- A former X Factor contestant told The Sunday Times she plans to sue Simon Cowell’s company.
- Katie Waissel said she retrained as a lawyer so she could take legal action against Syco.
- Waissel said she sought therapy for PTSD after X Factor and Syco failed in its duty of care.
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A former X Factor contestant was retrained in law so she could sue Simon Cowell’s company over her experience on the show, a report says.
Katie Waissel, 36, who appeared in the UK version of The X Factor in 2010, told London’s Sunday Times she was planning to take legal action against Syco Entertainment, claiming it had failed in its duty of care towards her and other contestants.
She told the newspaper she received acid attacks and death threats after becoming a hate figure on the show and reaching the quarterfinals.
Waissel said she was not allowed to leave the house where she lived during the live shows, barely ate or slept, and has since sought therapy and counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder.
She told the Sunday Times she decided last year to enroll at BPP University in London and graduated with a postgraduate degree in law. The degree would enable her to work as a paralegal or pursue further training to become a solicitor.
“There are so many of us who were so trapped and it’s not fair, there was a huge power imbalance,” Waissel told the newspaper. “I just wanted to be able to understand [the contracts] and to protect people from manipulation in the future.”
Waissel, who finished seventh, told the Sunday Times she was paid a £1 token for appearing on the live shows, with contestants not legally classed as employees.
She said she plans to file a civil claim for negligent personal injury with Syco Entertainment, of which Cowell is a director. According to the report, Waissel and her legal team had filed a complaint with the company.
Waissel would have to convince a judge to lift the statute of limitations for personal injury claims, which is three years.
The X Factor was produced by Simco, a subsidiary of Syco, and Freemantle TV.
A Freemantle representative told Insider in a statement, “The duty of care to our participants is of paramount importance to us and we take the well-being of everyone involved very seriously. We have put in place robust measures to ensure participants are supported, including a dedicated care team of psychologists, physicians, naturopaths and independent legal and business advisers with indefinite post-broadcast follow-up.”
The X Factor turned contestants into stars in both the US and UK, including One Direction, Little Mix and Camila Cabello. But the show, which ended in the UK in 2018, came under intense scrutiny for the way contestants were treated.
In August, an unnamed source told the Mirror that she and five other previous candidates were in the process of contacting a law firm to take legal action against SyCo.
“No one cared about her mental well-being. We were just pawns in their game. When I entered the show I was confident, ambitious and charismatic,” the source told the newspaper. “Now I’m extremely suspicious, emotional, nervous and full of fear.”
Syco did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Were you an X Factor contestant? Contact this reporter with confidence at [email protected]