Spanish Big Brother contestant forced to watch own ‘sexual assault’ in diary room

Carlota Prado knew nothing of alleged incident until she was shown footage by producers

A Spanish Big Brother contestant first learned of her own alleged sexual assault when she was forced to watch it in the diary room.

Carlota Prado had passed out after drinking and was completely unaware of what had happened until she was sent to the diary room to watch video footage of the incident several hours later.

A tearful Ms Prado can be seen clasping her hands to her mouth and slowly shaking her head as she asks for the video to be stopped in another recording, which has never been aired but was leaked to the Spanish press this week.

“Please, Super, stop now please,” she pleads with “The Voice”, known as “The Super” in the Spanish version of the reality TV show, as she watches the footage alone.

The contestant is visibly distressed as she paces back and forth across the room, later begging for the door to be opened so that she can leave, only to be told to wait.

More than two years ago, on 4 November 2017, Ms Prado was helped to bed by Jose Maria Lopez, another contestant with whom she had begun a relationship, after a party at the Big Brother house involving alcohol.

According to footage of the incident, obtained by Spanish digital newspaper El Confidencial, Ms Prado told Mr Lopez “no, I can’t”.

Mr Lopez got into bed with Ms Prado, at which point he is accused of penetrating her as she slept for several minutes before he was interrupted when the show’s production team spoke to him over a speaker.

The contestant was removed from the show later that day and Ms Prado was sent to the diary room, where she discovered what had happened.

Mr Lopez denies the allegation and his lawyer, Antonio Madrid, told the BBC he spent the night looking after Mr Prado after realising she was drunk.

Representatives of Zeppelin, the production company that makes Gran Hermano, reported the allegation to the police, but Ms Prado chose not to initially.

She spent several days in a hotel before returning to the show and later reported it in 2018.

Sexual assault under Spanish law is the equivalent of rape and carries a prison sentence of between 15 and 20 years. Sexual abuse is considered a lesser crime.

Violence and intimidation are required for the crime of sexual assault under Spanish law.

Endemol Shine Group, the company that created the Big Brother format, told the BBC that the overnight production team escalated the incident to the show’s executive producers after they became suspicious.

The company also stressed that they had no intention of airing the footage of the alleged assault, which was encrypted and handed over to the police.

Endemol admitted that it was a mistake to tell Ms Prado “in the diary room environment”.

If you have been affected by sexual violence, you can find help via the NHS. Rape Crisis offers specialist support for women and girls; and the The Survivors’ Trust supports people of any gender.