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"Rylan Clark has admitted that he is a &amp;#039;tanorexic&amp;#039;, reports The Sun On Sunday. The X Factor star revealed that he even used to inject Melanotan II - a drug developed to treat cancer patients - in an effort to keep his skin looking bronzed.  Clark bought the substance on the internet and injected himself daily for four weeks before experiencing unpleasant side effects. &amp;quot;I couldn&amp;#039;t breathe properly,&amp;quot; the Essex-born singer told the paper. &amp;quot;I thought I was going to die.&amp;quot; Despite the scare, Clark admitted that he continued to use Melanotan II - which he claimed is not illegal to buy but is illegal to sell - for a further two months. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m vain. I couldn&amp;#039;t help myself. It was crazy,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m a tanorexic. But I took things too far.&amp;quot;  Clark - who also has a tanning booth in his home - explained that his addiction started in adolescence: &amp;quot;Growing up I got a lot of stick for being gay, fat, pasty and ginger. I thought to myself, &amp;#039;Well I can&amp;#039;t change the gay thing but everything else I can sort out&amp;#039;.&amp;quot;  After he began to develop white spots on his stomach, Clark finally stopped using drugs. He is currently having regular spray tans at the five-star London hotel where the X Factor finalists are staying. On the first of the live shows that aired last night (October 6), Gary Barlow criticised Nicole Scherzinger&amp;#039;s decision to put the 23-year-old through, saying the panel should be &amp;quot;ashamed&amp;quot; of themselves.  Clark hit back and said that although he did not have the &amp;quot;best voice&amp;quot; in the competition, there was a &amp;quot;lot more to the show than the voice&amp;quot;. He told the panel: &amp;quot;This is what I want to do.&amp;quot; The X Factor continues tonight at 8pm. New! Digital Spy breakfast show - watch Anna Williamson discuss the day&amp;#039;s biggest stories including The X Factor, Homeland and Leona Lewis:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/the-x-factor/news/a410859/rylan-clark-admits-using-cancer-drug-to-boost-tan/>