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Former X Factor star Rebecca Ferguson has called for an investigation into reality TV shows, to “protect future contestants”, claiming there are “terrifying” things going on behind the scenes.

The 36-year-old posted a series of tweets on Twitter, telling her 645,000 followers: “I’m bound by multiple NDAs but I cannot continue to not live in my full truth, being silent is worse. I’ve lived through hell for years.”

She went on to call on Dame Caroline Dinenage, the chair of parliament’s culture, media and sport committee, to ask for an independent inquiry, interviewing herself, and all previous X Factor staff between 2004 and the present day, adding “what you’ll uncover is beyond terrifying!”

In 2010, the Liverpool-born singer came second on the seventh series of the show, which was won by Matt Cardle.

Ferguson has previously campaigned for the introduction of a regulatory body for the music industry, in a bid to ensure artist welfare.

She went on to share a screenshot of an email which she said she sent to ITV and Ofcom in 2021 calling for an “urgent inquiry” into the treatment of contestants on reality shows, but said she had been “fobbed off”.

Ferguson wrote: “I was refused by ITV and OFCOM, no investigation was taken place and my concerns appeared to be fobbed off.

“I am open to communication should they now wish to follow up with my private complaint now that I have made my complaint public.”

In the email, she listed reasons for her complaint including contestants being “mentally manipulated and abused whilst having mental health problems” and being “reduced to tears due to pressure/bullying”.

She said contestants were also “forced into contracts without independent legal advice” and made to “sign to a management company with no freedom of choice”. She said contestants were told if they refused, they would be “kicked off the show”.

She said her reason for making the “formal complaint” to OFCOM in 2021 was “to ensure the future safety of contestants and ensure adequate safeguarding measures are put in place to protect future contestants”.

An Ofcom spokesperson said that they did reply to Ferguson and met with her virtually in 2021.

They said in a statement: “We listened carefully to the extent of her concerns about the treatment of contestants during her time on The X Factor in 2010.

“During these exchanges, we explained our powers and how our broadcasting rules apply in detail. We confirmed that new rules introduced to protect participants in programmes were not applicable to programmes broadcast before April 5, 2021.

“We also clarified that our statutory remit, as set by parliament, means that our fairness rules do not extend to contractual matters or conditions imposed by broadcasters on participants, and only to content as broadcast.

“We suggested to Ms Ferguson possible routes to escalate her complaints to ITV and the appropriate authorities.”

ITV responded to Ferguson’s claims, saying they were “committed to having in place suitable processes to protect the mental health and welfare of programme participants”.

Their statement went on: “We have continued to evolve and strengthen our approach, and we expect all producers of commissioned programmes to have in place appropriate procedures to look after the mental health of programme participants as well as their physical safety.

“Those processes and procedures will differ from programme to programme, to ensure that the welfare of all participants in ITV programmes is appropriately safeguarded.

“Whilst the practical detailed processes required to manage participant welfare in each programme must sit with producers themselves, ITV as a broadcaster and commissioner of content provides guidance on what we consider to be best practice: in the selection of participants before filming, in supporting them during filming, and in continued support up to and after the broadcast of the programme.”

ITV said that in its correspondence with Ferguson it had stressed contestant welfare was of the “highest priority”, as reflected in their duty of care charter and “detailed guidance” which was introduced in 2019.

They said: “ITV responded to Rebecca with information provided to us by the producers, detailing their arrangements regarding welfare, aftercare, legal advice, and management, at the time of her participation.”

The broadcaster has faced criticism in recent 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 resulted in the show being axed.

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After rising to fame on X Factor, Ferguson has gone on to release four albums and became a panellist on ITV’s Loose Women.

In 2021 she met with former culture secretary Oliver Dowden to discuss discrimination in the music industry.

Last month, ITV announced it had instructed a barrister to carry out an external review of the facts after Phillip Schofield’s departure from popular breakfast show This Morning, following an affair with a younger employee.

ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall will be questioned about the Schofield scandal by the DCMS committee in parliament on Wednesday.

Chair of the committee, Dame Caroline Dinenage, told Sky News the meeting will not be a “witch hunt” against the former presenter, but is intended to ask wider questions about workplace culture and practices within both ITV and other public service broadcasters.

