All in all I didn’t have loads of girlfriends, but I was generally with someone and I do like being in relationships. I wasn’t one to play the field when I was younger, and I can’t imagine being like that now.
TAKING CHANCES
In 2009 I applied for The X Factor but didn’t get through the first round. For the rest of that year I had my heart set on auditioning again and at least getting through the first round. When I tried out the second time I was more driven than ever. There was a lot more pressure because I was desperate to get through. I didn’t tell that many people I was going because it was more about proving to myself that I could do it. I lined up at two in the morning and there were already about 100 people there. I was with my mate Stan and we were literally in sleeping bags in the line. We kept napping and every now and again we’d end up being moved along.
The actual audition was absolutely terrifying, I sang “Elvis Ain’t Dead” by Scouting for Girls and then “Hey There Delilah” by Plain White T’s. It was such a relief when I finally got through. The thought of going to Bootcamp was amazing, especially as before that I’d only been to London a couple of times. Now I know it like the back of my hand!
The week before Bootcamp my granddad took me shopping to get some new clothes, and that’s when I bought my first pair of Toms shoes—which, as many people seem to have noticed, I’m in love with! I probably own about 11 pairs in different colors now.
When I got to Bootcamp I could tell that some people were already trying to play the game, but I don’t actually remember that many of the finalists apart from Zayn and Aiden, because I was friends with them. There was a massive hype about Cher even then, and even though I didn’t speak to them much I remembered Harry and Liam well, because I saw them and thought, “You are definitely getting through.” I had a photo taken with Harry because I knew he was going to be famous. I even gave him a hug and told him not to worry because I knew he’d be fine.
That was why I was so shocked when, after we’d been waiting for what seemed like ages, the last of the male soloists names were read out and neither Harry nor Liam were called. I was honestly more shocked about them not getting picked than me. After I did “Make You Feel My Love” at Bootcamp I didn’t think I’d done enough to get through and I felt really upset. Dermot came over to speak to me off camera and gave me a hug, which was so nice as there were a lot of people there and he didn’t need to do that. I was still very worried about my performance and at that point I never expected in a million years to go through.
After we were put in the band Harry said straight away that his stepdad Robin had a place in Cheshire where we could hang out. It was so cool because we all stayed in this bungalow in the back garden and there was a swimming pool and loads of room to play soccer. I used to drive us around everywhere and it was like being on a freshers’ week or something because we were all getting to know each other.
The bungalow itself was lovely and we had blow-up mattresses everywhere so people would just fall asleep wherever. Everyone got on pretty well and they’re all great guys, but Harry and I bonded immediately and he’s now my best mate in the band. He’s such a cool guy and very laid-back and easy to talk to. I feel like I’ve known him for so much longer than I have. I guess we’ve got a bit of a bromance going on.
There was never a quiet moment in the bungalow and we talked about anything and everything, from past memories to the future. We used to make a campfire every night and Niall would play his guitar and we’d sing along. They were really good times. I think it is incredible how we’d met so recently and within a week we felt like best friends. It wasn’t forced in any way, it just happened naturally.
Every song we did that week was sung in unison and we tried some terrible harmonies, which is funny looking back. We really didn’t know what we were doing, but I think it was really important for us to have that time together before Judges’ Houses. It would have been so hard to go to Spain as a five-piece band when we didn’t even know each other and had barely performed together.
Going out to Marbella was another really good time for us. We all bonded even more and it was so nice being in the sun. We had fun, ate a lot of pizza and because Niall can speak really good Spanish, he could translate things for us.
Even though Simon Cowell is one of the most famous people you can meet I never felt starstruck by him, because he makes you feel so comfortable.
The low point for me during our time in Spain was when I got stung by a sea urchin. My foot swelled up incredibly, it was embarrassing to be seen hobbling along, and the first time I was shown on screen it looked absolutely massive. The timing wasn’t exactly great.
Getting through to the live shows was an amazing feeling, and we were all on a massive high on the flight home. But we didn’t celebrate or anything because we were sharing the flight with all of the people who didn’t get through as well as those who did, and the last thing we wanted to do was rub people’s faces in it when everyone had worked so hard.
We all got to go back home for a little while before we moved into the contestants’ house, and my granddad took me shopping for clothes again so I had some new things to wear. I was so excited about seeing where we were going to be living because I knew it would be great, and it was.
