Charity chart-topper Ladbaby breaks his silence on 'groping' allegations
5 November 2024, 13:01
Charity singer Ladbaby has broken his silence on historic allegations of groping against him.
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In 2022, the singer, who has five Christmas number ones, was accused of wrapping his arm around a woman in a Nottingham club and rubbing up against her.
The 37-year-old, real name Mark Hoyle, and his wife Roxanne, claim they were sent a video of the alleged incident before it was uploaded online, with the sender attempting to blackmail them out of £10,000.
They ignored the threat, hoping the sender wouldn’t go through with their plan.
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But months later it was uploaded to social media.
The touching in the video did not appear to be non-consensual, but the woman pictured was not Hoyle’s wife, Roxanne.
Now, the pair have admitted they did not cope well with the fallout of the video.
"We were lucky we had each other – that’s what we’ve always said about LadBaby, the good and the bad,” Hoyle told the Guardian.
Roxanne added: “We’ve been accused of things before, and we’re just like, we’ll get through this one. That’s how we are now – we’re quite resilient people.”
A source close to the couple told the Sun: "The man in the video is categorically not Mark."
The couple have also been subject to allegations over the money they raise for the food bank charity, The Trussell Trust.
When allegations emerged that the funds raised by the couple may not be going to the charity, Mark contacted police.
Roxanne said: “I don’t think people realise the impact of that level of trolling, where the police came to support us through that time."
As a result of these allegations, online trolls claimed they knew where the couple lived and it one incident, Mark was even confronted in public.
He said: “We didn’t know how to [handle] it. And quite often, you don’t want to make the situation worse, and so you don’t do anything.”
Ladbaby has five number-one singles in total, with their novelty songs We Built This City, I Love Sausage Rolls, Don't Stop Me Eatin', Sausage Rolls for Everyone and Food Aid, topping the charts every year from 2018 to 2022.
