Entertainment
Katie Waissel claims she was sexually assaulted by X Factor team member
Former X Factor star Katie Waissel has claimed that she was sexually assaulted by one of the team on the ITV show.
Katie, 35, rose to fame on series seven of the singing show. She finished seventh, appearing in the same year as One Direction, Cher Lloyd, and Rebecca Ferguson.
‘I can still smell him,’ Katie said. ‘I was paralysed with shock. All I could think was, “How am I going to leave this room?”
‘I was a victim but I wouldn’t allow myself to recognise just how terrible it had been. I’ve never spoken before as I thought I’d be blacklisted and never work again.’
She added to The Sun: ‘I was vulnerable but times have changed and I now feel bold enough to speak out.’
She said the alleged ordeal happened in a luxury hotel, when she met the man to talk about recording work, and that it happened in the US, some years after her appearance on the show in 2010.
The publication reports that the man, who is not being named for legal reasons, said the claims were entirely untrue.
It’s reported that Simon Cowell’s company began a probe as soon as they became aware of the allegations.
A spokesperson for Syco Entertainment told Metro.co.uk in a statement: ‘We were made aware via the media of Katie’s claims in Autumn 2017 and we immediately contacted her and began an investigation.
‘We were naturally shocked at the allegations and wanted to do anything we could to help – so we asked her to lodge a complaint with us and detail the allegations for that purpose. In the interim we suspended the accused.
‘Despite a number of requests to Katie asking her to detail the claims to us, she chose not to make a complaint over his behaviour. As a result, and without other evidence to the contrary, we were obliged to accept his denial of the claims.
‘We, of course, remain ready and keen to investigate her claims if she so chooses to detail them to us and even though the alleged perpetrator no longer works for either Syco or Sony Music.’
Katie, who has previously opened up about feeling suicidal following her appearance, said she did not want to make a formal complaint at the time as she was pregnant and did not want the added stress.
However, she went on to say she’s ‘traumatised’ by her time on the show and, if she could go back, she never would have taken part.
Katie’s claims come amid a string of other former contestants speaking out against the show.
Jedward – twins John and Edward Grimes – recently took aim at Cowell, while Rebecca Ferguson has called for an overhaul of how artists are treated in the music industry.
Cher Lloyd has not mentioned the show or anyone by name, but made reference to being ‘exploited’ in a recent TikTok.
Metro.co.uk has contacted The X Factor and ITV for comment.
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