X FACTOR star Louisa Johnson stepped back into the spotlight last night as she glammed up before a performance last night.
The 24-year-old singer, who won the show in 2015, was at the Bathroom Sessions in aid of the charity WaterAid.
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Speaking after the gig, which is streamed online to donors, she said “Thank u @wateraid for having me sing at #bathroomsessions this evening for an incred cause 💧🙏🏼.”
She added: “PS happy international women’s day queens 🤍.”
Louisa was just 17 when she became the youngest winner of the TV talent show in 2015, where she was mentored by Rita Ora.
She beat Nick Grimshaw’s act Che Chesterman and Cheryl Tweedy’s Reggie N Bollie to clinch victory singing I Believe I Can Fly.
She signed a record deal with Simon Cowell and scored a top ten hit with her debut single, a cover of Bob Dylan’s Forever Young.
Last year, Louisa spoke about her struggle with fame telling The Sun she fell into such a deep depression in the years after her victory that she contemplated suicide.
Despite a sell-out UK tour in 2016 and a successful collaboration with Clean Bandit, she would spend the next four years battling depression, panic attacks and PTSD.
Things reached a crisis point on her 23rd birthday in January this year when thoughts about taking her life clouded her mind and she checked into rehab to recover.
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Louisa, from Essex, explained: “I woke up and just didn’t want to be here any more.
“I was so fed up, I was done. I wanted someone to shake me. The unhappiness was like an annoying gnat that wouldn’t go away — it kept nagging at me, bugging me.
“I thought about taking my own life. But it was an idea rather than, ‘This is it, I’m doing it’.
“I have, what I like to call, a ball of fire inside me and I know I’d never do it because there is so much to look forward to in life. But that didn’t stop me thinking about it.
“As much as I’ve struggled, I know there’s a small part inside of me that’s a fighter. I won’t give up.”
Louisa quickly realised she needed urgent help, so she packed her bags and headed for a two-month stint in a rehab facility. There, she was treated for trauma, depression and anxiety.
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