Carlota was on Big Brother when producers showed her footage of her own alleged sexual assault.

Warning: This post deals with sexual assault and could be triggering for some readers. 

A contestant on the Spanish version of Big Brother first learned of her own alleged sexual assault when she was shown footage of it in the Big Brother house’s diary room.

Carlota Prado, 24, was called into the diary room after a party in 2017, and was forced to watch footage of fellow contestant Jose Maria Lopez allegedly rape her.

The footage has never been aired, but was leaked to Spanish press this week. In it, Prado watches alone, clasping her hand to her mouth and shaking her head as she asks for the video to be stopped.

“Please, Super, stop now please,” she pleaded with ‘The Voice’, known as ‘The Super’ in the Spanish version of the reality TV show, according to The Independent.

The Voice replied, “We think you need to see this Carlota.”

She paced the room back and forth, later begging for the door to be opened so she could leave. She was told to wait.

Prior to being asked to enter the diary room, Prado had no idea what had happened the night before.

She had been helped to bed by Lopez, a fellow contestant she had started a relationship with, after a party.

According to footage, she said "no, I can't" to Lopez, but he got into bed with her and allegedly raped her while she slept for several minutes before the show's production team spoke over the bedroom speak to interrupt him.

Lopez was removed from the show later that day and Prado was given psychological support after being told in the diary room.

In a statement, Endemol Shine Group, who own the rights to the Big Brother format, said the decision to inform Prado of the alleged assault in the diary room, alone and without a psychologist present, was a mistake.

Prado spent several days in a hotel room before returning to the show.

She told Spanish outlet El Confidential she returned because she was worried about facing the outside world.

"I came back because I didn't have the courage to face reality. I didn't want to leave the isolation of that house," she said last week.

"It was very hard, but I thought it was going to be less hard than facing the reality from the outside. Although, in truth, all I was doing was extending what was coming up on me."

She criticised the decision to show her the footage in the diary room.

"There should have been someone at my side, a psychologist or someone who would help me face those really difficult images," she said.

"They never asked me if I wanted to see that... If they asked, I would have said no."

She laid a complaint with Spanish police in 2018.

Lopez denied the allegations, with his lawyer telling the BBC he spent the night looking after Prado after realising she had too much to drink.

Dozens of companies have announced they will no longer advertise with the Spanish show.

The Australian version of Big Brother is set to return in 2020, after six years.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home. 

Feature image: YouTube.