Virtually every surface in the school staffroom is adorned with posters and placards with Ryan’s name written or painted in all shapes and colours.

His desk is covered in little red hearts that his colleagues patiently cut out – it is not too hard to notice that his greatest fans are his work colleagues.

The latest artist to reach the pinnacle of success in this country is eternally grateful for all of this. But he does not let it go to his head.

Merely 72 hours after his victory on Saturday he humbly returned to work and has just finished a morning of lessons when we sit down for an interview.

As he sits down calmly, he thanks Times of Malta for finding the time to meet him, not realising that the honour and gratitude are ours.

Ryan genuinely did not think he would win. He says he was happy he made it that far and was expecting to place second or third.

“I was aware that being on stage meant I stood a chance of victory, but I did not want to think about it, so that if I did not win, I wouldn’t be resentful and would be able to be sincerely happy for the winner,” he said.

The shock of winning

“So, when they called my name I did not quite understand what had just happened. It was a great shock.”

His whole life, Ryan had wanted to sing. At restaurants and weddings, he would see singers on stage and wonder what it felt like to perform. But he never took the step and was hesitant to apply for the TV show – he was afraid of the way people would view him.

“In the music industry people don’t just judge you on your voice but also on your appearance,” he said.

I managed to pluck up the courage and learn how to hold the microphone in the bionic hand- Ryan Hili

“And I didn’t know how they would take a singer with a bionic hand. I feared my presence on stage would become a pity party. At first, even my mother didn’t quite like the idea of me trying out for X Factor,” he added.

“When you think of successful singers, you think of perfect beauty.

“Aspiring singers identify with someone whom they think they can become like. Girls will identify with artists like Ariana Grande, but I have hardly ever seen a successful performer who looks like me. So, it was harder to find a role model. It was a new experience.”

No left hand

Ryan was born without a left hand.

It did not fully develop in the womb. But he recalls how, from a very young age, he would observe his brother navigating objects with both hands and then try to find a way.

“I would try to tie my shoelaces, squeeze a washing cloth or work a zipper, and each time I managed to do something new, I would run ecstatically to my parents and show them what I had just learnt,” he recalled.

“I was never bullied, and I had great support when I was younger, but I remained very conscious about my hand. Walking in the street during summer I would slip it into my trousers, so that I looked ‘normal’.”

Ryan uses a bionic hand equipped with sensors attached to his arm muscles.

Ryan’s father, Gino, died on his son’s birthday. Photo: Family

The sensors can identify whether he wants to open or close the hand, according to the movement of his muscles. He says it works miraculously, but up until the X Factor live shows, he was still very worried it would steal the show.

“During the first on-stage performances I held the microphone in my right hand, but that meant I could not express myself freely, because my left hand would just be hanging,” he explained.

“So, with great help and support from Howard [Keith], I managed to pluck up the courage and learn how to hold the microphone in the bionic hand.

“And when I did that, I discovered I could perform with great freedom.”

‘You only live once’

Ryan says his colleagues and seniors at school were extremely helpful and helped him fulfil his duties with his students, allowing him to work on his music and minimising his risk of going into mandatory quarantine.

“I had doubts about teaching as well. I wasn’t sure I could do it, because the subject I teach – design and technology – requires manual work and handling of equipment,” he explained.

“But I managed to achieve that as well, with great support from the staff and my students here.”

Ryan was hesitant to work on his dream of becoming a singing artist, until three years ago, when his father suffered a stroke and died within a month.

“It was my mother’s birthday. We were preparing to go out for her birthday and we ended up rushing him to hospital instead,” he said. “Several other complications arose in the weeks that followed and his health deteriorated completely. A month later, he died. It was my birthday.

“That was when I realised that I know I’m here today but I don’t know whether I’ll be here tomorrow.

“I realised that you only live once, and that if you’re not trying to live your dreams, then you’re not living at all. That’s when I first started to sing. I wrote a song for my father.”

Ryan said X Factor helped him discover his true potential and that people really like him for his voice. He will use the €50,000 prize money to invest in his music but will not quit teaching – because that was another dream of his and he is not ready to let it go.

“I’m so grateful I did this. If I hadn’t, I would have lived my whole life wondering what could have been... my only regret is that I didn’t do it before,” he said about X Factor.