EXCLUSIVE Lucy Spraggan says she became more 'palatable' as a lesbian on TV after weight loss and a boob job - as she details life after X Factor and close bond with Simon Cowell
Lucy Spraggan has called for more LGBTQ + representation on television, revealing she felt a shift in the public's attitude towards her when she changed her appearance.
The singer, 33, found fame on The X Factor in 2012, and to date is the only open lesbian contestant. Honey G, who competed four years later, came out as gay after appearing on the show.
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Lucy - who has just realised her new single The Lesson - opened up about being a lesbian in the public eye.
She shared: 'I don't feel any pressure to be a representation of the LGBTQIA+ community because it's so vast. But as a lesbian, I do think there's not that much visibility in the UK.
'I feel like if there's a lesbian on TV, they have to be a certain "kind" of lesbian to be palatable.'
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Lucy explained: 'I noticed a big difference when I had my boobs and teeth done and dyed my hair blonde and I lost 20kg.
'I was much more palatable, I think. I don't know, we've got a way to go, but I think the UK is doing alright at the moment.'
While she noticed a shift in attitude towards her after changing her look, she insisted that it had nothing to do with her public perception.
Instead, it was Lucy's decision to go sober in 2020 that sparked her transformation.
She explained: 'I lost the weight because I stopped drinking, which led to a load of lifestyle changes.
'I started running a lot because I was trying to get high elsewhere, because I didn't have drugs or alcohol anymore, so it kind of happened by accident.
'Then because I lost so much weight, my boobs [sagged]. I mean it was a necessary surgery,' she laughed.
'I don't feel pressured to look a certain way. I think it's cool to be versatile. It's important to just represent doing you doing your thing, which is what I want people to like take from me.'
While the showbiz circuit is notoriously hedonistic, Lucy thinks that things have shifted in recent years.
'Maintaining sobriety is individual, it completely independent of everything else that's going on in life, stresses peak and then they go back down again,' she mused.
'But the music industry, I think people within it have become kinder, and I think there's a lot more focus on creativity at the moment and enjoyment and fulfillment and it's nice to be a part of that.'
Currently, the music world has been left reeling the shock allegations made against rapper Diddy, who has been accused of drugging and raping women at his parties, known as 'Freak Offs'.
Asked about the darker side of the music industry, she said: 'I've had my own sort of experience of that.
'You know in my book I spoke more about all of the things that have happened to me that have been very underground for years...
'But that being said, I've been sober for six years, so I don't really end up in many places I don't want to be in anymore.'
In 2023, Lucy revealed that during her time on The X Factor, she was raped by a porter in the hotel room where she was staying after partying with Rylan Clark.
At the time, when she quit the show, it was said to be down to illness.
Revealing the assault for the first time in her autobiography, Process, she explained the illness was the strong side effects of PEP medication - a drug given to her by doctors which can prevent someone contracting HIV.
On why she decided to reveal the truth 11 years on, Lucy confessed: 'It was scary for sure, it was terrifying, but I knew that if I put it out there - everything - there was absolutely nothing I have to hide from.
'People picked up on that and they said "thank you for talking about this thing, or that thing, because it made me feel really full of shame, and I haven't got any shame about anything".
'And I think that's a nice place to be.'
While Simon was not a judge on The X Factor when Lucy competed, he later reached out and apologised for how she was treated on the ITV show, with Lucy then admitting: 'His apology healed a part of my being that I didn't know needed healing.'
Asked how it felt receiving the apology, she mused: 'I think whether forgiveness is easy or not depends on the person.
'It's a lot easier to forgive somebody when they apologise, and that's something that's really big for me. I do a lot of work on forgiveness in general.
'They say like hating people is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.
'Truly in my life right now, there is nobody that I don't forgive and there's nobody that I don't wish, peace and health for in this world.'
Indeed, her friendship with Simon is better than ever, and last year the music mogul walked her down the aisle during her star-studded wedding to girlfriend Emilia Smith.
'It was really strange,' Lucy laughed. 'It's a high stress environment and I looked to the side and saw him, like this is weird!
'But he was here and Lauren [Silverman] was there.'
Married life has also inspired her music, with Lucy gearing up to release new album, Other Sides Of The Moon.
The title she revealed is inspired by her love story.
Discussing her relationship with her wife, she mused: 'We'd been friends for like 10 years. Then at the same time we looked at each other and thought "I'm in love with you."
'Then I wrote the song Other Sides Of The Moon and it's about looking at the same moon.
'We'd been looking at the same moon all the time, but we were just on other sides of it. Now we're on the same side.'
Lucy's new single, The Lesson is inspired by losing loved ones.
'They teach you so much while they're alive and the only thing that they don't teach you is how to live without them,' Lucy mused.
'The album is a collection of songs from the past, songs that I wrote years ago, that I wanted to bring into now and make them sound new and more mature.
'I'm at a point now where I feel quite comfortable in myself and my voice has changed a lot and I'm a bit more adventurous.
Lucy's single The Lesson, and tickets to her UK tour in November, are out now and her album, Other Sides Of The Moon, is out June 20.
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