A BLACKWOOD man who was bullied at school because of his looks and sexuality has used his experiences to become an influential voice in the world of skincare.

Scott McGlynn now has more than 130,000 Instagram followers and a podcast in which he shares skin problems and reviews. He has even been snapped up by a modelling agency.

Mr McGlynn, who identifies as LGBT, became obsessed with skincare after school bullies used to call him ‘pizza face’ and homophobic slurs.

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However, after growing in popularity online he found the ex-bullies now want to be his friends.

Mr McGlynn said: “The bullying really knocked my confidence. When I went into school, I really didn’t know what I was going to get."

He added: “The bullying started when I was 12. Back then I didn’t have access to a phone and didn’t know how to search for products to help my skin condition.

As soon as Mr McGlynn left school at 17, he said he used to blow all of his wages on skincare products.

“I was quite naïve and thought if it had fancy packaging it would cure my problems,” he said.

And now Mr McGlynn’s podcast, The Scott McGlynn Show, reached the top five in the UK iTunes chart and, following the success of his debut book OUT, he said: “The ex-bullies now ask friends and family about me and have tried to connect but I ignore the texts.

“There is no bad blood, but I just don’t want to engage.”

However, despite the success, he said it had not all been plain sailing.

He has been the target of online trolling

"People online can be nasty," he said.

"I have been called all sorts of things. Some people even set up fake online profiles and pretend to be me.

"They steal all of your content.

"I try and see it as flattering, but you don’t know what the person behind the profile is saying or doing. It can be quite scary."

Despite this, he feels things are heading in a positive direction, having just signed with a modelling agency.

He is even giving his mum beauty advice.

“She says I’m the beauty guru,” he said.