Lucy Spraggan reveals she give up X Factor after being raped

Former X Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan has revealed she left the ITV expertise present after being raped.

The singer – who had been a favorite to win in 2012 – abruptly give up the present throughout its stay rounds, with programme-makers telling the general public her departure was attributable to “illness”.

But the 31-year-old has now waived her authorized proper to anonymity, which is granted to all rape victims, to talk out about her ordeal.

Spraggan was 20 years previous on the time of the assault, which she stated was carried out by a resort porter following an evening out with fellow contestants.

In the aftermath, she was suggested to take remedy to forestall HIV an infection – but it surely made her so unwell she was compelled to go away the X Factor, which was received that 12 months by James Arthur.

The singer stated she had needed to go public on the time, however was warned it’d have an effect on her future profession.

Spraggan later went on to have success within the music trade with two top-10 albums. Her launch Join The Club reached seven within the charts in 2013, whereas Choices peaked at quantity 5 in 2021.

But she stated she was uninterested in not being trustworthy with followers and needed to talk out now as a result of “in order for me to rebuild myself and move on, I needed to tell the truth”.

Detailing the rape in her new memoir, Process: Finding My Way Through, the singer stated she had earlier been on an evening out in London celebrating fellow contestant Rylan Clark’s twenty fifth birthday at Mayfair nightclub Mahiki.

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But, after being given free alcohol, she fell unconscious and was escorted again to her resort by a member of the manufacturing group, the place a porter provided to assist get her to her room.

Clark then got here to her room to verify she was OK and ensure the room was locked, Spraggan stated.

However, the porter later returned with a keycard to unlock the door and assault her.

She wrote: “I woke up the next day with this sense of sheer dread. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that level of confusion since.

“I knew that I’d been raped, however I couldn’t course of that. So I put my garments on and went into autopilot.”

The production team quickly called the police and an arrest was made within hours.

The hotel staffer later pleaded guilty and was jailed.

‘No one ever asked if I was OK’

Spraggan said she felt let down by programme-makers and accused them of being “unprepared” to deal with what happened.

She received both financial and medical support in the immediate aftermath, but said she was not given any further support after her attacker was convicted.

Writing in her memoir, Spraggan said: “No one ever contacted me to ask if I used to be OK.

“No one called or emailed when the trial was over and he was convicted. No one offered me rehabilitation or ongoing mental health treatment. I was on my own.”

She additionally instructed the Guardian: “It was inappropriate for anybody – including contestants – to be drunk.

“How are you able to fulfil your responsibility of care when free alcohol is concerned?”

Spraggan is the most recent in a string of ex-reality TV stars, including former X Factor singer Rebecca Ferguson, to specific concern in regards to the remedy of contestants.

X Factor creator Simon Cowell, who was absent from 2012 collection as a result of he was filming America’s Got Talent within the US, stated in a press release: “What happened to Lucy was horrific and heartbreaking.

“When I used to be given the chance to talk to Lucy, I used to be capable of personally inform her how sorry I used to be about every thing she has been by.

“Although we met under tragic circumstances, a genuine friendship and a mutual respect has developed between us. Lucy is one of the most authentic, talented, and brave people I have ever met.

“Since we related, I’ve had the honour to work with Lucy and I’ve all the time supported her want to inform her story, in addition to her efforts to result in constructive change.”

‘We are extraordinarily sorry’

A spokesperson for Fremantle, the British TV firm that produced The X Factor for ITV, stated: “To our knowledge, the assault was an event without precedent in the UK television industry.

“Whilst we believed all through that we have been doing our greatest to assist Lucy within the aftermath of the ordeal, as Lucy thinks we might have performed extra, we should subsequently recognise this.

“For everything Lucy has suffered, we are extremely sorry. Since then, we have done our very best to learn lessons from these events and improve our aftercare processes.

“Whilst we’ve labored laborious to try to shield Lucy’s lifetime proper to anonymity, we applaud her energy and bravado now that she has chosen to waive that proper.”