James Arthur says becoming a father has completely transformed his life - making him view women in a new light, leaving him in tears, and also having an impact on his physical body.
The 35-year-old former X Factor winner became a first time father in November last year when his girlfriend, Jessica Grist, gave birth to their daughter, who they named Emily. Becoming the proud dad to a baby girl has helped James get in touch with the more emotional side of his own personality.
He says he is now more likely to allow himself to shed a tear when things are emotional, and he has a wider perspective on life. While he has explained that he has been playing football more regularly in order to try and get back in shape after piling on the pounds due to his new role as a father.
James - who won The X Factor back in 2012 - explained how being a dad to Emily has transformed his life and figure. He said: “I am on a bit of a weight loss journey at the moment because I have a dad bod.”
Detailing his more emotional outlook on life, he continued: “I have cried and I never used to cry, but I have more so since she was born. I have got four sisters as well and I think I look at women probably in a different way, and just people in general.”
The Masked Singer's Rhino is former X Factor winner claim fansOpening up to The Sun on Sunday, he added: “I think it has matured me quite a bit, actually. I just look at things a lot differently now. The moment she was born, I just gave less of a f*** about all the minor things."
James proudly announced the arrival of his daughter in November last year - and got a tattoo of her name in celebration. He took to social media at the time to share a video of himself cradling the tiny baby. He declared at the time: "Dear Emily, welcome to the world. You are my blood, you are my heart beat."
Hinting that his baby daughter had arrived a little ahead of schedule, he added to his fans: "In the last few days someone made an unexpected arrival." The year before, James and Jessica tragically lost a baby daughter as they suffered a miscarriage. James had already written a song in honour of the baby as he was excited for her arrival - and was devastated when the pregnancy ended in tragedy.
Discussing the song he had written for his daughter who was lost, he explained: "To be honest, when it first came out I sort of billed it as that, but I spoke to my partner, and at the time it was a realistic prospect. She was pregnant. “Sadly it didn't work out. It wasn't far, it was a couple of months and she had an ectopic pregnancy. So she lost the child, and I didn't really want to talk about it. But she actually said 'I think it's really important that you do' - just because there's so little information, and I would echo that actually.”