Katie Waissel wants to sue Simon Cowell.
Katie Waissel wants to sue Simon Cowell
The former 'X Factor’ contestant trained as a paralegal to take on the 62-year-old music mogul’s talent competition - which ran from 2005 to 2018 on ITV - as she claims the show “ruined” her life after they did not uphold their duty of care commitment after she faced threats and ridicule online.
The 36-year-old singer told the Sunday Times newspaper: “The show ruined my life.
"There are so many of us who have been so trapped and it's not fair. There was a huge imbalance in power. I just wanted to be able to understand and to protect people from being manipulated in the future."
Katie - who now has a four-year-old son, Hudson - detailed feeling like the show “owned all of” her as she revealed how she had been in therapy since placing seventh on the show in 2010 for post traumatic stress disorder.
She said: "People on reality TV are being publicly ridiculed for entertainment and we have become desensitised to it. It’s wrong.”
Katie joins a chorus of former contestants - such as Jedward, Cher Lloyd and Rebecca Ferguson - who made allegations of poor treatment during their time on and after the series, including being paid a £1 for her time on the show, claims refuted by Fremantle, the production company of the ‘The X Factor’.
They said in a statement: "The duty of care to our contestants is of the utmost importance to us and we take the welfare of everyone involved very seriously. We have robust measures in place to ensure contestants are supported including a dedicated welfare team made up of psychologists, doctors, welfare producers and independent legal and management advisors with no time limit on aftercare once the show has aired."
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