I’m cool with Robbie’s sex Factor
Transgender singer backs Williams over ‘offensive’ birth name question
X FACTOR judge Robbie Williams has been defended by a transgender contestant after criticism about comments the star made.
The Take That singer, 44, sparked fury on Twitter by asking Felix Shepherd his name before he transitioned.
Viewers reacted angrily, with transgender fan Shane Riley tweeting: “Robbie Williams should’ve thought twice about asking Felix his dead name. It’s invasive and just damn rude.”
But Felix hit back: “Robbie meant no harm by it honestly, I took no offence.”
The singer, 20, from Birmingham, revealed he was born as Emily, and that his mother had paid for gender reassignment privately.
He said it resulted in his voice dropping lower, but that he was “an everyday person”. Robbie told him: “Your journey so far in life is fascinating.” All four judges voted Felix through to the next stage after his impressive cover of Kodaline’s All I Want. The ITV show peaked with 5.6 million viewers – and was Saturday evening’s most watched show for 16 to 34-yearolds, grabbing a 39% share of the age category.