Lucy Spraggan

Former X Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan has revealed she was raped by a Hotel Porter during the production of the ITV show in 2012.

She withdrew from The Show , citing an illness at The Time , but told The Real reason was because she was attacked.

Spraggan said she felt let down by the programme makers.

Simon Cowell , creator of X Factor, said What Happened to Spraggan was " horrific and heart-breaking".

" 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.

" Lucy is one of The Most authentic, talented and Brave People I have ever met. "

Spraggan, who was 20 at The Time , said The Assault happened after a Night Out in Central London celebrating the 25th birthday of fellow contestant Rylan Clark .

In her new memoir, Process: Finding My Way Through, the 31-year-old waives The Right to anonymity granted to victims of sexual offences to tell Her Story for the First Time .

She Said she was escorted back to The Hotel by a member of the production team when a Hotel Porter offered to take her to her room.

She told The Guardian : " 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 raped, but I could not process that. So I put my clothes on and went into autopilot. "

Although the production team called police and an arrest was quickly made, Spraggan said she believed they were " unprepared" to deal with what had happened.

Spraggan received financial and medical support in The Immediate aftermath of The Crime , but The Singer said she wasn't given any support after The Trial in which her attacker was convicted.

An ITV spokesperson praised Spraggan for her " resilience and bravery" adding the series was produced by Thames (part of Fremantle) and Syco, owned by Simon Cowell .

They said it was those two companies which were " primarily responsible for duty of care towards all of its programme contributors".

A spokesperson for Fremantle said " to our knowledge, The Assault was an event without precedent in the UK television industry" and they " believed throughout that we were doing our best to support Lucy".

But they added: " 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.

" Whilst 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. "

You can see an exclusive broadcast interview with Lucy Spraggan on The Bbc on Sunday.

Source of news: bbc.com