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LUCY Spraggan broke down in tears as she told how Simon Cowell apologised when he learned she’d been raped while on The X Factor.
The singer, 31, was sexually assaulted by a hotel porter in 2012, but has only just gone public with her horrific ordeal.
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Discussing how Simon reacted when he found out, Lucy claims the TV judge said ‘Lucy, before you or I say anything else, the first thing I need to tell you is that I am sorry.’
As she burst into tears, Lucy told the BBC: “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.”
After Lucy confessed what had happened to her for the first time in 11 years, Simon, the creator of The X Factor, said that what happened to Spraggan was “horrific and heartbreaking”.
He said: “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.
“Although we met under tragic circumstances, a genuine friendship and a mutual respect has developed between us. Lucy is one of the most authentic, talented and brave people I have ever met.
“I have always supported her wish to tell her story as well as her efforts to bring about positive change.”
In her new memoir, Process: Finding My Way Through, Lucy said the rape took place after a night celebrating Rylan Clark’s 25th birthday at the swanky Mayfair nightclub Mahiki.
The former contestant, who was just 20 at the time, says that she felt let down by ITV – and that it was “inappropriate” for anyone, including contestants, to be drunk.
The young star passed out and was escorted back to the hotel by a member of the production team, before the hotel porter offered to escort 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.”
The production team called the police and an arrest was quickly made, but the star said she felt they were “unprepared” to support her in the aftermath.
Lucy said in the days after the assault, the side-effects of Pep – a drug that prevents HIV – made her too unwell to consider continuing with the competition.
“No one ever contacted me to ask if I was OK,” she writes in her book.
And while she received both financial and medical support in the immediate aftermath of the crime, Lucy said she wasn’t given any support after the trial concluded.
Lucy added: “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.”
Lucy was a popular contestant during her time on the ITV talent show and impressed the judges with a song she had written.
The Sheffield singer went on to sign a record deal with Columbia and later went independent.
A spokesperson for Fremantle, the show’s producers, said: “The serious sexual assault suffered by Lucy Spraggan in October 2012 was a truly horrific criminal act for which the perpetrator, who was not connected with the programme, was rightfully prosecuted and imprisoned.
“Anyone should feel safe when they are sleeping in a hotel room – and it is abhorrent to think that a hotel porter abused that trust in such a vile way.
“To our knowledge, the assault was an event without precedent in the UK television industry. Whilst we believed throughout that we were doing our best to support Lucy in the aftermath of the ordeal, 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.”
Meanwhile a spokesperson for ITV said: “The X Factor was produced by Thames [part of Fremantle] and Syco, who were responsible for duty of care towards all of its programme contributors.
“ITV is committed to having in place suitable and robust processes to protect the mental health and welfare of programme participants, and we have continued to evolve and strengthen our approach.”
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