Why UK singer Duffy wasn't in public eye for 10 years as Disney+ to tell her kidnapping story

Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault, rape, and suicide, which some readers may find distressing.

Duffy is set to feature in a new documentary recounting her rise to fame and subsequent kidnapping and sexual assault for the first time.

The Welsh singer, 41, best known for her international hits 'Mercy' and 'Warwick Avenue,' will open up about her life and time away from the spotlight in a new Disney+ feature-length documentary.

After rising to fame in the late 2000s following the release of her debut album, she released a second album, Endlessly, in 2010 before suddenly withdrawing from the public eye.

Nobody knew ewhy, until the singer revealed nearly a decade later that she'd undergone a devastating kidnapping ordeal and had been drugged, raped, and held captive in another country.

In 2020, she shared a post on social media in which she spoke for the first time about the horrific attack, and the new Disney+ documentary will mark Duffy's only major interview in 15 years.

A new Disney+ documentary is set to detail Duffy's horrific attack and kidnapping (Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images)

What happened to Duffy?

Duffy wrote at the time: "Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to, and why. A journalist contacted me, he found a way to reach me, and I told him everything this past summer. He was kind, and it felt so amazing to finally speak.

"The truth is, and please trust me I am ok and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days. Of course I survived. The recovery took time. There's no light way to say it."

She continued: "But I can tell you in the last decade, the thousands and thousands of days I committed to wanting to feel the sunshine in my heart again, the sun does now shine.

"You wonder why I did not choose to use my voice to express my pain? I did not want to show the world the sadness in my eyes. I asked myself, how can I sing from the heart if it is broken? And slowly it unbroke."

The singer later revealed in a personal essay on her website how she had been abducted as she celebrated her birthday at a restaurant, before being drugged and taken to a foreign country, where she was allegedly raped by an assailant.

Duffy, real name, Aimée Ann Duffy, recalled: "It was my birthday, I was drugged at a restaurant, I was drugged then for four weeks and travelled to a foreign country.

"I can’t remember getting on the plane and came round in the back of a travelling vehicle. I was put into a hotel room and the perpetrator returned and raped me. I remember the pain and trying to stay conscious in the room after it happened."

She said that her perpetrator made 'veiled confessions of wanting to kill me' and she escaped by 'fleeing' but 'cannot remember getting home'.

The singer explained: "I do not know how I had the strength to endure those days, I did feel the presence of something that helped me stay alive.

"I flew back with him, I stayed calm and as normal as someone could in a situation like that, and when I got home, I sat, dazed, like a zombie.

"I knew my life was in immediate danger, he made veiled confessions of wanting to kill me. With what little strength I had, my instinct was to then run, to run and find somewhere to live that he could not find."

This will mark her first major interview in 15 years (Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

After being drugged in her ‘own home in the four weeks’, she revealed that she 'didn't feel safe' to go to the police with what had happened.

Duffy wrote: "I felt if anything went wrong, I would be dead, and he would have killed me. I could not risk being mishandled or it being all over the news during my danger."

She said that 'utterly no-one' knew about what had happened to her, which had left her suicidal.

"In the aftermath I would not see someone, a physical soul, for sometimes weeks and weeks and weeks at a time, remaining alone," she said.

What will the new Duffy documentary be about?

Now, in her first major interview, the new documentary will chronicle the singer’s life, from her upbringing in Wales to her music career to the present, nearly 15 years after she was attacked.

It will also include interviews with the singer’s family, friends, and close peers in the music industry.

Director Gill Callan said: "Duffy’s life has been shaped by success and fame, but equally by pain, defiance, and an irrepressible sense of self.

"I’m drawn to the tension between vulnerability and confidence in her story and how a person can be deeply affected by their experiences, yet still find a powerful, expressive voice that is unmistakably hers."

While Sean Doyle, vice president of unscripted at Disney+, added: "This film will give Duffy the chance to tell her story in her own words.

"We set out in a search for impactful, female-led stories in collaboration with Northern Ireland Screen, and it’s a privilege that Duffy’s is the first we’re able to help tell. But above all, I’m especially in awe of Duffy - for her honesty and courage to share her story."

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact the Rape Crisis England and Wales helpline on 0808 500 222, available 24/7. If you are currently in danger or need urgent medical attention, you should call 999.

You can also contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.