A former X Factor contestant has opened up about her experience on the ITV show, claiming she has been living through "hell for years" after "terrifying" treatment on the programme. Rebecca Ferguson from Liverpool appeared on the television music competition franchise, which was produced for ITV by Thames and Syco Entertainment, during its seventh series in 2010.
She came in second place on the show and then went on to find success as a soul singer and songwriter, with hit singles such as 'Nothing's Real but Love', 'Glitter & Gold' and 'I Hope'. On Twitter on Tuesday evening, Ms Ferguson claimed that she was bound by "multiple NDAs" but felt like she couldn't "continue to not live in [her] full truth".
In her tweets, the singer claimed that contestants were forced into contracts without independent legal advice, "mentally manipulated and abused" and were "forced to sign to a management company". Her post added that she had emailed senior leadership of ITV including chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall asking for an investigation into their reality shows including codes of conduct and post show aftercare.
