Former X Factor finalist Chris Maloney has revealed he spent £60,000 on cosmetic surgery after being bullied by internet trolls about his looks.

Talking to Phillip Schofield and Christine Bleakley on This Morning, he said: “Looking back [at those clips] it upsets me a little bit… I can’t look at myself, I just can’t look.

Chris Maloney
Chris Maloney has spoken about his cosmetic surgery (Ian West/PA Wire)

“X Factor was great, but as the series was going on and the further that I got in the competition, I was getting really bad trolls and they were telling me that they were going to kill me, shoot me, that I was ugly, that I had a big nose… and it just affected me so much and at the end of the final, I did have a breakdown.

“Richard Holloway [executive producer] was fantastic, and The Priory came out and looked after me and I got classed as having a breakdown.”

When asked by Schofield about blocking trolls on the internet, Maloney said: “I did block a lot. But they got me at the lowest point of my life. It was continuous and I just hated myself. I hated looking at myself. I was analysing myself.

“And then I started to lose my hair throughout the show – it was stress-induced hair loss. It was just coming out in the sink when I was going to do TV interviews or radio and towards the end of the show, you could see on the final it [hairline] was right the way back.”

Maloney said he has had three hair transplants, an eye lift, a nose job and dental work, and declared: “I feel so much better now.”

Maloney competed in the X Factor in 2012, and came third behind Jahmene Douglas and winner James Arthur.

Giving advice to future hopefuls on the show, he said: “You are catapulted to stardom straight away – and [for me] it was tarnished by the trolls, but please don’t listen to them.

“I wouldn’t recommend going under the knife if you don’t need to… Just be strong and enjoy it.

“It’s a great platform, X Factor was absolutely amazing, the producers, the judges, Gary Barlow he was absolutely fantastic and gave me loads of support.”