X Factor star Lucy Spraggan quit show after hotel worker sexual assault

A former X Factor contestant has revealed she was forced to quit the show after being raped.

Lucy Spraggan, 31, appeared on the series in 2012, competing against James Arthur and Rylan Clark.

Just three weeks into the competition, however, it was announced that Lucy had left due to illness.

Speaking to the BBC about her time on the show, the singer has now revealed that she was actually raped.

Waiving her right to anonymity, Lucy opened up about the deeply traumatic experience.

While filming, contestants were put up at the five star Corinthia Hotel in London, where they were put under 24-hour security.

But due to their behaviour, both Lucy and Rylan were ordered to move to another hotel, with no extra security available.

The same night they were moved also happened to be the same date as Rylan's birthday party at a Mayfair nightclub.

ITV

Lucy, who was just 20 years old at the time, said she doesn't remember much from the night, having only been able to piece bits together from the police and others.

But she knows that she fell unconscious and was taken back to her hotel by someone from the production team.

"The hotel porter that had offered his help to get me up to bed… got a key card, let himself into my room and raped me," Lucy recalled.

She said that the police examination after the reported the incident was 'one of the worst experiences' of her life.

But even with all this going on, she still had to think about the show and how she was going to continue.

"It was like, this extraordinary thing's happened," Lucy said. "The police are here, I've just had this examination. And people still asking me, 'What do you want to do? What do you want to do?' And I was like, 'I want to carry on with the show'.

"It kind of shows you what kind of world you are in, in what kind of mindset you are in, to not be able to really measure what has happened, and what you should do now."

So distressed by the horrific ordeal, Lucy says she contemplated killing herself.

"I remember sort of having to peel myself away from jumping off the balcony," she said. "Like having to consciously do that."

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A year after the attack, Soby John was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to assaulting Lucy.

The 31-year-old said that Simon Cowell, who was not involved with her series in 2012, was the only person to apologise to her over a decade later.

She had contacted his reps to tell them she was writing a book, and he called her up.

The music producer said: "Lucy, before you or I say anything else, the first thing I need to tell you is that I am sorry."

Looking back at that phone call, Lucy said: "It makes me emotional because no-one else said sorry. And all it took was this one man to treat me like a human being, 11 years later."

Lucy's memoir Process: Finding my way through is available for pre-order now.

If you would like specialist sexual violence support or information, you can find specialist services in your area here. You can also contact The Survivors Trust helpline team to get more information about the different types of support available.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.