X Factor fans have been stunned by the changing appearance of former contestant Grace Davies who shared a near unrecognisable snap of herself this week to commemorate her birthday.
With an X Factor shaped hole in the TV schedules over the past three years, fans have been reviewing some of the performers who took to the famous stage to fill the void.
And for series series 14 contestant Grace, fans can’t believe she’s already reached a quarter of a century in age – or how much she her appearance has changed – as she celebrated turning 25 on Tuesday.
Taking to social media to mark the date, Grace shared a snap of herself in a lift and uploaded it to her channels along with a caption that hints she spent multiple days celebrating.
She wrote on Instagram : “25 today… thank u for all the bday love.
“I have been fully milking this one over the weekend in London with all my besties and it took me a good 2 days to recover.”
Many fans took the opportunity to congratulate Grace and send her birthday wishes on her big day – while some X Factor fans confessed she looked “unrecognisable” in the five years since she was a runner up on the show.
Grace wowed the judges of the now defunct ITV reality singing contest when she auditioned back in 2017 with an original song called Roots – winning ‘yes’ votes across the board.
Appearing on the show, Grace had short, wavy hair – adding a pink rinse to her tresses during some of her performances during the live rounds.
But she has now grown out her hair and it is a lighter shade of blonde from her reality show heyday.
Grace has also enjoyed something of a style make-over, often posting glamorous photos of herself on Instagram showcasing her toned tummy in crop tops, or looking demure in oversized shirts.
During her time on the show, Grace was mentored by music manager legend Sharon Osbourne who guided her all the way to the live finals – where she lost out on the top prize to boyband Rak-Su.
Since then, Grace has enjoyed some degree of success as a recording artist.
Despite not winning the X Factor, Grace was signed to Simon Cowell ’s now defunct record label Syco and released an album titled Friends With The Tragic in 2020.
She then unleashed a follow up EP titled I Wonder If You Wonder which she released on an Independent label in November last year.
While her most recent success was the fact that her debut single, Roots – which she performed at her TV audition – unexpectedly entered the top 40.
She has also released cover versions of songs made famous by the likes of Bob Dylan and David Bowie – and was once tipped by the BBC as one of their ‘Introducing’ artists and has had her music featured on 6 Music, Radio One and BBC Radio Two.
The X Factor last aired in 2018 – with show boss Simon announcing in 2019 that he expected to take the series off the air for one year following years of complaints the format had become stale and after ratings nose dived.
But by 2021, ITV had taken the decision to axe the show entirely – and the broadcaster have declared there are "no current plans" to revive it.
