'Britain's Got Talent' star Ian Marshall has told of how he attempted suicide after being raped as a teenager.
The singer was seen auditioning for the ITV talent show with wife Anne on Saturday (23 April), and the pair's rendition of Beyoncé's 'Crazy In Love' led to David Walliams pressing his Golden Buzzer for them.
But viewers will not have been aware of Ian's heartbreaking childhood, which he has now opened up about in an interview with the Daily Star.
Ian was just 14-year-old when he was raped by two men while living on the streets, having run away from home to escape his abusive, alcoholic father.
While sleeping rough on the streets of Barnsley, Yorkshire, two men in their forties lured him into a house, after promising him a bed for the night, and abused him.
"I was a runaway as a boy. My father was an alcoholic bare knuckle fighter who used to love using his fists," he explained. “I was a slave basically and used to get beaten all the time."
Revealing he felt like "no-one wanted him at all" as he slept on the streets in the snow without a coat, stealing fruit from a market stall to survive, Ian told of how he was given hope by the two men, who would eventually go on to attack him.
“Two guys offered me a warm room and I was naive and said yes and they raped me," he said. "I didn’t go to the police because I didn’t want my mum and dad to find me."
The attack had a lasting impact on Ian, who later tried to attempt suicide.
“It haunts you," he added to The Mirror. "I tried suicide a few times but then I joined the army and that saved me because I saw the world and met Anne.
'Britain's Got Talent' continues next Saturday at 8pm on ITV.
