A photo posted by CYRUS (@cyrusvill) on Nov 5, 2016 at 4:50am PDT

MANILA – The Filipino-Australian winner of “The X Factor Australia” Cyrus Villanueva admitted that Filipino is not his first language but readily agreed to sing a Tagalog song during his interview with veteran broadcaster Korina Sanchez on Sunday.

Villanueva, who is born from an Australian mother and a Filipino father, sang the Asin classic "Balita" on "Rated K."

He also shared what he thinks is his “x factor” that made him win the Australian franchise of the televised talent competition in 2015.

“Just be myself," he told Sanchez. "I never tried to take the competition too seriously. I treated it as a learning process and an experience rather than a competition.”

Villanueva said he was only six years old when his family first discovered his talent in singing.

Over two decades later, Villanueva said he never thought he would join a televised talent competition, much less be hailed as its champion.

“At the very beginning, I wasn’t even thinking about the following day, let alone six months down the track. It was a huge journey,” he said.

After being the second contestant of Filipino descent to win the “X Factor Australia,” Villanueva said he is just grateful that the show has paved the way for him to perform before his fans in the Philippines.

Last week, Villanueva arrived in the Philippines for some shows.

“This is the very first time that I am performing internationally and in the Philippines. I think it’s great. I just want to thank them for being there since day one. It’s been amazing. Mahal ko kayo,” he said.

Below is his rendition of “Balita.”