Britain’s Got Talent winner unrecognisable after surgery amid drugs claims

Jai McDowall skyrocketed to fame when he wowed the judges on Britain’s Got Talent in 2011 with his rendition of Anthem and he went on to clinch the series title. Now, some 14 years later, Jai’s floating on a wave of singing success and seriously, you’d hardly recognise him. In 2022, Jai revealed an operation to remedy problems with his previously-broken nose. The Scottish crooner needed surgery for a deviated septum – which resulted from him breaking up a pub scuffle.

But some fans were dubious about his reasons, leading Jai to clear the air directly from his hospital bed in 2017. In an honest video, Jai said: “The amount of times I’ve been asked if I have a cocaine habit and that’s why I have a deviated septum in the first place has been unreal”. He made it crystal clear: “I don’t have a cocaine habit, just in case anyone is wondering”.

Speaking to the Daily Star after his surgery, Jai described the experience: “It was a really nice procedure. Obviously, I had black eyes for about three weeks and big bandages and stuff, but it was worth it”.

But life gave Jai more curves than straight lines post-BGT. He spoke to The Sun about his monetary woes after parting ways with the record label Sony, which nudged him perilously close to financial ruin. Jai confessed: “I didn’t do it because, thankfully, I’ve got a brilliant support network. But I did get to a point where I was like, ‘ Is this it, is this over? ‘”

He continued: “I moved in with my parents at the time. I did have property but I had no money. That took a long time and a lot of grit and determination for me to get back out of that”.

The singer spoke to the Mirror when he recalled standing in the final alongside Ronan Parke. “I know genuinely it does sound sort of out there but I envisioned the finale of that show and I knew it was going to be me and Ronan. Not going to lie, I thought he was going to win”, Jai told us. “That way I was like, ‘ No, keep positive thoughts and keep going ‘ and genuinely I thought that really helped and it’s one of those things. Life is up and down – it’s a roller coaster and you can’t always be positive all the time. I genuinely feel like if you can keep yourself in a better mental state with that you can – magic happens sometimes”.

He was forced to give up his singing career during the coronavirus lockdown. “I genuinely know I couldn’t give singing up because the only time I had to was during Covid and it was terrible, genuinely the closest I’ve ever been to being really, really sad. And I genuinely missed it”, Jai admitted.

Source: Mirror