Wagner Carrilho - a colourful X Factor carnival

Millions of viewers across the UK are gripped by Wagner fever - but how much do fans really know about the man behind the moustache and medallions? Charlotte Cross and Louise Jew find out.

He was bullied at school, moved to the Midlands for love and watches his weight by ordering just three chips with his supper.

Welcome to the world of Wagner, the Black Country's unlikeliest pop star. Close friends today revealed how passionate Wagner Carrilho left behind sunny Brazil to set up home in the Midlands - all for the love of a woman.

They say his spontaneous decision to leave behind Rio de Janeiro was typical of the flamboyant X Factor star, who is fuelled by his passion, for life, music, and his three-year-old son - the "driving force" behind his bid for stardom.

Friend Ian Fleming, from Rowley Regis, said Wagner, of Pensnett, "adored" his son, who lives with his former partner.

"The reason he is on X Factor is for him - not himself and not just to be famous," he said.

"That boy is his absolute reason for being out there and doing what he's doing. The only reason he wants to make money is so he can buy him toys and give him the best life he can.

"There isn't one conversation I've had with him where he hasn't mentioned his little boy."

He had been forging a career as a hunky male model during his 20s and early 30s, often with multiple women on his arm - one of whom was rich enough to buy him his pet lion, Jungle, and help feed him.

Then - in the true spirit of a passionate Brazilian - he fell in love with an English girl, Trudi Brass, who now lives in a large Edwardian home in Milford Road, Harborne, Birmingham, and leads masterclasses in physio and movement at Birmingham Conservatoire.

Mr Fleming said Wagner did not like to dwell on the details, but said when the time had come for her to go home he impulsively decided to hop on a plane and join her in the West Midlands.

"They fell out shortly afterwards which is very sad," he said.

"The Brazilians are very passionate people, and Wagner is like that - he just decided to move to England to be with a girl he loved."

And his "ladies man" ways have continued since the split. The unlikely Casanova has been married twice and had a long-term relationship with Jenny Yawari, the mother of his son. Rumours have been rife of his on-set flirting with his fellow female contestants, in particular Tesco worker Mary Byrne.

Growing up in Rio de Janeiro, the land of carnivals and cocktails, created the flamboyant streak in Wagner, friends have said.

But life in Brazil was not always smooth for young Wagner, who suffered at the hands of bullies when he was eight. It was his late older brother - who coincidentally also shared a name with a composer, Verdi - who came to his rescue, teaching him his first few karate moves so he could defend himself.

"He has always been very proud of his brother, and speaks very highly of him," Ian said.

"You weren't allowed to learn karate in Brazil until you were 18 so Verdi taught him a few moves so he could stand up for himself."

Never one to let things get him down however, Wagner grew up to forge a career in male modelling.

The picture of Wagner in his swimming trunks, holding his pet lion's tail, was one of his favourite photos taken of him, Ian said.

"He was very popular with the ladies and often had two girlfriends at a time," he added.

"One or two of them were very rich. Rich enough to buy him a lion as a pet, and help him feed it, as he couldn't have afforded it."

He used money from modelling to fund a university degree course in teaching, specialising in physical education - a career he pursued when he arrived on British shores.

He also went about pursuing his love of karate, teaching on a Sunday morning at The Village Hotel, Dudley. That is where Mr Fleming, a veterinary surgeon, met him.

"The guy who taught Wagner was known as 'The Iron Hand' - he was an absolute legend, Sensei Nelson. And you could tell - Wagner could punch through a wall back then, he was incredible."

Once he'd earned enough money, he opened the Martial Arts and Dance Gym in Elbow Street, Cradley Heath, while working as a supply teacher for PE and Religious Education in various schools around the region, including a year-long stint at Leasowes Community College in Halesowen from August 2006 to September 2007.

Throughout that time, he was also working for window, door and conservatory-fitting firm Conservatories Xpress at Netherton, and studying towards his Post Graduate Certificate of Education. Around two years ago, Mr Fleming said, the Martial Arts and Dance Gym closed down due to low member numbers.

"Karate is a very serious discipline, it's not something that trendy gym users tend to do and people didn't come as often as he would have liked," he said.

A shoulder injury then put him out of action for a while, with two major operations to try and correct it. The last was in January, and Mr Fleming said Wagner had had to wear a sling to the X Factor auditions - though he took it off before he went before the judges.

"He isn't able to work as a karate tutor any more because of his injury, or a PE teacher of course," he said.

"He has been pacing around like a caged animal, he's not one to sit on his backside and not work. That's partly why this X Factor business has been so wonderful for him."

It is also a drastic change of fortunes for the self-styled opera singer, who 12 months ago couldn't even get a slot to perform at the Pensnett Social Welfare Centre in Commonside, Pensnett, just yards from his bungalow in Blewitt Street. Members turned him down as they said opera would not have gone down well with the regulars.

Mr Fleming said he found it incredible that Wagner had never tried to make it in the entertainment industry before that.

"His father was a performer, and used to sing in jazz clubs back in Rio," he said.

"And Wagner is a born entertainer. He's a real larger-than-life character. Just entertains people everywhere he goes.

"He sings on the bus, in his flat, in the back garden, in local shops.

"We have a 54-year-old man here in an orange string vest, and people are loving it. It shouldn't work, but with Wagner, it does.

"He just is carnival."