Aston Merrygold slams Liam Payne for blaming mental health struggles on One Direction saying ‘you’re your own boss’
THERE isn’t much sympathy for Liam Payne from fellow X Factor boyband star Aston Merrygold after he told of his struggles during his time in One Direction.
Liam complained he felt “trapped” and claimed he was locked inside hotel rooms. And now JLS singer Aston has had his say.
He said: “You are your own boss. It’s not that you were not allowed to do something. He was in the biggest band on the planet and there were thousands of people outside the hotel. So it was probably a safety thing.
Aston added: “It comes with the job. You sign away your privacy. I think you should expect everything, expect it all and say, ‘This is what I want to work for’.
“If you don’t want any of those things then you should not start it because it (the downside) does come and when it does come there are going to be bits that you don’t like.”
Earlier this year Liam revealed how he had felt “trapped” in “lonely hotel rooms”, which he says “really f***ed me up”.
He went on: “We were always locked in a hotel room at night. Then it would be car, hotel room, stage, sing, locked (away).
“So it looked like they pulled the dust cloth off us and let us out for a minute and then we back underneath it.
‘Toxic and difficult’
He added: “There were points where it was toxic and difficult. Don’t get me wrong, we had the best time ever, but… you don’t realise you have a choice at that point.”
Speaking at a party to mark a collaboration between Bentley Motors and whiskey brand Macallan at Hotel Rosewood London, Aston said there were people doing more important things.
He added: “People like doctors save lives every single day. Not every single thing in life is black and white, there are going to be downsides of every job.
“If you want to be an artist and go and sing you don’t just have to sing, this is a business. It’s the music industry. You can’t just be a singer.”
Aston, a runner-up on X Factor in 2008, added: “Were we pushed (in JLS)? We pushed. We pushed people as we wanted to do more.
“A lot of people clock off at 5pm but I don’t clock off at 5pm. I am back on the job whenever I have to be.”
RITA LOOKS SWEET
RITA ORA gave me sweet dreams after she was spotted in this bright outfit in Paris.
The singer reminded me of The Purple One from a box of Quality Street chocs in the two-tone top and trousers combo.
She arrived in Paris fresh from Los Angeles, where she has moved after ditching London as her permanent base.
The You For Me singer turned heads in the bright outfit as she walked through the City of Love.
Her bold outfit wasn’t Rita’s first jaw-dropping clothing choice Rita made yesterday.
Earlier in the day she ditched her clothes entirely, posing in just a white dressing gown as she celebrated her debut episode of The Voice Australia.
Rita shared the sexy topless snaps on Instagram and told her fans she was watching the first episode along with them.
She said: “I am so happy everyone likes the show and the singers are getting the moments they deserve. I am sitting down and grateful and comprehending what these singers must be going through.”
TOP TIME FOR SEA GIRLS
AFTER their debut album, Open Up Your Head went to No3 last August, Sea Girls are back with their follow-up.
And frontman Henry Camamile has revealed Homesick, which will be released on January 14, is the group’s most personal body of work to date.
In an exclusive chat to celebrate the release of their new single, Sick, out now, Henry said: “I think with this album I tried not to be at all evasive with what I was saying.
“I wanted to be blunt and straight forward. I was really p***ed off. In lockdown there was nothing else to do apart from to push myself lyrically and musically. Sick is my favourite song we have released to date.”
Henry and bandmates Rory Young, Andrew Dawson and Oli Khan will play Reading and Leeds festivals over the weekend of August 27-29 before a sold-out tour across the UK.
And Henry said returning to Leeds to play the main stage felt like a dream come true. He added: “The first festival I ever went to was Leeds. We started our band at Leeds really, around those years, watching and thinking, ‘wouldn’t it be amazing to play this festival’. So it is incredible we get to go back there and play the main stage.”
SUN THING IN YOUR EYES, DUA?
DUA LIPA is turning her latest holiday into a fashion show – modelling more looks than you’d see during Paris Fashion Week.
The Levitating singer, who is on a break in Albania, chose this chic, slashed blue dress and a pair of brown gladiator heels as her latest fashion choice.
Over the past fortnight Dua has showcased a number of different looks, including Sixties-style mini-dresses, sexy cut-out dresses and enough bikinis to clothe all of this year’s Love Islanders twice over.
She posted the photographs on Instagram and told her 70million followers: “Most of these are cropped bc I couldn’t see s**t . . . ”
The perils of trying to capture great images while squinting into bright sunlight clearly doesn’t just affect us mere mortals.
GET KNITS FROM TOM
TOM DALEY’s Olympics-inspired knits are now available for fans – who will also be helping a good cause.
NotJustClothing are selling a version of the cream vests the diver created at the Tokyo Games online for £26.99. All profits go to The Brain Tumour charity After Tom’s dad Robert died of the condition in 2011.
- STARS including Mick Jagger, Lola Lennox and Nile Rogers will play as part of a three-hour fundraiser, We For India: Saving Lives, Protecting Livelihoods.
- The show will be live streamed on Facebook this Sunday, August 15, at 3pm and will help raise cash for the country, which has been ravaged by coronavirus.
DUNC’S TRUNKS
BLUE singer Duncan James is set to don his tightest tights when he returns to the stage later this year.
He has been cast as the lead in the panto Jack And The Beanstalk.
A source said: “Duncan loves the dirty humour of panto so can’t wait to get back on stage.”
Duncan was one of the many celebs who missed out on lucrative Christmas deals last year after Covid closed the industry. Here’s hoping the worst is behind them. The show is at The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, Kent.
Cruel Hearts Club trio ready for EP-ic times
GIRLBAND Cruel Hearts Club are gearing up to release their first EP after dropping eye-catching songs Dirty Rotten Scum and Hey Compadre.
And new record Trash Love is just as attention-grabbing in name – and sound. The band features sisters Edie and Gita Langley, both on vocals and guitar, alongside drummer Gabi Woo.
The first single off the new EP – which is out on August 20 and produced by Edie’s partner Carl Barat from The Libertines – is called Sink This Low.
Edie said: “It’s about people f***ing you over, but now the tables have turned. We’ve been playing it live for ages, but it took on a new energy when we re-recorded it.”
There are also tracks called Animal and the apt Where Has The Summer Gone?. Getting the EP out is even more impressive as the trio have seven kids between them.
Gita is married to singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt and the couple have two children. Edie said: “We had to film a video in the summer holidays so we figured rather than get childcare, let’s employ the kids, bribe them with a day at the arcade.
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“We had them running feral all over Margate in their Doc Martens and mohawks, graffitiing the walls near the beach and having gobbing competitions at the camera.
“It was literally one of the hardest days at work we’ve ever had – but the video turned out so good. I feel proud that I’m able to talk about my kids. It doesn’t mean that you’re too old, or that you’ve missed your chance.
“It’s important we’re all allowed to express ourselves musically.” This band are an inspiration to all women.