Rhydian Roberts Profile
Profile written by Rhydian's mum, Angela Roberts.
"Rhydian was born in Brecon Hospital attended the Pontsenni Cylch Meithrin and then went onto Ysgol y Bannau welsh medium school in Brecon.
To this day he remains a fluent Welsh speaker.
He represented the school and Powys in the Urdd eisteddfod from the age of 5. He has kept his links with the Urdd whilst at Llandovery College and on through his University life at Birmingham Conservatoire.
This year was his last year as he will be 25 next year and too old.
He was a very keen rugby player, playing with Gwernyfed club, near Brecon, as a junior and later for his school.
He is still very keen on fitness and goes to the gym daily.
He also took up the trumpet and cornet which he played right through to his A Level music exam.
He often says that his time at Llandovery College was one of the happiest times of his life and he felt very privileged to finish his school life as head boy.
He took a gap year working in a school near Pretoria, South Africa.
During his time in Birmingham he has won many prizes and participated in numerous student productions as part of his course.
He did not tell his parents he had entered the X Factor so it was a surprise and a very exciting time for them.
No-one prepares you for the press invasion into your life as a parent when something like this happens.
I would ask that people in Wales do not believe some of the horrid things that have been said about him in the press, judge him on his ability to sing and entertain.
Malcolm, Rhyd's dad is an electrical contractor and definitely not a millionaire as stated in one Sunday paper!
His Mum Angela works for a Carers Charity called Crossroads Caring for Carers, who give breaks to family carers.
Rhydian has said that if successful in the X Factor he hopes to be in a position to make a donation to Crossroads in Wales.
Rhydian is a loving, caring and happy person and when performing makes every effort to give it his all. He said the other week that he is living his dream at the moment and is very grateful to all at the X Factor for giving him this opportunity.
