The X Factor star Lucy Spraggan reveals rape ordeal during production

A star who came to fame on the UK series The X Factor has revealed she was raped in a hotel while filming the show.

A former star of the UK’s The X Factor has revealed she was raped by a hotel porter during production of the hit reality show.

Lucy Spraggan, who was just 20 at the time, says that she felt let down by X Factor broadcaster ITV after the harrowing ordeal in 2012.

In her new memoir, Process: Finding My Way Through, Spraggan said the rape took place after a night celebrating fellow X Factor alum Rylan Clark’s 25th birthday at the swanky Mayfair nightclub Mahiki.

British musician Lucy Spraggan has opened up about being raped during production of The X Factor. Picture: Instagram/lspraggan

Spraggan was 20 when she was a contestant on the hit UK reality show in 2012. Picture: Instagram/lspraggan

Spraggan said that it was “inappropriate” for anyone, including contestants, to be drunk.

The young star passed out and was escorted back to the hotel by a member of the production team, before the hotel porter offered to escort her to her room.

As he left, the porter flipped the security latch on her door to prevent it locking behind them.

Some time later, Clark checked in on an unconscious Spraggan and made sure her door was locked when he left.

This meant when the porter later returned to Spraggan’s room in order to attack her, he had to use a traceable keycard.

“I woke up the next day with this sense of sheer dread,” Spraggan 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.”

The incident happened on the night Spraggan was celebrating a fellow contestant’s birthday. Picture: Instagram/lspraggan

The production team called the police and an arrest was quickly made, but the star said she felt they were “unprepared” to support her in the aftermath.

Spraggan said in the days after the assault, the side effects of Pep – a drug that prevents HIV – made her too unwell to consider continuing with the competition.

“No one ever contacted me to ask if I was OK,” she writes in her book.

She added: “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 was a popular contestant during her time on the ITV talent show and impressed the judges with a song she had written.

She didn’t win the competition as she had to pull out – due to illness – but the Sheffield singer went on to sign a record deal with Columbia and later went independent.

Although she wanted to make public the reason for her exit from The X Factor, Spraggan claimed various people told her: “You have your whole career ahead of you and you can’t retract this.”

But the singer-songwriter said she had since decided that “in order for me to rebuild myself and move on, I needed to tell the truth”.

A spokesperson for Fremantle, the show’s producers, said: “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 after-care processes.”

The X Factor creator Simon Cowell has shared his heartbreak at Spraggan’s ordeal. Picture: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

A spokesperson for ITV 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.”

The X Factor creator Simon Cowell said that what happened to Spraggan was “horrific and heartbreaking”.

He said: “When I was given the opportunity to speak to Lucy, I was able to personally tell her how sorry I was about everything she has been through.

“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.

“I have always supported her wish to tell her story as well as her efforts to bring about positive change.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as The X Factor star Lucy Spraggan reveals rape ordeal during production