I was in the same space as Liam...Life looks shiny but it's scary

JLS boyband star Aston reveals high cost of fame

- HANNAH BRITT

Shooting to fame with JLS on The X Factor, boyband star Aston Merrygold says he was once in the “exact same space” as One Direction’s tragic Liam Payne, who died in a fall in 2024.

JLS, runners-up to Alexandra Burke on the 2008 show, had formed the previous year in London but it was the TV show that made them stars. Aston, 38, says: “I was 20 when I appeared on X Factor.

“It would have been very easy to go off the rails [with] the things that are thrown at you, given to you, the doors that are open.

“Your best interests aren't always going to be at the forefront of things.

“When you look at someone like Liam and the rest of the One Direction boys, we were in the exact same space at one point.

“And our paths crossed, of course they did.

“From the outside it's all very shiny, life looks incredible but it’s scary. It's scary to think of how Liam was feeling.