Olly Alexander ’s talent has been in the limelight for several years now.
But since the beginning of 2021, the 30-year-old's music and acting skills have rapidly catapulted him to the forefront of fame.
Olly, who is best known for his music career as part of Years and Years, became a household name earlier this year for his spectacular performance as Ritchie Tozer in Channel 4's It's A Sin.
And the much-loved star’s success is set to continue to soar if his incredible BRIT s performance is anything to go by.
The 30-year-old star left audiences teary-eyed when he took to the stage alongside music superstar Elton John, 74, to perform the Pet Shop Boys' track, It’s A Sin.
The spine-tingling rendition, which has released as a single to support the Elton John AIDS Foundation, shot straight to the top of the iTunes charts following Olly and Elton’s spectacular performance.
While Olly now has millions of adoring fans across the globe, his life hasn’t always been easy.
The North Yorkshire native endured a terrible time in school as he was bullied for ‘looking like a girl’.
Opening up about his tumultuous journey to fame in a recent interview with GQ, Olly revealed that being bullied spurred him on to prove his haters wrong.
“I remember being in primary school and I had long hair and people would call me a girl,” he admitted.
“I knew that was bad for boys. I didn’t like the things that other boys liked: I just wanted to play with the girls and watch movies. Which obviously straight boys do as well.”
Although Olly was going through personal turmoil in school, he chose never to confide in his mum, Vicki, who at the time, was completely unaware that her son was being bullied.
“I’d never tell her about that stuff. It’s weird — my mum read an interview where I said I’d had a terrible time at school and she wasn’t aware. It was surprising to me that she didn’t know. I guess I was quite good at not talking about it.”
Thankfully, Olly was able to move past the tough period in his life, and he used the trauma to help him to prove the former bullies wrong.
There’s no doubt that the incredible star has got the last laugh as his appearance in It’s A Sin helped shoot it to become the most binge-watched show in Channel 4's history.
As well as that, Olly is now working on his very first solo album which is set to dominate the charts.
In recent years, Olly has also become an advocate for LGBT rights and has spoken openly about his struggles with depression, self-harm, eating disorders, and anxiety.
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