THIS Morning star Ashley James has revealed the frightful moment she blacked out on a boozy night out - and feared she had been spiked.
The 38-year-old says she feels very lucky because she wasn’t mugged or sexually assaulted, but is now extra careful with her drinks on nights out.
Ashley, who is working alongside Spike Aware UK and CounterSpike in a bid to educate people on the issue, tells us: “When I went to my brother's university, and I went out with him and his friends, it's the first time that I'd ever completely blacked out.
"When I woke up I was in my brother's halls with my brother.
“I'd been sick everywhere and I actually didn't remember anything that happened. But luckily I was with my brother and his friends.
“They teased me that I couldn't handle my drink because I was the younger sister that had gone to visit my brother, but I didn't feel like that.
“My reaction and how sick I was, was not in proportion to what I drank in that situation.”
She continues: “Had it happened now, my brother or me or his friends could have tested my drinks.
“If I had been spiked, there was no mugging or sexual assault. But the next person might not be so lucky, because I imagine a lot of these people that try to spike people's drinks don't just do it once - and if they fail, they don't stop doing it.”
Like many people, Ashley didn’t tell anyone about her concerns - according to a new survey by CounterSpike only 11% of spiking victims reported it to the police.
Now, Ashley is helping to promote SpikeStixx - a spiking test kit that enables people to test their drinks on a night out and get instant results.
“It’s literally the same size as my lipstick, so you can put it in your bag, no matter how tiny and impractical your bag is - as mine always is,” says Ashley.
“Ever since I started going out properly, spiking's always been that sort of invisible threat or thing that we have to worry about.”
DJ and TV star Ashley first rose to fame during her short stint on Made In Chelsea - she now uses her voice to talk about what’s important to her.
She often speaks out about double standards for men and women - and refuses to cover up her boobs because other people choose to hypersexualize them.
“I definitely feel like I've got to a point where I realise that there shouldn't be a moral attachment to the clothes that we wear,” she tells us.
“And actually, we see that, even if you're looking at spiking. But any form of sexual violence, it doesn't just happen because of what we wear.
“I find specifically, the hypersexualization of boobs quite frustrating. I don't deserve to be judged and especially not my morals or sexuality questioned based on my body."
She adds: “I certainly don't think that my body is any more shameful than anyone else's and I think time and time again, we see that it doesn't matter what we wear.
“People are spiking drinks, not because of what we're wearing. People are hurting and killing women, not because of the clothes that they are wearing. It's because those people are bad people who want to harm women.”
Despite any concerns Ashley might have on a night out, the mum-of-two is planning to keep on partying for a long time to come.
She says: “I love socialising. I'm such an extrovert and I'm a DJ as well. So I'm always out and about in various different environments where there's drinks.
“I love being around friends. I've got a really good group of mum friends. I've got a really good group of friends in the industry and I feel like I'll never slow down - I'm just a bit more tired.”
