Shortly after Duffy released her first two albums, the singer stepped back from the spotlight. In 2020, the Welsh musician bravely opened up about her terrifying kidnapping ordeal
Duffy left the spotlight for 10 years after she was the victim of a horrific kidnap ordeal. But now she’s hinted at a return to music, much to the joy of her supportive fanbase.
The Warwick Avenue singer has been seen for the first time in a decade as she made a surprise cameo on TikTok, promoting DJ and producer Emotion’s remix of her hit song, Mercy. In the clip, the 40-year-old musician, whose real name is Aimée Anne Duffy, lip-syncs the lyrics “You got me begging you for mercy, why won’t you release me”. Before the remix kicks in, she winks to camera, leaving many wondering what’s in store. Emotion HQ posted the video with the caption: “Some of you asked if Duffy was really doing a UK Garage remix with us…”
In response to the surprise clip, fans filled the comments with messages of support. “Duffy! Where have you been?! We missed you,” wrote one. “OMG it’s so good that she’s back,” another added.
READ MORE: Duffy seen for first time in 10 years after horror kidnap ordeal
The remix hint comes 17 years after Duffy released her debut album – and 10 years after she was last seen in public. Following its release, the album secured a spot at the top of the UK album charts, where it stayed for five weeks, and became the UK’s third-best-selling single of 2008. Her rise to stardom soon saw her scoop awards for her success, and she won three gongs at the 2009 BRIT Awards including British Breakthrough Act, British Female Solo Artist and British Album of the Year. Rockferry was also crowned Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2009 Grammy Awards.
However, soon after the release of her second album in 2010 the Welsh musician sudddenly retreated from the spotlight. A decade later, Duffy returned to Instagram in February 2020 in which she bravely spoke about being held captive, drugged and raped in a harrowing ordeal, and explained how she finally felt strong enough to discuss what happened to her.
“The truth is, and please trust me I am OK and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days. Of course I survived. The recovery took time,” she shared.
The pop star explained that she had wanted to share her story with her fans. She did not name her attacker, but mentioned a journalist had reached out and helped her talk about her pain. She added: “You can only imagine the amount of times I thought about writing this. The way I would write it, how I would feel thereafter.
“Well, not entirely sure why now is the right time, and what it is that feels exciting and liberating for me to talk. I cannot explain it. Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why. A journalist contacted me, he found a way to reach me and I told him everything this past summer. He was kind and it felt so amazing to finally speak.”
Duffy went on to thank her fans for their kindness, and fondly referred to them as her friends. She continued: “There’s no light way to say it. But I can tell you in the last decade, the thousands and thousands of days I committed to wanting to feel the sunshine in my heart again, the sun does now shine. You wonder why I did not choose to use my voice to express my pain? I did not want to show the world the sadness in my eyes. I asked myself, how can I sing from the heart if it is broken? And slowly it unbroke.”
A few months later, in April 2020, the Distant Dreamer songstress gave further details of the terrifying incident. She recalled a four-week ordeal during which she sad she was drugged in her own home, raped and taken to a foreign country.
The Warwick Avenue hit-maker explained that she didn’t go to the police because it “didn’t feel safe”. Writing on her website five years ago, she explained: “It was my birthday, I was drugged at a restaurant, I was drugged then for four weeks and travelled to a foreign country. I can’t remember getting on the plane and came round in the back of a travelling vehicle. I was put into a hotel room and the perpetrator returned and raped me.”
The star said she then “could have been disposed of by him” and explained how she thought about running away, though was afraid the perpetrator would call the police. “I do not know how I had the strength to endure those days, I did feel the presence of something that helped me stay alive,” she said.
Following the ordeal, Duffy revealed how she was so upset by what happened, she refused to see anybody for weeks and cut all her hair off. “In the aftermath I would not see someone, a physical soul, for sometimes weeks and weeks and weeks at a time, remaining alone,” she wrote. “I would take off my pyjamas and throw them in the fire and put on another set. My hair would get so knotted from not brushing it, as I grieved, I cut it all off.”
As she navigated her trauma, Duffy visited a leading expert where she recalled what had happened for the first time. The singer said she was “so lucky” to have come across the psychologist as she discussed how the ordeal had affected her psychologically. “Without her I may not have made it through. I was high risk of suicide in the aftermath. She got to know me, saw me as a person, learned about me and navigated me. She did it very gently,” she wrote.
After courageously opening up about the ordeal and her recovery, Duffy’s fans inundated her with messages of love and support as they rallied around the star. “It breaks my heart to learn of this. You are unbelievably strong to be moving on from this and so, so brave to tell it. I just wanted to send my love from my little corner of the world,” wrote one.
“All power to you for your strength, recovery and allowing that sparkling sunlight back inside,” another added. A third commented: “Take each day slowly, and you will become even stronger than you were before.”
*If you’ve been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
