‘X-Factor’ contestant Lucy Spraggan claims hotel porter “raped” her

Former X-Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan revealed that she left the show when she was sexually assaulted by a hotel porter after she had partied with Rylan Clark back in 2012. She explained the details in her memoir Process: Finding My Way Through.

She claimed that she had been "let down" by the network of the show, ITV and ended up having to leave the show after being chosen at the age of 20. It didn't take long before her popularity shot up as she performed with an instrument and sang a track of her own. Her audition video became the fourth most-watched video that was released that year.

Due to the assault, she could not continue with the show due to the side effects of Pep medication, which she was being given to stop her from contracting HIV.

She detailed that the incident had taken place after the 25th birthday party thrown for Rylan where everyone had been provided with unlimited alcohol which ended up being the reason why Lucy fell unconscious. In an interview with the Guardian, she explained that a member of the production team had dropped her off at the hotel from where a hotel porter had offered to take her to her room.

Sometime later, Clark then visited her room to make sure she was alright before locking the door and leaving.

This means that the assailant had been able to unlock the door with a keycard of their own and assaulted her. 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.”

However, after she left the show, she felt frustrated at the lack of support from the show and network. “No one ever contacted me to ask if I was OK. 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.”