EXC: Amelia Lily feels ‘bad’ because Katie Waissel had a ‘traumatic time’ on The X Factor

Amelia Lily has admitted that she feels “bad” that Katie Waissel had “such a traumatic moment” on The X Factor as her own experience was great.

The 28-year-old singer revealed she was “so thankful” for reaching third place on the 2011 talent series and finds it “totally weird” to hear opposite experiences.

While attending the ICON Awards in support of the prostate cancer charity on Friday night, she exclusively told MailOnline how she “owes her life” to the ITV show and that it helped her buy her house.

Last September, BBC Sounds announced a Podcast series hosted by Amelia, called The Talent Factory: Inside The Music Machine.

On the show, the You Bring Me Joy singer explored the impact of talent shows. both in the music industry and the aspiring artists who participated.

She said: ‘I think what was really interesting to me is obviously I just did a BBC Sounds podcast on all of this, and for me it was really interesting to hear other people’s stories, some better than others obviously.

‘Some had quite a traumatic experience on the show. For me, I had a great time on the show and I owe the show my life. I bought my house because of The X Factor.

‘I feel like I was so young and so grateful to be there. But obviously when I hosted the podcast, it was interesting to hear other people’s stories and the dynamic was just totally… just weird.

‘We had a few different guests there. There was Joe McElderry who had a very nice experience, Danyl Johnson, Niki Evans and Kate Waissel. We had a few people on the podcast and it was really interesting.

The X Factor ran from 2004 to 2018 with a variety of judges overseeing the hopefuls as they battled for a coveted record deal.

Although the competition launched a host of successful careers, including those of One Direction, Little Mix, and Olly Murs, some former contestants, including Rebecca Ferguson, Cher Lloyd, Jedward, and Katie, have criticized their treatment on the show.

During the course of the singing competition, Katie, from the 2010 series, said she received an acid attack and death threats, and suffered both panic attacks and suicidal thoughts.

The former contestant also said that she has since sought therapy for PTSD after her time on the show.

After retraining in law, Katie said she is suing Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment, the production company behind the talent show, for breach of duty of care.

When asked about her conversation with Katie on the podcast, Amelia said: “It was definitely interesting, and obviously her time on the show wasn’t good for her, which makes me sad because when you hear the likes, I’m sorry.” From me and Joe speaking on the podcast, we had a very, very positive time.

“Unfortunately everyone’s experience will be different and, you know, I have to go with what mine was.”

Katie also founded the OWHL Foundation to help others who have experienced a situation similar to hers. On its website, the foundation says its goal is “to monitor well-being, human rights and freedom within the creative industry sector.”

Looking back through the contracts he signed during his time on X Factor, he said The times recently: “There are so many of us who have been so trapped and it’s not fair, there was a huge imbalance in power.”

This motivated her to want to understand how the contracts worked so that she could help other people “not to be manipulated in the future,” she said.

Katie’s claim points to Syco Entertainment, whose Simco subsidiary produced the show along with Fremantle.

With millions of viewers tuning in each Saturday night, the singing contest was quickly syndicated to other widgets around the world, reproducing huge viewership figures in the US, Spain, and Australia.

Other contestants also spoke about their time on the show.

Cher Lloyd also rose to fame in the 2010 series at just 16 years old and said she felt “vulnerable.”

“Sometimes I would get really angry,” she said in 2021. “I would get angry because I would go to a rehearsal, leave the studio and be chased by myself, chased by a group of 20 to 25 men with cameras.

“I felt really vulnerable. There would be a chaperone for everyone as a group, of course we were minors.

Matt Cardle, who won the show in 2010, also touched on his time on X Factor after going to rehab for alcohol and prescription drug addiction.

The singer said in 2021 that he believed that sometimes the “hopes and dreams” of reality TV contestants are altered to make for great television.

Matt said: ‘There really is a duty of care to protect because those programs use people. It’s as simple as that, you know. Like everyone else on that show, they were being used, just like I even publish the show.

He continued: ‘It’s difficult for them to navigate because they’re just trying to make good TV. But along the way, people’s hopes and dreams are going to be, you know, altered.

The Times reported that the show’s co-production company, Fremantle, had robust measures in place to ‘ensure contestants receive support, including a dedicated wellness team made up of psychologists, doctors, wellness producers and independent legal and management advisers with no limit to time in aftercare once the show has aired.

MailOnline reached out to Syco Entertainment for comment at the time.