X Factor star ‘attacked and mugged’ in unsettling incident-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro

A former X Factor star has been mugged (Picture: ITV)

Former X Factor star Bella Penfold has revealed she was the victim of an unsettling mugging in London.

The influencer, 25, appeared on the now-defunct ITV reality series in 2018, during which she was mentored by Simon Cowell.

After receiving the Golden Buzzer from Simon during her audition, she went on to compete in the Girls category and make it to the live shows, where she was eventually named in 8th place on that season, which was won by Dalton Harris.

In the years since she’s gone on to carve out a career as a content creator, however this week shared she’d been targeted while walking in the capital.

Posting on Instagram on Thursday, she wrote: ‘Last night I was attacked and mugged in London. Phone was taken. All brands waiting on content, please be patient with me. Anyone who needs to contact me please message this account.’

She hasn’t yet posted any sort of further update.

Bella Penfold revealed details of the scary incident on social media (Picture: Bella Penfold/Instagram)

When auditioning for the reality series, Bella impressed with her rendition of Fell In Love With A Boy by Joss Stone.

She then covered Same Love by Macklemore at her Judges House audition, with future performances including Labrinth’s Beneath Your Beautiful, A Million Dreams from the musical The Greatest Showman, and London Grammar’s Strong.

She also asked people to ‘be patient’ with her (Picture: Bella Penfold/Instagram)

Although Simon was devastated when she was eliminated, Bella took it all in her stride and praised her fellow competitors, while thanking her mentor.

‘It wouldn’t be the same without any of them. If there’s one person in the room, I’ve got to thank is Simon Cowell – he’s really changed my life,’ she said at the time.

Bella appeared on the ITV reality series in 2018 (Picture: Dymond/Thames/Syco/REX/Shutterst)

She was mentored by Simon Cowell (Picture: Dymond/Thames/Syco/REX/Shutterstock)

During her time on the show, Bella also came out, a decision she previously spoke to Metro.co.uk about.

‘I needed to be fearless, and I needed to show other people that you can be fearless and that it doesn’t matter,’ she said.

‘You don’t have to scream about it, you don’t have to hide it away, you’ve just got to be who you are.’

Bella went on to share that she ‘just wanted to show older people and younger people that you can be a little bit fearless and little bit brave’.

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