are actually who you are, I still believe that now. I was a little boy. I was a little boy until puberty.
"At the turn of the Millennium, there weren’t the options that we have today and people really struggle to get their heads around the fact that if that had been an option, I’d have loved to have still been Max."
While the accessibility to such services may not have been there for Lucy, she admitted her mother's attitude towards her identity was "amazing".
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Lucy Spraggan says she lived 'as a boy' as a child
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So much so, Lucy's mum even ended up calling her school and tell them to call her by her preferred name, Max.
"Had I decided to stay as Max, she’d [mum] have said, 'Absolutely'. The power in that is such a privilege."
Lucy has been met with floods of praise since opening up on the podcast, with fans flocking to the show's Instagram page to share their thoughts.
One fan said: "I had hoped you would interview her! Thank you so much Lucy for your vulnerability. I’m so sorry this happened and for the ongoing media invasion- well done to you for taking control of your own story. You deserve everything good and wonderful."
A second agreed: "Wow such a strong brave soul such an inspiring listen resilience."
While a third weighed in: "This interview was incredible! I’ve followed @lspraggan career since x factor and had no idea, had me in tears to learn the root of her pain and trauma. Everyone should be listening to this woman’s music, she is an incredible story teller - an amazing talent!!" (sic)
