One Direction

THEY were once ‘like brothers’, touring the world together and dealing with global superstardom after being propelled into the spotlight aged just 16.

But now in their early 30s, Niall Horan and Harry Styles are “worlds apart” and living “vastly different lives”. Here, an insider tells us why the relationship has soured between the pair, and how the rest of One Direction are keeping their distance.

Fans first noticed cracks between the pair last month when Niall, 32, made barbed remarks about the cost of fame on an American podcast just days after Harry, also 32, said he found his superstardom “deeply isolating”.

Speaking on the Zach Sang show earlier this month, Niall cheerfully revealed how delighted he is to be living a “completely normal life” in London, travelling on the tube, walking his dog and going for beers with his mates in local boozers.

When asked if he minds being stopped by fans, the Irish singer remarked: “You cannot have your f***ing cake and eat it”.

Fans were quick to point out that the comment came shortly after Harry spoke about the cost of superstardom – and wondered if it was a dig in his direction.

Speaking to Runners’ World magazine for their May cover, Harry said that he found fame ‘deeply isolating’ and felt the need to withdraw from public life to protect himself.

As part of this, he moved to Italy, because it allows him to ‘live a quiet life’ and ‘reset’.

But the differing attitudes toward fame are part of reason why the pair are no longer close.

A source tells us: “The boys used to be like brothers, they were the best of friends and used to joke about what life would be like when they were old men and still hanging out together.

“Now they are about a million miles from that. They have gone their separate ways and are all living such different lives. 

“Niall is a real homebody; he loves being at their place in London with Mia and the dog, or with his family in Ireland. He’s not a kid anymore; he feels settled now, while Harry still jets all over the world and never seems to stay in one place for long.

“The pair of them hardly have anything in common now, and while Niall would never come straight out and criticise Harry, some things he says definitely make Niall’s eyes roll.”

While the Irish singer songwriter, who is worth £52 million, is completely at ease with being recognised when he’s out and about, scared Styles recently admitted all the unwanted attention left him wanting to become a recluse.

Speaking to US media, Niall claims he can live carefree in London. He says his life with long-term girlfriend Amelia Woolley – known as Mia – is not built around his work schedule and fame.

He added that he’s never minded being mobbed by One Direction’s devoted army of fans: “I don’t ever want it to be like, poor me. That was just the way it was – there were a lot of people around. 

“I just get out and do it, and people are going to come up to you and say hello. And that’s fine. 

“I used to be nearly afraid of that. I love it now. I basically live a completely normal life, really, apart from the fact that if I walk in somewhere, someone’s going to come up and say hello, that’s fine. 

“I walk the dog every day and go on the tube and go into town and go for beers. There’s nothing special.

“It’s a great thing. It’s something that when you were younger, you yearned for.

“We all want that normalcy in effect. You cannot have your f****ing cake and eat it, though, either. 

“I want to be out there doing my thing and getting up on stage. It’s the best f***ing thing in the world.”

This latest spat between the pop legends comes after we revealed Zayn Malik punched Louis Tomlinson in the face during a vicious row, cutting his head and leaving him concussed.

The former pals’ bruising clash came as they filmed a three-part road trip for a nostalgic Netflix documentary about the band, which has since been scrapped.

It emerged that Zayn had made a scathing remark about Louis’ mum, Johannah Deakin, who died of leukaemia in 2016.

Despite the frenzy of worldwide adulation, Niall says that down-to-earth fashion buyer Mia, 28, from Birmingham, keeps his feet firmly planted on the ground.

He went on: “You can sit at home and go like, it’s hard for me to do these things.

“But at times, it being uncomfortable or something can be a reason why you don’t do them. Or you can choose for that to not be a reason and you can do them anyway.

“When you shut out a lot of the things that are assumed can be negative, you also just unconsciously shut out a ton of positive things.

“We live a completely normal life outside of this.

“It’s like someone’s pressed pause on a stopwatch, and then when it clicked back in, I was just this different person. It’s really cool. It happened gradually, but when I think about it in hindsight, it felt like just night and day.

I basically live a completely normal life, if someone’s going to come up and say hello, that’s fine

Niall Horan

“My life just went from being all encompassing to having this good divide.

“I love it. I like having the balance. It’s pretty cool.

“I’ve gotten very good at. When I’m at home, I’m completely at home. I’m not doing anything. I just want to be at home.

