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The former X Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan has been praised for her bravery by Celebrity SAS fans after she opened up about being sexual assaulted.
Lucy told the Celebrity SAS staff about the attack, which happened in 2012 whilst she was taking part in the X Factor live shows.
The assault happened after a night out celebrating fellow X Factor contestant Rylan Clark’s 25th birthday, when the then 21-year-old Lucy headed back to her hotel.
Lucy was then raped by a hotel porter who had used a traceable key card to get into her room – where she was passed out on the bed.
The brave singer shared that the experience was part of the reason she wanted to come on the show.
She started by saying: ‘Where I, where I…I’ve been broken so many times.’
The 34-year-old broke down as she shared the version of events that occurred that horrific night, ‘The hotel porter said, ‘Oh, I’ll give her a hand’ and I was paralytic. I passed out on the bed, so I can only tell you this stuff because of the information that I have been told.’
‘When that hotel porter came up to my room to do what not-nice people do to vulnerable women,’ Lucy added.
The hotel porter was arrested, convicted of rape and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Holding back her tears, Lucy went on to say, ‘I woke up and I didn’t really know what…Well, I knew what had happened, but I didn’t know what to do.’
The artist then pointed out that the hotel porter had used a key card to get into her room, so police were able to track him down and arrest him for raping her.
During the 2012 X Factor live shows, Lucy left unexpectedly, with viewers assuming it was down to a sudden illness.
After her story had come to light, many fans took to X to share their support and how they felt that X-Factor producers failed her as a vulnerable young woman; they should have protected.
‘This is heartbreaking to hear what Lucy went through at the X Factor!! That show big time let this young girl down!!’ @triciautd said on X.
‘Lucy, you brave lady. What a terrible experience. You are a queen,’ @oohaoo added.
@gemma_louise_58 shared: ‘Lucy Spraggan, made of tough stuff – go all the way girl.’
After trying her best to hold it together whilst re-telling her traumatic memories, Lucy burst into tears, stammering to the Celebrity SAS staff: ‘It was seven years of, like, trying to destroy myself. The amount of times I was blackout drunk, again, after that.
’I know that that’s what that was, I was just trying to shut everything out, but it felt like everything was snatched away from me in a really brutal way,’
‘And I was like ‘I haven’t done anything wrong’. And so, I was angry about that, I was angry that other people had music careers that were better than mine.’
‘Or sad that I felt like I’d missed the boat. It all just got so heavy. I realised, I was like, ‘If I carry on doing this, I’m just going to die.’
The celebrity SAS contestant has been pinpointed as a fan favourite to win due to her tough Yorkshire girl attitude.
One fan, @eloquentparrot, took to X to spread the Lucy love: ‘They may as well just pass Lucy now and end the series.’
Things are looking up for Lucy as she married her wedding photographer wife, Emilia Smith, in June of last year at a beautiful venue in East Yorkshire – where X Factor’s Simon Cowell walked her down the aisle.
The popular artist has continued to make music since her X Factor stint 13 years ago – with her eighth studio album, Other Sides of the Moon, being released earlier this summer.
Other Sides of the Moon features brand-new songs, Heaven and The Lesson – alongside reimagined classics like Tea and Toast and Butterflies.
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins continues Sunday at 9pm on Channel 4.
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