Aston Iain Merrygold (born 13 February 1988 in Peterborough, England) was born to a Jamaican father and an Anglo-Irish mother. He is one of seven children; he has five brothers and one sister. He was born and raised in Peterborough, where he attended Jack Hunt School.Briggs, Stephen I always knew Aston had the X Factor Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 22 December 2008 In 2002, Merrygold entered Stars in Their Eyes where he appeared as Michael Jackson, singing "Rockin' Robin" and finished in second place. He came in second yet again with JLS on The X Factor at age 20. Aston performed in school productions and, after leaving school in 2004, was cast in a new ITV programme, Fun Song Factory alongside children's TV presenter Laura Hamilton. In the show, Merrygold played the character "Cookie".Family cheer on X Factor star Retfordo Times, 24 December 2008 Whilst still attending secondary school, he played football on behalf of England in the European Youth Games. His initial aspiration was to play football professionally. However, after developing a nerve problem in his left foot, he tried singing and acting instead. Through acting, he met Humes. As a result, he received a call from Williams (an acquaintance of Humes) about joining a boy band.
