X Factor star unrecognisable 10 years after Simon Cowell clash with life transformation

It has been a decade since Mason Noise made headlines for his dramatic clash with Simon Cowell on The X Factor, and the singer looks unrecognisable today after stepping away from the spotlight and transforming his life.

The Birmingham-born performer, now 32, became one of the most talked-about contestants in 2015 thanks to his fiery showdown with Cowell during the Six Chair Challenge.

Mason, whose real name is Mason Binnell, stunned audiences when he criticised the amount of time given for his audition. After a heated exchange, Cowell told him to leave the stage, prompting Mason to drop his microphone and walk off in protest.

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Despite the drama, Mason was later invited back for the live shows under the mentorship of Nick Grimshaw. He ultimately finished in seventh place and even joined the live tour, but his short-lived fame was defined by that memorable confrontation with Simon Cowell.

Today, Mason's life has gone in a completely different direction. His Instagram bio now describes him as a “Musician, Reiki Healer, [and] Inner-Explorer”.

He recently told his followers: “I have chosen to live a better life. I want to participate in creating a better future, and to do that I have realised I must disentangle myself from old patterns. I have to quieten the mind through the connection with my heart, and commit to become more than I ever previously imagined.”

His appearance has also changed drastically from his time on the show. Back in 2015, Mason often wore snap caps and kept his facial hair neat and short.

These days, he sports a longer beard complete with a grey chin stripe, nose piercing, and is often seen in a bandanna or bucket hat.

After his transformation Mason had an interview with the Birmingham Mail where he admitted he is a “different person” now, adding: “I’ve changed a lot. I think I’ve done a whole 180 degrees about who I am as a person.

“I’ve been through experiences and had ups and downs in the past year. I’ve gone on a spiritual journey, I’ve had counselling and meditation and yoga have really helped me. I went through a spiritual realisation.”

Mason’s new perspective on life may have been partly shaped by a terrifying health scare he had in 2019. During a bar fight he was bitten on the arm, and later contracted sepsis after the wound became infected.

He was rushed to the hospital and needed two operations. He later told The Sun: “It was classic example of wrong place, wrong time. I’d been visiting friends in the Cotswolds, near Cirencester, with my family and we were staying on a caravan site. I was with a friend and his girlfriend, sitting in my friend’s car having just got home from a night out.

“It was around 1am in the morning. And this guy who looked like he was on his way home from a night in the pub walked over to us. He was shining a torch in the car and acting aggressively.”

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