JLS heartthrob Aston Merrygold has recalled the painful moment a racist troll left a horrific comment on his Instagram page.
Following the recent Black Lives Matter movement, Aston, 32, was left filled with rage after seeing the comment from an unnamed account which posed using a picture of the actor Woody Harrelson.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Star Online, Aston, who recently became a new dad has shared his initial reaction after seeing red as well as discussing becoming a parent again during a global pandemic and what fans can expect as JLS gear up to tour for the first time in eight years.
Aston and his fiancée, Sarah Richards, have been about having an Instagram account for their son, Grayson, two, which is monitored by the pair.
Aston revealed to Daily Star Online that his initial reaction to his son experiencing racism made him see red (Image: Aston Merrygold/Instagram)
After posting a picture on the social media site, Aston was left astounded when the troll left a comment using the n-word slur.
He admitted: “My first reaction to seeing them was like, ‘Where and who is this person, where are they? I’m going to kill them.’
“You’re fuelled with rage, you’re never trained as a parent to deal with that stuff, you’re a bit like ‘Hold up, let me take a step back, don’t let rage take over you.'”
The singer later admitted that after calming down, he intended on raising awareness of the matter (Image: Aston Merrygold/Instagram)
The singer added: “You just have them reactions, it’s just what it is.”
Aston spoke to his fiancée, Sarah, went on to say that he put things into perspective before dealing with things in the “right way”.
The Beat Again singer reported the Instagram account, which has since been suspended by social media bosses – something he hopes to continue doing in order to raise awareness of online trolling.
Speaking about his own experiences with racism in the music industry, the star admitted he had dealt with “subtle racism”.
An unknown social media troll used the ‘N-word’ directed at two-year-old Grayson (Image: sarahlourichards/Instagram)
“It goes back to being online, people feel like they can write comments on videos or interviews – we [JLS] would see those kinds of comments and yeah, they’re going to be taken down but it doesn’t stop people from writing them again.”
“We just kind of came in on the very beginning cusp of YouTube and it was just kind of starting out and that was quite weird for us to kind of see it at the time.”
He added: “We’ve all experienced it growing up and we’re thick-skinned.”
Aston and Sarah, welcomed their second son, Macaulay Shay, in June – just weeks after the world went into lockdown due to the global pandemic.
Sarah gave birth to their second son, Macauley during the lockdown period (Image: sarahlourichards/Instagram)
Speaking about taking time out and enjoying time with Sarah, Aston revealed that the pair have been enjoying date nights at a nearby Luna Drive-in cinemas.
“With the circumstances, that’s been going on in the world and becoming new parents to our second child, the fact that date night is a possible thing is a big thing.
“It was definitely a lot of fun, it’s the drive-in experience.”
Aston and Sarah have recently started enjoying date nights since the lockdown restrictions eased (Image: sarahlourichards/Instagram)
Chatting about future plans with his JLS bandmates, he revealed: “I can’t wait to get back on stage.
“Myself and the boys parted ways the first time around and our very last show was at the O2 arena – when we get back to the O2, that’s just going to be magic.
“We’re doing four nights there now, I think it’s crazy.”
Aston and JLS are set to tour for the first time in what will be eight years (Image: Getty Images)
Famed for their iconic dance routines and Aston’s backflips, he spoke about his TikTok videos which have seen him busting out several moves.
Speaking about jumping back into their dancing shoes, he added: “It depends if the other boys are going to be like, you take that one and I’ll stand back here wait, then I’ll jump in for my part,
“They kind of have no choice to be fair, no, we’re all in this.”
“I hope we all still look young enough to pull this off, a few gym sessions, a little haircut, it’ll be fine.”
JLS are set to perform across the country in 2021 on their Beat Again Tour – which was due to kick off this year but had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
