(CP) British social media influencer Oli London, who identified as trans for six months and underwent surgery to resemble male Korean pop idols, said visiting a church and listening to Jesus prevented him from traveling to Thailand for irreversible body surgeries he would have regretted, presumably castration.
The defining moment for the 32-year-old influencer was when he was seated at the back of a church and he heard an inner voice say to him: "Stop doing what you're doing. Be happy with who you are."
In a recent interview with "Triggernometry" co-hosts Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin, London said he then "started going to church more, started reading the Bible ... just the teachings of Jesus."
Away from the noise of social media and societal messages that London described as pushing transgenderism, it was in the pews where he realized he need to accept who he was instead of listing to celebrities and other influences online who are encouraging people suffering from body dysmorphia to have more and more surgeries.
London said he stopped doing "all these crazy things because, at the end of the day, it's not fulfilling me; it's not giving me happiness. It's harming me, it's harming other people. ... It's what's inside that counts. ... I actually regretted what I was doing."
He feared that, "Maybe I was persuading people to have surgeries."
He said he felt he had a "moral responsibility" to let youth and others who look up to him know that he believes identifying as Korean or as trans were mistakes and he feels obligated to publicly share the dangers of diving into a lifetime of drugs and surgeries because of insecurity, not fitting in and being uncomfortable with one's physical appearance.
In the United States, he added, children are inundated with messages from influencers or at school where they hear that it's easy, and they should take puberty-blockers or get sex change surgeries, and he wants to encourage people not to follow these life altering fads.
"That's why I've kind of been trying to do some activism to try and spread love and positivity in the world ... better message."
London added that by going to church and listening to Jesus, he was saved from making the mistake of going to Thailand for more surgery.
"I could have done more to myself. I was going to go to Thailand and do body surgery. I could have died, and I would have also been left with deep regret for the rest of my life."
In November, London told the Catholic News Agency that the Bible allowed him to accept himself as God created him.
London revealed that he has struggled with body dysmorphia and identity issues since he was 13 and faced bullying for his weight.
However, a move to South Korea, where he taught English in 2013, led to him being "bombarded" with messages about the transformative power of plastic surgery. This led to him eventually having 32 surgeries to change his appearance.
London, who grew up atheist but was exposed to church when he attended a Church of England-run school, acknowledged that many young people can relate to being bullied for their appearance and hopes to inspire others to find the same acceptance he did through faith.
London previously told Fox News his desire to look Korean was rooted in his love for the culture and people of South Korea.
He underwent multiple plastic surgeries, including a chin surgery, facelift, neck lift, eye surgery and reshaping of his cheek fat and forehead bone to appear more feminine. However, after initially feeling happy with the results, he found that he did not feel right after starting to live as a woman, wearing female clothes and makeup.
It was in August 2022 that he walked into a Catholic church where a priest gave him a Bible after a service.
London has said he plans to get baptized by a well-respected priest in the U.S.
