‘Two children is enough – I've only got one pair of hands!'

JLS star Aston Merrygold rules out expanding his family with fiancée Sarah as he opens up about juggling dad duties and work

- RHIANNA BENSON

The public went crazy in 2020 when heartthrobs JLS announced they’d finally be reuniting for a UK tour – nearly seven years after parting ways.

Ticket sales boomed with fans overjoyed that band members Aston Merrygold, Marvin Humes, JB Gill and Oritsé Williams would be belting out their chart-topping ballads and busting moves on stage once again.

Now, with the boys having played their last show (for now!), Aston tells new that being back with the group was “euphoric and surreal”.

While he says they have no immediate plans to return to the stage, the singer admits they are still as close as ever – and so are their kids!

“We’re all one family,” says Aston, dad to sons Grayson Jax, four, and Macaulay Shay, 23 months, with fiancée Sarah Richards, 38. “They see each other all the time – it’s something we’ve made a conscious effort to make happen.”

Here, the 34-year-old opens up about his life as a dad, joining the panel of The Masked Singer live tour – and even teases some new music of his own…

Hi, Aston! How did you find being back on tour with JLS?

Obviously with Covid, everything changed massively. So to be on stage at all is a huge blessing. We’ve all had such an eyeopening couple of years that we appreciate everything so much more. To be back on stage, with lots of us in a room together, and live music, it’s been euphoric and surreal.