Singer Lucy Spraggan who was on the X Factor in 2012 and attempted suicide after being sexually assaulted wants ongoing access to mental health support to be an industry standard
Lucy Spraggan has called for TV firms to offer contestants and staff a lifelong ” mental health pension”, saying: “If they don’t then, ultimately, people die.”
Lucy, 32 â who attempted suicide after being raped while an X Factor contestant in 2012 â told how she had been heartbroken by Caroline Flack’s death, and wrote a song to keep the star’s name alive. Ex-Love Island host Caroline’s suicide in 2020 followed those of Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis â both former contestants on the ITV2 reality dating show.
Lucy, whose song Last Night became a viral chart hit even before her X Factor audition aired, says she wants ongoing access to mental health support to be an industry standard for TV contestants and staff. She said: “If the TV companies acknowledge they need to support people going forward, they also need to acknowledge they should support people from the past.
“And they need to care about producers and crew too, not just contestants.” She revealed she has had long talks with X Factor boss Simon Cowell on the topic and he is “very supportive”. Lucy said: “My song Caroline was the first one I wrote on the album. I felt really affected by how she felt at the end of her life. The middle repeats her name over and over, which is what I want the song to do, to make sure it stays in all our minds.”