The X Factor star Lucy Spraggan has praised Rylan Clark for his actions when she was raped by a hotel porter at the age of 20.
The singer-songwriter, now 32, said the incident occured after a night in a Mayfair nightclub while she was celebrating her fellow contestant’s 25th birthday.
After falling unconcious, Spraggan was escorted back to their hotel by a member of the X Factor production team, she recalls in her new memoir, Process: Finding My Way. Once there, she was taken to her room by a hotel employee.
Later that night, the hotel employee returned and used a “traceable keycard” to gain access to her room, where he sexually assaulted her.
Speaking to Elizabeth Day on the How to Fail podcast, Spraggan explained that Rylan’s actions on the night had resulted in police being able to identify and arrest her attacker.
“Later that night [before the attack], Rylan came back to the hotel from his own party, he’d been drinking all night, and something told him to go and check on me,” she said.
“Rylan, sweet Rylan, came to my room and as he came to check on me, he pushed the door, and the door opened. And he realised that the door had been put on the latch, you have those little metal latches in hotels, and that had been put across.
“So, he pushed the door and thought, ‘That’s strange,’ walked up to me, took my pumpkin costume off,” she continued. “I wasn’t responsive, so he checked my pulse, made sure I was breathing, and tucked me in, and most importantly, Rylan took the latch off, he moved it and he shut the door.”
Spraggan explained that the porter had deliberately left the door on the latch because he had intended to come back and rape her. However, after Rylan removed the latch and shut the door, the hotel worker was forced to use his keycard to enter, making it possible to trace him.
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Rylan Clark and Lucy Spraggan attend The Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards 2021— (Getty Images)
“Because Rylan had, whatever it was, knowing to come back and check that I was ok, that I was safe, the next morning I woke up and I went into complete autopilot,” Spraggan said. “I just went about the beginning of that day as if nothing had happened, and I knew something was terribly wrong, and I told Rylan.
“I didn’t know what had happened, I just said… I can’t even really remember what I said. And Rylan took charge, he absolutely took charge.
“Later that day when the police had been called, and Rylan had just been this incredible leader – calm, rational leader, who just saved the day – they told me the hotel porter was in custody, and had Rylan not come to shut that door, there would not have been that traceable key card that gave all the evidence to arrest that man.”
Spraggan ended up departing the ninth series of The X Factor in the aftermath of the attack. At the time, a spokesperson said that she had left the show due to “illness”.
Responding to Spraggan’s podcast interview on social media, Rylan wrote: “Dear @lspraggan I love you dearly, you are so brave and so loved.
“It’s took me a while to process and revisit all this since the weekend but everyone should know how brave you are and @elizabday done this perfect. I love you. X #Sprylan”.
Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk.
If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)
