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Former X Factor UK contestant Lucy Spraggan recently opened up about a traumatic incident from her past. In 2012, the popular singer withdrew from the contest citing an illness and stepped away from the limelight. In an interview with The Guardian, Lucy revealed that she was r*ped by a hotel porter during the production of the ITV show.
Trigger Warning- The following article contains graphic details about s*xual assault
Spraggan was just 20 years old when she was attacked on the night after celebrating Rylan Clark’s 25th birthday. In her memoir, Process: Finding My Way Through, Lucy Spraggan waived the right to anonymity as a victim and confessed that she was escorted back to her room by a hotel staff:
"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 r*ped, but I could not process that. So I put my clothes on and went into autopilot."
The production called police and the accused was arrested but Spraggan revealed that the team was “unprepared" to deal with an incident like that. She was just given some financial and medical support but no one reached out to her after the attacker was convicted.
The person who assaulted Lucy Spraggan was caught because of Rylan Clark
In her interview with The Guardian, Lucy Spraggan described the incident in great detail. She said that a production member was escorting her back when the hotel porter assured them that he would take her to the room.
He did the same but did not flip the security latch so that the door would not lock. However, Rylan Clark himself came to check on her and locked the door.
The porter then had to use the trackable keycard to enter the room and this led to his arrest and being sentenced to 10 years in prison. Various people told her at the time that she would not be able to retract the complaint, which might harm her career.
The Fremantle production team acknowledged Lucy’s complaint that the company could have handled the situation well and that:
"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."
Series creator Simon Cowell described the incident as “horrific and heartbreaking" and revealed that they had a “genuine friendship and a mutual respect” now.
Lucy Spraggan quit The X-Factor after facing side effects of the Pep
Originally from Canterbury, Spraggan was booked for The X Factor when she was just 13. Her instincts told her not to do the show, but Lucy was captivated by how “sparkly” the show seemed. In her interview, Lucy revealed that she was encouraged by the producers to show off her backstory.
After being selected, Lucy Spraggan said:
"I knew my role: get drunk, do something funny, appear in the headlines the next day."
Spraggan’s became unwell due the side effects of Pep, a drug taken within 72 hours of exposure to prevent HIV, and decided to quit the series. She also calls herself a “lucky victim” because of the evidence which was available in her case to get an early conviction.
Lucy has released many singles since dropping out from The X Factor and signed Simon Cowell's label, Syco Music.
