A FORMER Carlisle choirboy who shot to fame as a finalist in Britain’s Got Talent has been charged with raping two women.

Andrew Johnston, 27, whose emotional performance in 2008 moved judge Amanda Holden to tears, has appeared before Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London charged with three offences.

Recently working as a roofer, Johnston, of Newtown Road, Carlisle, is facing the following three allegations: 

  • At a flat in West London, in November, 2019, that he raped a woman.
  • At a location in the borough of Westminster, in March 2000, that he sexually assaulted the same woman.
  • And between January 26, 2020 and February 14, 2020, in south London, that he raped a different woman.

The charges were outlined in court and Johnston did not enter any pleas. The case was sent to Southwark Crown Court for a pre-trial hearing  on September 7.

The defendant is likely on that occasion to be asked to enter his pleas to the three charges.

Johnston was represented in court by a lawyer from the firm Bark & Co.

Johnston shot to fame when he appeared in the second series of Britain’s Got Talent in 2008. Amanda Holden was so overwhelmed by his performance of Pie Jesu that she wept. The singer failed to win the talent competition but later released a top five album with Simon Cowell’s label Syco Music label.

He joined the National Youth Choir in 2011 and studied for a degree in opera studies, but his career was paused when his voice broke. 

Originally from Stanwix, he staged an opera show in the city in 2017 in his show 'A Night at the Opera' with Andrew and Friends."