Former Big Brother contestant Lesley Sanderson on Tuesday accepted substantial compensation over newspaper claims of sexual impropriety. The 21-year-old, from Skelmanthorpe, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, who featured in the sixth series of the show, was not at London's High Court for the settlement of her libel action over two stories in the Daily Star Sunday in May and June 2005. Her solicitor, Michelle French, told Mr Justice Tugendhat the stories alleged that Lesley had had more than 100 sexual partners, became pregnant at 15, offered sexual favours to boys at school and had sexual intercourse in a car with a man who was teaching her to drive. "All the allegations in both articles are totally untrue. The articles were devastating for Lesley Sanderson. "They caused her great distress and embarrassment, and she felt humiliated and upset knowing that they would be read by her friends and her family." Ms French added that publisher Express Newspapers Ltd accepted there was no truth whatsoever in the allegations and apologised. It had agreed to pay a substantial sum in compensation and legal costs.