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BST Hyde Park’s final day cancelled as Jeff Lynne’s ELO pulls out of headline slot

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BST Hyde Park's final day cancelled as Jeff Lynne's ELO pulls out of headline slot

BST Hyde Park festival has cancelled its final night after Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra pulled out of the headline slot.

Lynne, 77, was due to play alongside his band on Sunday but has been forced to withdraw from the event following a “systemic infection”.

The London show was supposed to be a “final goodbye” from ELO following their farewell US tour.

Organisers said on Saturday that Lynne was “heartbroken” at being unable to perform.

A statement read: “Jeff has been battling a systemic infection and is currently in the care of a team of doctors who have advised him that performing is simply not possible at this time nor will he be able to reschedule.

“The legacy of the band and his longtime fans are foremost in Jeff’s mind today – and while he is so sorry that he cannot perform, he knows that he must focus on his health and rehabilitation at this time.”

They later confirmed the whole of Sunday’s event would be cancelled.

“Ticket holders will be refunded and contacted directly by their ticket agent with further details,” another statement said.

Stevie Wonder played the festival on Saturday – now its final event of 2025.

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US rock band The Doobie Brothers and blues rock singer Steve Winwood were among those who had been due to perform to before ELO’s headline performance.

The cancellation comes after the band, best known for their hit Mr Blue Sky, pulled out of a performance due to take place at Manchester’s Co-Op Live Arena on Thursday.

ELO was formed in Birmingham in 1970 by Lynne, multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan.

They first split in 1986, before frontman Lynne resurrected the band in 2014.

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Donald Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s US citizenship

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Donald Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O'Donnell's US citizenship

Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”

He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.

O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.

“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.

“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”

Rosie O'Donnell arrives at the ELLE Women in Hollywood celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
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Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP

O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.

She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.

O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.

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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.

But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.

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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.

“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.

“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”

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The Salt Path author Raynor Winn’s fourth book delayed

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The Salt Path author Raynor Winn's fourth book delayed

The Salt Path author Raynor Winn’s fourth book has been delayed by her publisher.

It comes amid claims that the author lied about her story in her hit first book. Winn previously described the claims as “highly misleading” and called suggestions that her husband had Moth made up his illness “utterly vile”.

In a statement, Penguin Michael Joseph, said it had delayed the publication of Winn’s latest book On Winter Hill – which had been set for release 23 October.

The publisher said the decision had been made in light of “recent events, in particular intrusive conjecture around Moth’s health”, which it said had caused “considerable distress” to the author and her family.

“It is our priority to support the author at this time,” the publisher said.

“With this in mind, Penguin Michael Joseph, together with the author, has made the decision to delay the publication of On Winter Hill from this October.”

A new release date will be announced in due course, the publisher added.

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Winn’s first book, released in 2018, detailed the journey she and husband took along the South West Coast Path – familiarly known as The Salt Path – after they lost their family farm and Moth received a terminal health diagnosis of Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD).

But a report in The Observer disputed key aspects of the 2018 “true” story – which was recently turned into a film starring Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson.

Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
Image:
Raynor and husband Moth (centre) with actors Jason Isaacs (L) and Gillian Anderson (R). Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear

Experts ‘sceptical of health claims’

As part of the article, published last weekend, The Observer claimed to have spoken to experts who were “sceptical” about elements of Moth’s terminal diagnosis, such as a “lack of acute symptoms and his apparent ability to reverse them”.

In the ensuing controversy, PSPA, a charity that supports people with CBD, cut ties with the couple.

The Observer article also claimed the portrayal of a failed investment in a friend’s business wasn’t true, but said the couple – whose names are Sally and Tim Walker – lost their home after Raynor Winn embezzled money from her employer and had to borrow to pay it back and avoid police action.

Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
Image:
Anderson played Winn in a movie about the couple’s journey. Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear

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It also said that, rather than being homeless, the couple had owned a house in France since 2007.

Winn’s statement said the dispute with her employer wasn’t the reason the couple lost their home – but admitted she may have made “mistakes” while in the job.

“For me it was a pressured time,” she wrote. “It was also a time when mistakes were being made in the business. Any mistakes I made during the years in that office, I deeply regret, and I am truly sorry.”

She admitted being questioned by police but said she wasn’t charged.

The author also said accusations that Moth lied about having CBD/CBS were false and had “emotionally devastated” him.

“I have charted Moth’s condition with such a level of honesty, that this is the most unbearable of the allegations,” Winn wrote on her website.

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