“But I like going to work now and then being at home, I like it that way.

“Hopefully, I can keep doing that because it’s a nice little balance I’ve got going on. And it takes time to get to that.

“Amelia’s got her own life. She’s been doing her thing, and everything can’t be just surrounding me.

“It’s already weird enough that she used to fly to Amsterdam to come in on a five o’clock flight on a Friday. It can’t be like that all the time. 

“Bringing her into that is a really cool thing. And she feels that sense of pride and looks at the fans and sees the way they’re thinking and things like that. 

“It’s such a cool thing for her if I play her a song; she’s never had that before. It’s not like people were coming home in the evening from work and going, ‘Hey, I wrote you a song today.’

“That’s a new thing for her, too. The whole thing is a shock to the system, but our life is just not all about that.”

Niall previously dated Hailee Steinfeld and Ellie Goulding – resulting in Ed Sheeran writing the hit track Don’t about an apparent love triangle between the trio.

But Harry, who rented a mansion outside Rome and ran marathons using pseudonyms, feels very differently.

He explained recently: “A large part of the last couple of years has just been about, honestly, learning to like myself away from having so much of my value baked into whether other people are enjoying me or not.

“Learning that fears and feelings aren’t facts, and you can have a feeling about yourself and taking the time to be able to see what that is and see where that comes from.”

LOUIS Tomlinson’s sisters have unfollowed Zayn Malik online after he punched their brother in the face during a vicious row.

The clash came as the former friends filmed a three-part road trip for Netflix.

Now, his sisters Phoebe and Lottie have unfollowed Zayn online – but still follow the other One Direction boys Harry Styles and Niall Horan.

In an interview with Livelaughlukepod hosted by @lukehamnett, Phoebe and her twin sister Daisy didn’t hold back on who their favourite One Direction member was.

They twins revealed: “Niall was always the loveliest. And even when we were little, he was just very nice and caring and always cute with us.

“Liam’s not with us anymore, but he was always that for me. Yeah, so calm. He was so sweet.

HEALTH SCARE

Zayn Malik rushed to hospital with mystery illness and is ‘still recovering’

1D AT WAR

Zayn Malik PUNCHED Louis Tomlinson after making remark about his late mum

“He would always say hi and he’d remember your name and stuff.

“Whereas the others, not obviously mentioning names, didn’t really even know who you were or remember your name.

“Liam always took time and came and said hi to our grandparents and little things like that.”

Netflix has since axed the multi-million-pound project which had aimed to show Zayn and Louis bonding over shared memories of pop stardom.

A source said: “Louis was stunned and in shock. Zayn was wearing rings so it cut his head. It happened outside in front of so many people.”

Sources told The Sun their astonishing on-set row was triggered by Zayn’s remark about Louis’ mum Johannah Deakin, who died of leukaemia in 2016.

A source revealed: “The lads were filming on location. Zayn started acting up and was mouthing off.

“It spiralled into a row then Zayn made a remark about Louis’ mum Johannah.

“Louis was stunned and in shock. As he went to move, Zayn then attacked him.

“Zayn punched him straight in the face.

“Because he was wearing rings it cut Louis’ head.

“He was pulled away and Louis was taken for medical treatment. He was left with a concussion. This happened outside in front of so many people. It was shocking.”

The Sun understands Louis and Zayn – who last night shared a picture of himself in hospital with a mystery illness – have not spoken since the incident six months ago.

It is understood Netflix finally decided to cancel the three-parter  last month, after hopes of the pair reconciling dwindled.

We told last October how Louis, 34, and Zayn had signed for the show and to be filmed discussing their lives and experiences of pop stardom.

It was hoped they might even open up  about the tragic death of bandmate Liam Payne, 31, in a hotel balcony fall in Argentina in October 2024.

The bust-up between Louis and Zayn happened when  filming reached Wyoming.

Insiders said that after receiving medical treatment, Louis left for the UK, while Zayn returned to his farm in Pennsylvania.

A source said: “What clearly hurt Louis the most was Zayn’s comment about his mother.

“Zayn knew how much Johannah means to Louis and his family.

“It made Louis so upset, it was clear there was no way he would ever return to filming with Zayn.”

“The decision was taken to axe the series.”

A source added: “Netflix had thought they’d hit the jackpot when Louis and Zayn agreed to film together.

