X Factor's Jaymie Hensley from Union J has come out with the help of show mentor, Louis Walsh.

Hensley said: “I spoke to Louis about this and he said, ‘put it this way, both of my big boybands had a gay member in them.’ So he said it fits the formula quite well!

“Every boyband has got to have a gay one! And Louis just said ‘do it’.”

Hensley continues in today's Sun: “I’m gay and I’ve never been happier!”

Hensley came out when he was 14, and is not the only openly gay singer on this year’s show — joining Rylan Clark, Lucy Spraggan and Jade Ellis.

He was inspired to make his revelation after a young fan got in touch and he hopes it will help other young people struggling with their sexuality.

He says: “I got a tweet from a boy who must have been 13 or 14 asking if the rumours that I was gay were true.

“He said he really wished I could be out because he didn’t have anyone to look up to and was finding it really hard to fit in and tell his parents.

The 22-year-old has been with his hairdresser boyfriend for three years, and lives in Luton with his mother.

Hensley said that the rest of Union J have always known about his sexuality and that: “not enough people in the music industry are open about their sexuality.”

Watch Union J perform Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe' on last night's show (November 17) below: