‘The worst year of my life’ – Louis Walsh on false sexual assault allegations

"I thought I was finished."

Louis Walsh has been speaking out about the sexual assault allegations made against him back in 2011 and talking about the huge impact they had on his life. The X Factor judge became the focus of front-page news six years ago when a man came forward claiming the 65-year-old had harassed him in Dublin nightclub, Krystal. Louis previously revealed that at the time, he had contemplated taking his own life.

“I thought, ‘I can’t go home! What if no one believes me?’ "I saw a bottle of pills and thought of taking them.”

The music manager eventually won €500,000 in damages after it was found that the allegations were false, however, Walsh feared that he would never fully recover.

“I thought I was finished in the business, especially dealing with boy bands and girl bands and all that,” he revealed to the Sunday Independent. “People are going to think that there’s something not right here.”

Louis was found to be innocent of all charges and his accuser was sentenced to six months in jail for making false claims. Despite many telling him not to fight as he could lose or do irreparable damage, he did.

“That was the worst thing that ever happened to me in my life. Without a doubt. “I thought my life was finished. “Honestly, I didn’t know. Everybody told me not to fight, that I would never win. “Everybody told me that.”

The TV judge also won a case against The Sun and he was awarded £400,000 in damages, a public apology plus legal costs which he said amounted to ‘more than a million’.