Lucy 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." 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.”

Lucy Spraggan: Former X Factor star reveals sexual assault Lucy Spraggan: Former X Factor star reveals sexual assault

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. Spraggan was a 20-year-old gigging musician when she was scouted by X Factor producers, and she became the first contestant to perform her own songs and play an instrument. Her audition, a song called Last Night, was the world’s fourth most-watched YouTube video of that year, and she became the UK’s most Googled artist. Since then, we have done our very best to learn lessons from these events and improve our aftercare processes.” She has now opened up about how it impacted the next 10 years of her life and how she felt let down by ITV. ITV as a commissioning broadcaster is committed to having in place suitable and robust oversight procedures, with a view to ensuring that independent producers employ the correct processes to protect the mental health and welfare of participants. We have evolved and improved these oversight procedures since the events in question and we are encouraged to hear that Thames recognises the importance of continuous review and improvement of their own processes.

Spraggan announced a headline UK and Ireland tour in support of the album which started at Margate Winter Gardens on 21 October and concluded at The Academy in Dublin on 16 November. [31]

Process by Lucy Spraggan | Waterstones

verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ On 13 July 2012, she released the single " Tea and Toast". Spraggan auditioned for the ninth series of The X Factor, which was shown on 25 August 2012, singing her own song " Last Night" from Top Room at the Zoo (2011). She won herself a place at bootcamp after performing the song, which left the audience at the Manchester auditions chanting for more. Her second song, which was a rendition of " Halo" by Beyoncé, was shown on The Xtra Factor. Shortly after the audition was screened, the song climbed to Number 70 in the UK Singles Chart, [19] and reached Number 2 on iTunes. However, it was soon removed from iTunes by request of The X Factor producers. [20] On 29 August 2012, Greg James announced that "Last Night" was at number 5 on the Official Chart Update despite the song being removed from iTunes, her album Top Room at the Zoo was at number 7 on the Official Chart Update as well. [21] [22] On 2 September 2012 "Last Night" entered the UK Singles Chart at number 11 and Top Room at the Zoo entered the UK Albums Chart at number 22. [23] Since then, we have done our very best to learn lessons from these events and improve our aftercare processes. X Factor finalist Lucy Spraggan: Most of my songs are about the older woman I fell for in America". Now Magazine . Retrieved 5 October 2012.

A spokesperson for Fremantle, the British TV company that produced The X Factor for ITV, said: "To our knowledge, the assault was an event without precedent in the UK television industry. Anstey Spraggan (22 May 2010). "How to survive a stepfamily". The Guardian. London . Retrieved 21 September 2012. Lane, Daniel. "Lucy Spraggan chats about new single lighthouse". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 29 August 2013. She also told the Guardian: "It was inappropriate for anybody - including contestants - to be drunk. X Factor hopeful Lucy Spraggan too 'niche' for Tulisa at Judges Houses?". X-Factor UK . Retrieved 30 September 2012.