“It was a big budget show, it cost millions to make.”

Neither Louis nor Zayn have ever spoken about the documentary or why it ended.

One Direction  sold more than 70million records worldwide at the height of their fame.  

LIAM PAYNE will live on in the stars after fans sent his name to the moon.

I can reveal kind-hearted supporters opted to include Liam’s name on an SD card that was blasted into space aboard the Artemis II mission.

The singer, who was a life-long lover of space and sci-fi, had his name included alongside 1.5million others inside a cuddly toy of the craft’s ­mascot, Rise.

Taking to X, one fan wrote: “Liam Payne’s name has gone to the moon . . . thanks to a dedicated fan @Annie23703.

“It feels so fitting, because he was always our light.

“From the stage to the stars, he’ll never stop  shining  for us.  You’re on a new journey.

STAR STRUGGLES

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KEEN KATE

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“We will miss you always.”

Another supporter added: “It’s an honour to do this for Liam. To infinity and beyond.”

In 2015, Liam teamed up with Nasa for One Direction‘s Drag Me Down video, which was shot at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Liam said at the time: “One of the coolest things about this is that we got to go and meet the head person at Nasa who is in charge of space stuff.

“The night before, I watched loads of these Nasa unexplained mysteries-style documentaries. I went loaded with all these questions.

“I asked one and the lady was like, ‘That’s ­classified, actually – you’re not supposed to ask that’.

“The suits we are wearing in that video have actually been to the moon. I never thought I would get to do that.”

A CLIP of a ‘baby’ Louis Tomlinson on Waterloo Road, long before he was a global superstar, has tickled fans.

The BBC soap dug through the archives to unearth a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo from former One Direction star Louis.

As the school drama celebrates its 20th anniversary, the official social media site posted the vintage footage and asked: “Do you think he was scared of Janeece?”

The clip shows a baby-faced Louis playing an extra during the show’s very first series in 2006.

In the footage, a concerned-looking Louis can be seen in the background of the school playground as fan-favourites Janeece Bryant (Chelsee Healey) and Donte Charles (Adam Thomas) get into a heated row.

To help fans catch the four-second appearance, the clip has been given the slow-motion treatment, asking: “Can you spot One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson in Waterloo Road?”

TWEET WAR

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1D ‘FEUD’

Louis Tomlinson snubs Zayn Malik in new interview after ‘full-blown fight’

Fans commented: “Baby Louis Tomlinson.”

“He was so young,” noted a second.

“What a babbyyyyyy,” cooed a third.

Before his X Factor audition in 2010, Louis was a budding actor with a string of background roles.

Along with his stint at the fictional Greater Manchester school, he also popped up in Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends and the drama film If I Had You.

Louis, 34, recently opened up about one of his pre-fame jobs.

Speaking to Radio 2’s Scott Mills, he shared: “I did work at Toys R US. It was one of my favourite jobs.

“I absolutely loved it. I loved it. Honestly. I was just on the tech.

“I had to just do the tech basically, giving tech demos to people. 

“Do you remember Guitar Hero? Well, they’d just released DJ Hero. 

“I just spent hours on my working day demonstrating to other customers.

“I loved that job though, I loved it.”

Fans commented: “He came from a working class and despite his global success he keeps being so down to earth.”

A second added: “Love that he did all these jobs. And he’s still so humble.”

A third penned: “The cutest role mode.”

The singer has recently dropped his third solo album, How Did I Get Here?.

The Lemonade and Sunflowers star has spoken about his ‘terrifying’ world tour which lands in the UK for a run of dates throughout April and May.

Louis got his big break on The X Factor but he recently said the show is unethical and “could do better” for its contestants.

The singer was put into One Direction by the show’s judges and rocketed to superstardom – then returned as a judge in 2018.

Recently, Louis paid a heartfelt tribute to tragic bandmate Liam Payne with a song on his new album.

Louis sings about loss on the track Dark to Light and asks if he could have done more to help someone in need.

Liam was just 31 when he died in October 2024 after falling from his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Louis has been dating Zara McDermott since last March and they recently spent their first Valentine’s Day together.

This comes after the loved-up pair celebrated their first Christmas together at his home in Hertfordshire.

The Sun were the first to reveal at the start of the year that Zara and Louis had begun dating each other just weeks after she split from long-term partner, reality star Sam Thompson.