X Factor star Chico Slimani, 55, was found guilty of drink-driving at Willesden magistrates court on Thursday. The singer, whose real name is Yousseph Slimani, told the court he had broken his sobriety after three 'devastating' bereavements.
Slimani, who reached the quarter-final of the TV talent show in 2005 and later had a number one single with 'It's Chico Time', said he had been drinking whisky for six hours after losing a third friend to cancer. He also consumed the cold and flu medicine NyQuil, which he described as being for 'a flu which you may call long Covid'.
The incident occurred on 13 December in Southgate, north London, when Slimani was pulled over at around 6.30pm. He told the court: 'I'm teetotal, I don't drink – and it felt like I was going out of my mind, I couldn't take it, so I drank.'
The district judge, Mark Jabbitt, disqualified Slimani from driving for 12 months and fined him £600, plus costs. He also offered Slimani a place on a drink-drivers' rehabilitation scheme. The judge said he was 'generally sympathetic' to Slimani's bereavements but not to excessive drinking or taking medication without checking its effect on driving.
Slimani described the arrest as 'a catastrophe' that led to 'loss of my reputation, the loss of work'. The court heard he had been heavily in debt and faced county court proceedings. Slimani stated he has not drunk alcohol since the incident.
