Just a few years ago, Gwilym owned his own insurance company. Although the business was successful, Gwilym was unhealthy and desperately unhappy.

He was only in his early twenties but was overweight, plagued with injuries from playing basketball in his teens and leading a lonely life. His company was based in a spare bedroom which meant he rarely interacted with anyone aside from his closest friends and family members.

When he was 26, he put his details into a program for life insurance and was told he had a higher risk of death than an average person. The fact that these results were coming from a computer program, and not a biased human being, shook him to the core. It was the wake up call he needed.

Gwilym started to eat healthy and walk thousands of steps a day. Soon the weight began to fall off. He also formed a folk band with his friends and started to focus more on music since it made him happier.

One day, he was getting a haircut when his barber advised him to grow a beard. "He told me that if I was playing the guitar in a folk band, I had to have a beard."

So out of curiosity and to get a laugh, Gwilym decided to grow one. It was the last in a series of massive transformations that rendered him unrecognizable.

After taking his barber's advice, Gwilym's striking red facial hair began to attract the attention of people on social media. He was asked to model for a book on beards compiled by a photographer who spotted his Instagram account.

Shortly after that, his fuzz and attractive physique drew the attention of a model scout and Gwilym was signed on to an agency.

It was clear that the insurance business had no place for a ginger-bearded man with model looks. Gwilym quit his job to model full-time around the world and has never looked back. He has been featured in campaigns by Vans and Diesel and was even selected to be the face of David Beckham's grooming company.

In only a few years, this Welshman has gone from being an unhappy office worker to a "ginger sex symbol". Although several changes inspired this, he admits that it's his beard and hair that earned him the most attention.

Looking at these pictures, we can't help but agree!