Jessie Stride, a Faithful on the current series of BBC One's The Traitors, once auditioned for The X Factor a decade ago. The 28-year-old hairstylist from Hull left her salon to hunt Traitors in a Scottish castle, but viewers may not know she pursued music after overcoming a stammer caused by bullying.
In 2016, Jessie auditioned for The X Factor after writing a song called 'Control' to channel her experiences. She had been bullied at age 12 when a group of 20 people surrounded her and teased her about her voice. 'I was trying to shout, "help," but couldn't get the words out,' she told The Daily Mail in 2017. The ordeal led her to change schools and enrol in the McGuire Programme, which also helped Gareth Gates with his stammer.
Jessie made it through two rounds of X Factor auditions but did not appear on TV. She shared her original song on YouTube in 2017, writing: 'This is a song I wrote a few years ago... Please share and get behind this song... together we can help raise awareness of stammering.' She credited the McGuire Programme for helping her overcome her speech impediment.
On The Traitors, some viewers speculated that Jessie had a secret connection to fellow contestant Jack, but a show source told The Mirror: 'There are a lot of people barking up the wrong tree... they are going to be disappointed if they are expecting more connections down the line.' The Traitors continues tonight at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
