Former X Factor star Rebecca Ferguson issues public complaint to Ofcom

Rebecca Ferguson has brought a private complaint about The X Factor she lodged with broadcast watchdog Ofcom to public attention.

The Liverpool-born soul singer finished in second place on the seventh season of the ITV singing competition in 2010.

In recent years, she has been vocal about her negative experiences as a contestant on the programme, as well as her frustrations with the wider music industry.

On Wednesday (7 June), Ferguson shared a screenshot of an email she sent to Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, regarding her concerns about the treatment of contestants on The X Factor. The artist claimed that her words ultimately went unheeded.

In the email, sent in 2021, the singer noted issues with the programme such as “contestants [being] mentally manipulated and abused whilst having mental health problems” and “contestants [being] reduced to tears due to pressure/bullying”, among others.

The message ends with her request for an “urgent inquiry to ensure the future safety of contestants and ensure adequate safeguarding measures are put in place to protect future contestants on this show”. However, Ferguson claims that her message had failed to yield an investigation.

“I was refused by ITV and Ofcom, no investigation was taken place and my concerns appeared to be fobbed off,” she added in a tweet. “I am open to communication should they now wish to follow up with my private complaint now that I have made my complaint public.”

A later tweet acknowledged that although there were spelling errors in her initial email, she managed to speak to people at Ofcom before being told that it was not in their power to investigate.

In a statement to The Independent, a spokesperson for Ofcom confirmed that the organisation had corresponded with Ferguson in 2021 but were limited in the actions they could take.

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

When approached by The Independent, a spokesperson for ITV noted that the broadcaster has “continued to evolve and strengthen our approach” to taking care of participants’ mental health and wellbeing, adding: “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.”

ITV added that the welfare of participants “is of the highest priority” and claims to have shared with Ferguson “the detailed guidance, introduced in 2019, we now have available for all producers, to ensure that the welfare of participants is adequately safeguarded on all our programmes”.

The Independent has also reached out to Fremantle, The X Factor’s production company, for comment.