Stereo Kicks’ week has just gone from bad to worse. Not only did they wave goodbye to their X Factor dreams last night, but now a photo of band member Jake Sims in a 'ketamine-induced stupor' have appeared online.
In the shocking photo taken 18 months ago, Jake’s tongue hangs out of his mouth and his eyes roll back in his head as he lies on the carpet of a hotel room.
Sources told The Sun that 19-year-old Jake – who has already been in trouble for sending naked selfies and boasting about drug-taking on Twitter – could not talk after taking the horse tranquilliser drug, and was barely able to breath.
The source said: “Jake was lying on the floor for about an hour or longer.
“He got really thirsty because it dries your mouth up so much and he was struggling to breathe.
“He got in that state because it was the first time he’d had it. But eventually he was all right. He slept it off.”
Earlier this month, Jake was forced to apologise for being “stupid” after tweeting about drugs.
In one post, he told his followers, “Everyone likes to get high”.
He also boasted: “I don’t smoke crack motherf**ker, I just sell it”, later insisting he was repeating the lyrics of a song.
But in other tweets last March he said all he did was “smoke and f**k” and commented that a spliff was “enjoyable”. And in September last year he hinted he was hooked on cannabis joints, saying: “Always smoke one before sleep.”
A show insider told The Sun: “Jake openly admits he’s done some stupid things in the past, and he’s apologised. But it seems to be one scandal after another, and this is particularly serious.
“Stereo Kicks are already role models to thousands of young fans, many of them of school-going age and who should not be exposed to this kind of image.”