Aston Merrygold has blasted Liam Payne for blaming One Direction for his mental health issues.
Liam, 27, previously revealed he found some of his time in the world’s biggest boyband “toxic and difficult” and he struggled with being “locked” up in hotel rooms while on tour but JLS singer Ashton, 33, says Liam should have understood that fame comes with a price.
He told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column: “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.
“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.”
Aston’s band JLS and Liam’s One Direction both found fame on ‘The X Factor’ and Aston says being in a band is not just about singing and performing but it is also a business.
He explained: “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.”
And he doesn’t feel that JLS were ever pushed too hard, explaining: “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.”