Former X Factor star Rebecca Ferguson was in tears today as she admitted in a live broadcast that she was sexually abused as a child.
Appearing on ITV's Loose Women, she told the panel that she was just eight years old and living in a children's home when the abuse took place.
The 30-year-old mother-of-three revealed: "I've never said this - this is really weird," before adding: "I've never spoken about it. I told one friend, but - as I've launched a website - this is the perfect place to speak about it.
"That is what I'm trying to do, make a safe place where women can speak about their problems."
Rebecca continued: "It affects your esteem - how you allow yourself to be treated by men, how you feel about yourself and what you expect to be treated like."
The singer, who finished in the runner-up spot during the 2010 series of X Factor then revealed that it's taken her "years" to build up her self-esteem and she "didn't receive any counselling".
