Ex-Spandau Ballet star, 36, accused of sexually assaulting five women tells court he has been unable to work as a performer since being arrested
An ex-Spandau Ballet star accused of sexually assaulting five women has told a court he has been unable to work as a performer since being arrested.
Ross Davidson, 36, wanted sex up to six times a night and would force himself on women who refused him, it is claimed.
Aberdeen-born Davidson became 'a bit of a sex symbol' after starring in the West End musical We Will Rock You a decade ago and was the lead singer in Spandau Ballet in 2018, performing as Ross Wild, jurors heard.
But since the trial he claims he has been unable to work.
He is accused of a series of sex offences against five women, three of whom he is alleged to have raped.
Former Spandau Ballet singer Ross Davidson, pictured outside Wood Green Crown Court on June 11, is accused of a series of sex offences against five women
Davidson (third from the left), who replaced Tony Hadley as the 1980s band's singer in 2018 before leaving 11 months later, was arrested by officers at his home on March 30, 2021
The offences for which Davidson (pictured) is standing trial are alleged to have taken place over a ten-year period between 2013 and 2023
The offences are said to have taken place over a ten year period between 2013 and 2023.
The singer has been accused of filming himself fondling women while they slept and enjoying role-playing rape scenarios, Wood Green crown court has heard.
Jurors have heard that when he was interviewed by police, Davidson claimed that 'everything was consensual between him and the women concerned'.
Davidson gave evidence at Wood Green Crown Court today 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, the singer says he has been unable to work.
During the trial, jurors also heard how Davidson has ADHD and was on Ritalin until he was 13 before self medicating with illegal substances.
'It would make me feel a bit dull and unexcited about a lot of things,' Davidson explained.
'I've self-medicated with things I shouldn't have done,' he admitted.
His former band Spandau Ballet are pictured backstage at Eventim Apollo in London in October 2018 - (L-R) Martin Kemp, Gary Kemp, John Keeble, Davidson and Steve Norman
Aberdeen-born Davidson (pictured) had a 'mannequin fantasy', an alleged victim said
He said that when he was put under investigation he stopped being able to work.
'Initially I started to refuse work when I was being put under investigation. I refused work, I couldn't do it mentally.
'Since then it's been a case of they're not going to want me anyway.'
Charlotte Newell, KC, defending, asked him: 'What effect has that had on you?'
Davidson replied: 'I have no outlet'.
Referring to the first alleged victim's evidence accusing Davidson of being homophobic, Ms Newell asked the musician if there were any homosexual people in the music industry before asking Davidson if he was homophobic.
Ms Newell said: 'What would you say in response to accusations of you being homophobic?'
Davidson: 'Absolutely ridiculous beyond belief'.
He said that one of the jobs he is most proud of was in is role as the lead in the coming-of-age rock musical Bare set in a US Catholic boarding school.
In the show he plays Jason who has a secret relationship with his roommate Peter.
Davidson said he had asked gay friends what they thought about him playing the part.
He told the court: 'I asked gay friends, since I am not gay, what they thought about it'.
Wild (pictured) has been accused of raping three women and filming himself molesting his victims as they slept, during his trial at Wood Green Crown Court
Martin Kemp (left), Ross Davidson (centre) and Gary Kemp (right) are seen on the Eventim Apollo stage in London on October 29, 2018
He was then asked about his experience with the first woman who has accused him of rape.
'Once I met her I started falling for her pretty hard'.
The jury was directed to clear Davidson of one charge of intimidation relating to one of the complainants at the close of the prosecution case.
Earlier in the trial a woman alleged to have been raped by Davidson in 2015 at his London flat said sexual relations with him felt 'transactional', in video evidence played to the court.
Giving evidence, she described how Davidson randomly attached her to a leather-and-buckle collar that connected her neck to her wrists.
She told the court: 'I remember whilst I was in London, at the property, mid-conversation - without stopping the conversation - he left the room and came back in with a collar that connected to wristcuffs.
'Without breaking conversation he just placed it on me and I just let it happen.'
Asked by prosecutor Richard Hearnden why she did so, the alleged victim replied: 'I didn't know what would happen if I protested.
She described his demeanour whilst putting her in the collar as 'nonchalant', acting 'as if what was happening wasn't strange or out of the ordinary'.
The court then heard Davidson told her of his disturbing 'mannequin' fantasy, the alleged victim saying: 'He expressed a fantasy that he likes to play out.
'He mentioned that he liked to have sex with models and initially I thought that just meant people who worked as models - very attractive people.
'But after the conversation what he meant was mannequins, for someone to pretend to be a still and lifeless, unresponsive person - as if they were a mannequin from a shop window.
'I remember finding it very strange - I couldn't understand the pleasure that would come from that.'
After the alleged rape, jurors heard Davidson continued sending her 'copy and paste' marketing copy promoting the band he was in before he joined Spandau Ballet.
Another alleged victim of Davidson said she was raped by the star after he told her, 'C'mon, c'mon. let's have sex' - demanding it six times a night.
In video recorded evidence played to the court the alleged victim said: 'We were having sex five to six times a night, which was just not okay for me.
'One time I was feeling very sore, and I said I didn't want to have sex with him, he said: "No, c'mon, c'mon, let's have sex.
'He put me on my back and started having sex with me.
'He was trying to laugh and make it funny - I said no, really, I don't want to.
'I barely slept, I felt so anxious and alone the whole time - I used to just lay in bed and cry.'
The woman claimed Davidson smoked up to six cannabis joints a day.
She said: 'He spent the whole relationship having, say, five to six joints a day - smoking marijuana.
'He'd quite often kiss me and have the smoke in his mouth and try to blow it in my mouth, he would try and get me high and I'd obviously fall asleep quite quickly.'
She claimed in her video recorded evidence that Davidson filmed her performing oral sex without her consent, while telling her he was 'just texting'.
She added: 'I thought it's a bit weird to be texting whilst this is going on.
'I hadn't consented to a video being taken of me performing oral on him, I hadn't said that was okay.'
Davidson replaced Tony Hadley as Spandau Ballet's lead singer in 2018 after playing Elvis Presley in the hit West End musical Million Dollar Quartet, alongside the band's bassist Martin Kemp.
Davidson, of Finchley, north London, denies three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, one count of voyeurism, and one of controlling behaviour.
The trial continues.
