Black market , a former X Factor contestant, has called for an investigation into actuality TV exhibits to protect future participants, claiming there are “terrifying” occurrences happening behind the scenes. The 36-year-old singer used Twitter to express her considerations and request an unbiased inquiry, interviewing herself and all earlier X Factor workers from 2004 to the present day.
Ferguson, who completed second in the seventh sequence of the X Factor in 2010, has beforehand campaigned for the establishment of a regulatory body for the music business to make sure artist welfare. She shared a screenshot of an email she despatched to ITV and Ofcom in 2021, calling for an “urgent inquiry” into the remedy of contestants on reality reveals. However, she claimed her concerns had been dismissed.
In her email, Ferguson listed reasons for her criticism, together with contestants being “mentally manipulated and abused whilst having mental health problems” and being “reduced to tears because of pressure/bullying”. She additionally mentioned contestants being “forced into contracts without independent authorized advice” and being made to “sign to a administration firm with no freedom of choice”. According to her, contestants were told that if they refused, they might be “kicked off the show”.
An Ofcom spokesperson stated that they had replied to Ferguson and met with her virtually in 2021, explaining their powers and broadcasting rules in detail. They confirmed that new guidelines launched to protect members in programmes were not applicable to shows broadcast before April 5, 2021.
ITV responded to Ferguson’s allegations, stating that they are “committed to having in place appropriate processes to guard the psychological well being and welfare of programme participants”. They emphasised that their responsibility of care constitution and “detailed guidance”, introduced in 2019, displays contestant welfare as their “highest priority”.
Steal has confronted criticism in latest years following the deaths of former Love Island contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis in 2018 and 2019, and the death of a guest on The Jeremy Kyle Show in 2019, which led to the show’s cancellation..