Five questions with Aston Merrygold of 'The Wizard of Oz'

Aston Merrygold stars as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz at the Gillian Lynne Theatre this summer. He spoke to London Theatre about bringing the show back to the West End.

Since shooting to fame on The X Factor as part of chart-topping boy band JLS, Merrygold has turned his hand to acting and was also a judge on TV talent show Got to Dance. He’s currently starring as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz.

How does it feel to bring The Wizard of Oz back into the West End? When you do any kind of theatre role, there are always massive goals that you want to hit, and playing in the West End is definitely one of them. It’s a huge challenge, but so exciting. We had some great nights out with the cast on tour – The Vivienne is an incredible character and we’ve definitely become friends. To be honest, it’s an honour to be working with someone who holds such presence on stage.

You performed alongside Craig Revel Horwood on certain Oz tour dates – did it dredge up unhappy memories of when he voted you off Strictly Come Dancing? Not really – my parents and grandparents are still very upset about my whole Strictly ordeal, but it’s all part of the fun and it’s a TV show, right? It’s the industry we’re brought up in. My wife was pregnant with our first child at the time and it was personally a hard struggle because I wanted to be around for our last moments together without kids. So, in the end I got to have my cake and eat it.

How do you look back on your The X Factor experience? We were the last lot of contestants to be in the room with just four judges. After our year, it went into academies and mini-arenas in front of the audience – which is nice, but I think there was something really special about seeing if someone can hack that pressure of an intimate room.

What are the best and worst aspects of being in a boy band? The best and worst aspects are probably the same – being together 24/7 with madness all around you. It’s hard – that mental thing of always being “on” and ready, it gets tiring. But we love it, which is why we still do it. It’s not something we take for granted, that’s for sure.

If there was a real-life Wizard of Oz, what would you ask him for? It sounds crazy, but life is good – I continually work and get to spend time with my wife and three kids, so there’s not much else I need, to be honest. So, I’d say: “Just give everyone some happiness, will ya?” Life’s hard and there are always people who are worse off than you, so I’d just give everyone a bit of a break.

Book The Wizard of Oz tickets on London Theatre.

This article first appeared in the August issue of London Theatre Magazine.

*Aston Merrygold’s solo UK tour begins on 10 October. *

Photo credit: Aston Merrygold in The Wizard of Oz tour. (Photo courtesy of production)