Lucy Spraggan has revealed that she was raped by a hotel porter during her time on The X Factor in 2012.
The singer - then 20 - was one of the favourites in that year's competition but suddenly withdrew three weeks into the live shows with what was described at the time as an "illness".
Now 31, Spraggan discloses the real reason for her exit in new memoir Process: Finding My Way Through, explaining that after a night out with fellow contestant Rylan Clark she went back to her hotel drunk - and at some point during the night, a hotel worker gained access to her room and sexually assaulted her.
"I woke up the next day with this sense of sheer dread," she told The Guardian. "I don't think I've ever felt that level of confusion since. I knew that I'd been raped, but I could not process that. So I put my clothes on and went into autopilot."
In her book Spraggan criticises the show's production team for not offering follow-up support in the wake of the trial which convicted the man in question.
"No one ever contacted me to ask if I was OK," she writes. "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."
Spraggan did go on to praise show creator Simon Cowell, however, after he reached out to her two years ago. "I thought, 'Do I want to get battered any more?' I went on the call thinking I'd give him a piece of my fucking mind. But instead of breaking my heart, he put it back together. It sounds weird, and it was weird. I didn't know that that was what I needed."
A spokesperson for production company Fremantle told The Guardian: "The serious sexual assault suffered by Lucy Spraggan in October 2012 was a truly horrific criminal act for which the perpetrator, who was not connected with the programme, was rightfully prosecuted and imprisoned. Anyone should feel safe when they are sleeping in a hotel room – and it is abhorrent to think that a hotel porter abused that trust in such a vile way.
"To our knowledge, the assault was an event without precedent in the UK television industry. While we believed throughout that we were doing our best to support Lucy in the aftermath of the ordeal, as Lucy thinks we could have done more, we must therefore 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.
"While we have worked hard to try and protect Lucy's lifetime right to anonymity, we applaud her strength and bravery now that she has chosen to waive that right."
An ITV spokesperson said: "The X Factor was produced by Thames [part of Fremantle] and Syco, who were responsible for duty of care towards all of its programme contributors. ITV is committed to having in place suitable and robust processes to protect the mental health and welfare of programme participants, and we have continued to evolve and strengthen our approach. We expect the producers of commissioned programmes to have in place appropriate procedures to look after the mental health of participants as well as their physical safety. In an event of such a distressing nature, welfare and support towards the victim would always be of the utmost priority.
"We have the deepest compassion for Lucy and everything she has endured as a result of this horrific ordeal. We commend her resilience and bravery."
Spraggan's book Process: Finding My Way Through is released on July 20.
Neil Wilkes
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