JLS star Aston Merrygold supports 'humble and caring' Ortise Williams after rape charge

Rochelle Humes, who is married to Marvin, also showed her support
Bandmates: Aston Merrygold has shown his support for Oritse Williams
Getty Images
Natasha Sporn14 September 2018
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

JLS star Aston Merrygold has sent his support to bandmate Oritse Williams after Williams was charged with raping a woman at a hotel.

Shortly after the reports on Friday, Merrygold posted a picture of himself, Williams, JB Gill and Marvin Humes auditioning for The X Factor in 2008.

He captioned the shot: “These 3 guys... The nicest, most humble, caring, selfless, hardworking (I could go on..) people I’m lucky enough to call family!

“No matter what we are brothers like it or not! And we stand in each other corner.”

Rochelle, who married Humes in 2012, commented “always!!” underneath the post while Alexandra Burke wrote “Amen!!!!!” in the comments section.

Williams has been charged with one count of rape and a second man, Jamien Nagadhana, has been charged with one count of assault by penetration.

Accused: Oritse Williams
Getty Images

A West Midlands Police spokesman said: "Police have charged two men with sexual offences following an allegation of rape at a Wolverhampton hotel in December 2016.

"Oritse Williams, aged 31, from Croydon, London, has been charged with rape.

"Jamien Nagadhana, aged 31, from Hounslow, London, has been charged with assault by penetration."

A statement released at the time of Williams' arrest from his representatives said the singer denied the accusations.

It read: "All we wish to say at this time is that Oritse denies the allegations against him.

"The matter is in the hands of the police and it would be totally wrong for us to comment any further."

Shortly afterwards, the singer said he would be stepping back from his charity work, adding: "Unfortunately, the press speculation is likely to be unhelpful to the charities I work with and the decision I have taken is with their best interests in mind."

Williams and Nagadhana are due to appear at Walsall and Aldridge Magistrates' Court on October 11.

Additional reporting by Press Association.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in