Jonathan Antoine, the star of Britain's Got Talent's launch episode, has claimed that he has no plans to lose weight or change his image in his quest to have a singing career.
The opera singer, who was compared to Pavarotti by Simon Cowell, stunned viewers with his powerful vocals in Saturday's BGT premiere.
Antoine's duet with Charlotte Jaconelli has also had him branded "the new Susan Boyle", because of derogatory comments made by Cowell about his appearance when he first walked on the stage.
The teenager defended Cowell's initial response, commenting: "To be honest for me it was expected because I don't look like a standard performer. I just went out there in my normal clothes.
"I sort of expected there would be a little bit of a reaction. I was hoping our performance would show them differently."
Jaconelli added: "I think every time you see someone you judge. People try not to, but they do. Someone might look different and you instantly judge. Everyone judges - Simon Cowell is a normal human being and he is going to judge people."
Antoine said: "I'm just me. I wouldn't mind some nice new clothes if anyone is willing to give them to me.
"[I would like to lose weight], but it would be because I should lose weight to be healthy, it's not important to me from an image point of view. I am the way I am and I always will be - if other people don't like me then that's their choice, but I quite like me."
The singer said that it was an "absolute honour" for Cowell to liken his vocals to Pavarotti and that comparisons with Susan Boyle were "incredible".
"I just want to sing and have fun with singing. I also want to meet interesting people who enjoy music and other forms of art. I've just found there are so many interesting and really great people in that kind of field and those are the kind of people I want to be socialising with and be around. I think this is a good opportunity to do that," he said.
