JLS’ Aston EXCLUSIVE: ‘Cher Lloyd is brave’

Cher Lloyd may be one of the more controversial celebrities, but her recent refreshingly honest account of how cyber bullies are ruining her life has earned her admiration from JLS' Aston Merrygold.

And the singer only has praise for his fellow former X Factor contestant he told us: "Cher Lloyd is very brave for speaking out [about being bullied].

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"She's a lovely young lady and as she's in the public eye it's very difficult to speak out, but it's tough for anyone.

"One of the most difficult things is to speak out against being bullied."

And bullying is one subject Aston is pretty passionate about! He's currently supporting BeatBullying's The Big March a virtual protest to make it a child's right to live a life free from bullying.

For people like Cher who have suffered bullying Aston only has some wise words…

He added: "When the bullying first starts you tell yourself it's ridiculous and it's petty, but it's not!

"It needs to be spoken about as soon as possible. As time goes on it gets really hard, it's tough for young kids and it's tough for people like Cher who had to be very brave to speak out."

But it's not just Cher who has suffered at the taunts of the bullies, Aston believes every celebrity is exposed to it.

"Some people think celebrities are emotionless, but we have story after story in the press about us and as much as we try to get on with it, sometimes it can hurt."

And surely comments on Twitter sent direct to celebrity accounts can burn too? Aston can only call this behaviour 'disgusting'.

He said: "Tweeting abuse or doing it online is like hiding behind a door.

"People who do that don't have valid opinions and are saying it in a way to hurt someone else.

"It's disgusting behaviour. I think people who do this are very cowardly.

"Especially the ones who've targeted Cher Lloyd - they have to go online anonymously and say abusive things to her. Cher is just a girl who is living her dream and doing what she does best. It's ridiculous."

Yes.It.Is. These are some wise word Aston!

For more information see beatbullying.org