'The X Factor UK' Alum Lucy Spraggan Says She Was Sexually Assaulted During Show's Production

"People don't understand how lucky you are as a victim of rape to get a conviction. Evidence is a privilege," said the English singer, who auditioned for 'The X Factor UK' in 2012

Former X Factor UK contestant Lucy Spraggan is opening up about a traumatizing moment she faced during her time on the show.

Spraggan, an English singer-songwriter who auditioned for The X Factor UK in 2012, said she was sexually assaulted by a hotel porter amid the show's production. The attack ultimately led to her dropping out of the ITV competition series.

In an interview with The Guardian, Spraggan said the scary encounter occurred the night of fellow contestant Rylan Clark's 25th birthday party, which was held at the London nightclub Mahiki. After the then-20-year-old artist — who said she attended the gathering alongside the X Factor UK crew — passed out, a production member took her back to her hotel. A hotel porter then offered to help Spraggan get to her room from there, according to the outlet.

Clark checked on Spraggan, now 31, later that night and closed her door thereafter. However, the porter then allegedly used a trackable keycard to reenter her room, where he sexually assault her.

"I woke up the next day with this sense of sheer dread," she explained to the outlet. "I don't think I've ever felt that level of confusion since. I knew that I'd been raped, but I could not process that. So I put my clothes on and went into autopilot."

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Spraggan first told Clark — who remains one of her friends today — about the attack and he advocated for her during this tough time. Police were called by the production team, who took Spraggan to a specialist unit. The trackable keycard led to her attacker being arrested.

Despite the action that was taken, Spraggan believed the team behind the talent series was "unprepared" to deal with the issue at hand.

Spraggan initially wanted to disclose the reasoning for her abrupt departure from the series. But independent privacy and criminal lawyers, as well as the police, advised her against doing so due to the implications that could come from waiving her anonymity.

"At first, I said, 'Just tell them what happened.' But I realized straight away that it wasn't going to be so simple," she said. "I remember various people saying, 'You have your whole career ahead of you and you can't retract this.'"

Spraggan's attacker eventually pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The sexual assault will be further detailed in Spraggan's new memoir, Process: Finding My Way Through, out Thursday.

In a statement to PEOPLE, a rep for Fremantle, the production company behindThe X Factor UK, said: "The serious sexual assault suffered by Lucy Spraggan in October 2012 was a truly horrific criminal act for which the perpetrator, who was not connected with the programme, was rightfully prosecuted and imprisoned. Anyone should feel safe when they are sleeping in a hotel room - and it is abhorrent to think that a hotel porter abused that trust in such a vile way."

"To our knowledge, the assault was an event without precedent in the UK television industry. Whilst we believed throughout that we were doing our best to support Lucy in the aftermath of the ordeal, as Lucy thinks we could have done more, we must therefore recognise this. For everything Lucy has suffered, we are extremely sorry," it continued. "Since then, we have done our very best to learn lessons from these events and improve our aftercare processes."

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Series creator and Syco Entertainment founder Simon Cowell also addressed the matter, telling the outlet that what happened to Spraggan was "horrific and heartbreaking." (The pair have become close following Spraggan's attack and she's now signed to his music publishing company, Syco Music.)

"When I was given the opportunity to speak to Lucy, I was able to personally tell her how sorry I was about everything she has been through," he said. "Although we met under tragic circumstances, a genuine friendship and a mutual respect has developed between us. Lucy is one of the most authentic, talented, and brave people I have ever met. I have always supported her wish to tell her story as well as her efforts to bring about positive change."

PEOPLE has reached out to Cowell's rep for comment.

To this day, Spraggan refers to herself as a "lucky victim," even to her friends' dismay.

"People don't understand how lucky you are as a victim of rape to get a conviction. Evidence is a privilege, which is a f---ed-up thing to say," she told the outlet. "I was lucky because my door was locked. Had I been unconscious in the hallway, it's not the same story. I’m still a victim, it's still traumatic, it's still horrendous. But I'm lucky because Rylan shut that door."'

Spraggan has gone on to find success in music since leaving the show. Her major-label debut album, Join the Club, released in October 2013, reached No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart. Her seventh studio album, Balance, is slated to arrive next month. She is also embarking on a UK tour next spring.

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Process: Finding My Way Through is available Thursday everywhere books are sold.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

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