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The 36-year-old former star of the Spandau Ballet, who is accused of sexually abusing five women, explains in court that he has not been able to work as a performer since his arrest



A former star of the Spandau Ballet, accused of sexually harassing five women, has told the court that he has been unable to work as a dancer since his arrest.

Ross Davidson, 36, wanted sex up to six times a night and forced himself on women who rejected him, it is said.

Aberdeen-born Davidson became “something of a sex symbol” after starring in West End musical We Will Rock You a decade ago and performing as lead singer with Spandau Ballet in 2018, where he played the role of Ross Wild, the judges heard.

However, since the trial, he says he has no longer been able to work.

He is accused of several sexual offenses against five women, three of whom he is said to have raped.

Former Spandau Ballet singer Ross Davidson, here outside Wood Green Crown Court on June 11, is accused of a series of sex offences against five women.
Davidson (third from left), who replaced Tony Hadley as singer of the 1980s band in 2018 before leaving 11 months later, was arrested by officers at his home on March 30, 2021
The crimes for which Davidson (pictured) is on trial are said to have occurred over a ten-year period between 2013 and 2023.

The crimes are said to have occurred over a period of ten years between 2013 and 2023.

Wood Green Crown Court accused of filming himself fondling women while they slept and taking pleasure in role-playing rape scenarios.

According to the jury, when questioned by police, Davidson claimed that “everything between him and the women in question was consensual.”

Davidson gave evidence today at Wood Green Crown Court wearing a grey suit.

He told the court that he grew up in Scotland and studied music at college, but despite performing with the famous band, he was unable to work.

During the trial, jurors also learned that Davidson suffers from ADHD and took Ritalin until he was 13 years old before self-medicating with illegal substances.

“I would feel a little boring and unexciting about a lot of things,” Davidson explained.

“I did things to myself that I shouldn’t have done,” he admitted.

His former band Spandau Ballet can be seen backstage at the Eventim Apollo in London in October 2018 – (from left to right) Martin Kemp, Gary Kemp, John Keeble, Davidson and Steve Norman
Aberdeen-born Davidson (pictured) had a “mannequin fantasy”, an alleged victim said

He said he has been unable to work since the investigation began.

“At first I started refusing to work when I was being investigated. I refused to work, I couldn’t do it mentally.

“Since then, the message has been: They don’t want me anyway.”

Defense attorney Charlotte Newell of Kentucky asked him, “What effect did that have on you?”

Davidson replied, “I don’t have an outlet.”

Referring to the statement of the first alleged victim accusing Davidson of homophobia, Ms Newell asked the musician whether there were any gay people in the music industry before asking Davidson whether he was homophobic.

Ms Newell said: “How would you respond to accusations that you are homophobic?”

Davidson: “Absolutely ridiculous, unbelievable.”

He said one of the roles he is most proud of is the lead role in the coming-of-age rock musical “Bare,” set at a Catholic boarding school in the United States.

In the series he plays Jason, who has a secret relationship with his roommate Peter.

Davidson said he asked gay friends what they thought of his role.

He told the court: “Since I am not gay, I asked gay friends what they thought about it.”

Wild (pictured) was accused during his trial at Wood Green Crown Court of raping three women and filming himself molesting his victims while they slept.
Martin Kemp (left), Ross Davidson (centre) and Gary Kemp (right) perform on the Eventim Apollo stage in London on October 29, 2018

He was then asked about his experiences with the first woman who accused him of rape.

“When I met her, I was immediately blown away by her.”

At the conclusion of the criminal trial, the jury was instructed to acquit Davidson of the charge of intimidation in connection with one of the plaintiffs.

At the start of the trial, a woman who was allegedly raped by Davidson in his London apartment in 2015 stated in video evidence played to the court that having sex with him felt like a kind of “business”.

During her testimony, she described how Davidson arbitrarily placed a leather and buckled collar on her that connected her neck to her wrists.

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She told the court: “I remember that when I was in London, at the estate, he left the room in the middle of a conversation – without interrupting – and came back with a collar with handcuffs attached.”

“Without interrupting the conversation, he just put it on me and I just let it happen.”

When asked by prosecutor Richard Hearnden why, the alleged victim replied: “I didn’t know what would happen if I protested.”

She described his behavior when he put the collar on her as “nonchalant” and that he acted “as if what was happening was not strange or unusual.”

The court then heard Davidson tell her about his disturbing “mannequin” fantasy. The alleged victim said: “He was expressing a fantasy that he liked to live out.”

“He mentioned that he liked having sex with models, and at first I thought that only meant people who worked as models – very attractive people.”

“But after the conversation, what he meant by that was mannequins, someone who pretends to be a still, lifeless and unresponsive person – as if he were a mannequin.”

“I remember finding it very strange. I couldn’t imagine how much joy it would bring.”

After the alleged rape, jurors heard that Davidson continued to copy-and-paste promotional material to her for the band he had played in before joining Spandau Ballet.

Another alleged victim of Davidson said she was raped by the star after he told her, “Come on, come on, let’s have sex” – and demanded this six times a night.

In a video recording presented to the court, the alleged victim said: “We had sex five to six times a night, that was just not OK for me.”

“One time I was in a lot of pain and said I didn’t want to have sex with him and he said, ‘No, come on, come on, let’s have sex.’

“He laid me on my back and started having sex with me.

“He tried to laugh and make it funny – I said no, really, I don’t want to.”

“I barely slept, I felt so scared and alone the whole time – I just lay in bed and cried.”

The woman claimed that Davidson smoked up to six cannabis joints a day.

She said: “During the entire relationship he smoked about five to six joints a day – marijuana, that is.”

“He kissed me quite a lot and had the smoke in his mouth and tried to blow it into my mouth. He tried to get me high and of course I fell asleep pretty quickly.”

In her video recordings, she claimed that Davidson filmed her performing oral sex without her consent and told her he was “just texting.”

She added: “I thought it was a bit weird to be texting while doing this.”

“I did not consent to have a video made of me performing oral sex on him, I did not say it was okay.”

Davidson replaced Tony Hadley as lead singer of Spandau Ballet in 2018 after playing Elvis Presley alongside the band’s bassist Martin Kemp in the hit West End musical “Million Dollar Quartet”.

Davidson, from Finchley, north London, denies three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, one count of voyeurism and one count of controlling behaviour.

The process continues.