Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)

I’ve been victim of SIX sex attacks by men in the music business.. but I was scared to speak out

So Macho singer on her abuse ordeal

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the toilet and he was going in. He pushed me into a corner and touched me up. He tried to put his tongue down my throat. I froze.

“It was horrible. I stumbled down the stairs and told Simon. Simon went off at him. When he loses his temper it’s quite scary as you’re not used to it.” Sinitta, who began her career in musicals, also suffered two attacks at the hands of West End stars.

She is still too traumatise­d to describe the assaults.

The last ordeal was two years ago. A wealthy man grabbed her and tried to stick his tongue down her throat. Throughout it all Sinitta has described Cowell, who she dated in the 1980s, as her “guardian angel”. He told her he fully supported her whatever she wanted to do, and whether or not she wanted to go public.

Yet she is reluctant to go to the police for fear of playing out her ordeal in court, and repercussi­ons. Sinitta, who adopted two children in 2007 when married to Andy Willner, said: “I was stopped from working because I was the girl who told. It meant I was public enemy number one. It’s the Chinese whispers thing, that I’m a nightmare to work with.”

But Sinitta, who had four top 10 hits including Toy Boy in the 80s, pushed on alone. She said: “I don’t need favours for favours. If it takes longer to get to it, so be it.”

Yet she worries about others, and starts a conversati­on about what goes on in the industry in a series of 60 videos, available via her website on Friday.

Having only discussed her ordeal with Cowell and her mum, bringing it up again has led Sinitta to start counsellin­g.

She is still scared to name names but said: “I’ve carried the shame and guilt, I’m talking about it now so the people who attacked me recognise who they are from my stories. I want them to realise they may get caught. You could tell it wasn’t the first time they’d done this.

“Also, the expectatio­n you’d go along with it. I’m flirtatiou­s, I’m fun, especially when I’m in party-girl mode, but I’m not that girl. Don’t put your hand up my dress, don’t grab my boobs. You can’t do that to me.”

Sinitta, who releases the song Shine With Pride next week, is also mentoring teenagers to prepare them for showbiz. She added: “People nowadays want to be famous... to be reality stars. It’s easier to be taken advantage of. “I’d encourage anyone going through a similar ordeal to me to speak to a relative, pal or charity like Mind for support.”

Sinitta tells her story in the video book Who Put The Sin In Sinitta, a series of 60 videos at Sinitta.com from June 22.

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