Singer Duffy has revealed to fans that she was ‘raped and drugged and held captive’ before she took a break from the limelight.
The singer posted a message telling fans what had happened to her on Instagram, revealing the reason she had stopped releasing music and had ‘disappeared’.
Duffy, real name Aimee Anne Duffy, 35, wrote: ‘You can only imagine the amount of times I thought about writing this. The way I would write it, how I would feel thereafter.
‘Well, not entirely sure why now is the right time, and what it is that feels exciting and liberating for me to talk. I cannot explain it. Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why.
‘A journalist contacted me, he found a way to reach me and I told him everything this past summer. He was kind and it felt so amazing to finally speak.
‘The truth is, and please trust me I am ok and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days. Of course I survived. The recovery took time. There’s no light way to say it.’
She revealed it was difficult, but she had spent her time away from fame on healing from the horrific incident, adding: ‘But I can tell you in the last decade, the thousands and thousands of days I committed to wanting to feel the sunshine in my heart again, the sun does now shine.
‘You wonder why I did not choose to use my voice to express my pain? I did not want to show the world the sadness in my eyes. I asked myself, how can I sing from the heart if it is broken? And slowly it unbroke.
‘In the following weeks I will be posting a spoken interview. If you have any questions I would like to answer them, in the spoken interview, if I can.
‘I have a sacred love and sincere appreciation for your kindness over the years. You have been friends. I want to thank you for that x Duffy’.
She added: ‘Please respect this is a gentle move for me to make, for myself, and I do not want any intrusion to my family. Please support me to make this a positive experience.’
The popular Welsh singer’s career had gone from strength to strength after signing a record deal in 2007, with her album Rockferry being the best-selling record of 2008 in the UK.
The Grammy award-winning star last released an album, Endlessly, in 2010, and is set to release another record this year, following 10 years away from the music industry.
Duffy has recorded a spoken interview about the ordeal, which she will be releasing in the next few weeks detailing what she went through, though she hasn’t confirmed the date it will be released.
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