Meet the man with a 200-strong collection of DOLLS in his spare room - which range from shop-bought Barbies to £600 Japanese imports.<br /><br />Former X Factor contestant Duane AJ, 34, spends lots of his spare cash on his hobby - including buying mini Jimmy Choo shoes for some of the dolls.<br /><br />He started collecting at the age of five - for which he says he was bullied during his childhood.<br /><br />But singer Duane, from Truro, Cornwall, says he now wants to speak out, to break the stereotype - saying men can collect dolls too.<br /><br />He said: "It's an expensive hobby - I have to make sure all my bills are paid each month before I buy any dolls.<br /><br />"I don't know why I love them so much, but I do. I believe I was born to collect dolls.<br /><br />"I just want to raise awareness for guys who collect dolls. It's fine to do what you enjoy, whoever you are."<br /><br />Duane - who made it to the 'boot camp' stage of X Factor in 2006 - got his first doll at a car boot sale.<br /><br />His grandma offered to buy him something he liked and he picked his first ever doll - and became "obsessed".<br /><br />From there it grew - and for every birthday and Christmas family would buy him different types of dolls.<br /><br />But when he began taking them to school he was picked on by classmates for his hobby.<br /><br />He said: "Growing up my family always fully supported my hobby - they never made me feel like it was wrong.<br /><br />"But at school the boys would take the mick and call me gay - it got the better of me and in the end I stopped taking them."<br /><br />From there, Duane continued collecting dolls in secret - even as he moved into adulthood.<br /><br />He began to stop being ashamed and embrace his passion.<br /><br />After paying his bills each month, all of his leftover money would go on purchasing new dolls for his collection.<br /><br />He has everything from £20 Barbies through to Japanese Smart Dolls which set him back up to £600 due to having to also pay to import them.<br /><br />The costs incurred aren't only from buying Smart Dolls but accessorising them - including with £70 genuine Jimmy Choo shoes.<br /><br />Duane's enormous collection of dolls is worth thousands of pounds - and occupies an entire room in his house where he lives with his husband.<br /><br />His favourite doll is currently a limited edition Alice in Wonderland doll which he got on eBay before Disney even released them in the UK, costing around £100.<br />