We didn’t get to spend as much time in the house as I’d have liked because we were so busy, but the time we did have there was such a laugh and we played a lot of table tennis.
Obviously there were times when things did get a bit much. When you’ve got five guys sharing one tiny room you can imagine what it’s like. We had the smallest room in the house so sometimes when we were tired it could be a bit awkward. I did miss my own bed at times, and when things got really manic I missed my old life and friends. But I would not change anything that’s happened for the world.
I’m a complete mommy’s boy and I have a really good relationship with my mom, but we were kept so busy I didn’t get time to miss home that much. I did speak to my family a lot on the phone, and I got to see them every week on the show, so that made things a lot easier.
The first week of the show was something I’ll never forget. What an experience! The whole thing was amazing. My favorite performance of all was “Torn,” and it was brilliant meeting Robbie Williams. He’s such a hero of mine—I’m a massive fan—and he lived up to all of my expectations. Michael Bublé is also a really nice guy, and being around Cheryl Cole wasn’t a bad thing either. She was so lovely to us. I honestly can’t think of one bad thing to say about the whole experience. And at the end of it, of course, we landed a record deal. Although we may not have won the competition, we still feel like we’ve done ourselves proud.
IT’S CHRIIIIIIISTMAS!
We only had about four or five days off for Christmas, but we didn’t mind that because it was a really exciting time. I had a little bit of money to spend on presents for the family, and it was so nice that I could splash out a bit.
It’s my birthday on Christmas Eve so we had some family around during the day and then I went to see my friends in the evening, but I didn’t do anything too crazy. I was quite tired and I wanted to take the time off to relax.
The fact that I was better known now didn’t make it feel any different from any other Christmas, although I guess I appreciated being at home more because I’d been away for so long. As presents I got things like clothes, some money, a laptop bag and an iPod. I did well! But I still had to help clean up and do other things around the house, so nothing had changed.
We didn’t talk endlessly about the show. I think my elder sisters found it weird that I’d been on the show and friends of theirs at school were asking for autographs, but I don’t think the twins really understood it fully because they’re still quite young.
Being back there brought home to me how much my life had changed in such a short space of time. I’m so lucky that I got into the band because I don’t know how I would have managed to get through my A-levels. I didn’t have the motivation t
o do them, but with the band I’m so motivated that I’m constantly working on stuff and thinking up ideas. I’m so passionate about it. I’d go as far as to say that I’m really organized with the band, and I’ve never been organized with anything in my life!
I kept in touch with the boys by text a lot over Christmas, and Harry and I spoke over the phone a few times. The guys also got in touch to say happy birthday, which was so nice. All of our families are friends now too, and my mom and Harry’s have become really close. During the tour they even came to the Newcastle gig together for my mom’s birthday.
When I got back to Doncaster I heard that a few guys I knew were talking about me behind my back and saying that I didn’t deserve to be where I was. Certainly I’ve had a lot of luck to be in the place I am now, but at the end of the day I worked really, really hard, so regardless of whether or not they think I’m good enough, I am here for a reason.
A few fans came over to the house while I was home for Christmas, and people go to my granddad’s house and knock on his door sometimes. I just feel bad if I’m not there. One time some people waited eight hours for me, but I was out all day so I missed them, and I felt terrible.
I don’t know if we’ll ever get fully used to the attention from the fans. It’s been happening for a while now so we are getting a bit more used to it, and we appreciate the support so much, but it’s still easy to forget that people know who you are. Even if you pop out to the shop at 11:30 at night after a busy day you can find that people are taking pictures of you, and that’s a very strange feeling.
Things I never used to think twice about doing I now have to give thought to. Even the simple things like going to buy toiletries. Mainly we just have to be a bit careful if we go somewhere that’s busy, because things can be totally calm one minute, and then it can go a bit crazy.
I spent New Year’s just going out with my friends and I had a really good laugh. Most of my friends don’t treat me any differently from how they always have, and that’s so important to me. They mean a lot to me and I would hate our friendships to change.
We all loved having some time off, but we knew we had a record deal so we were all excited about getting back to work and seeing what was around the corner.
NEW YEAR, NEW CHALLENGES
When we went back to work we knew we had a busy January ahead of us, and we were all ready for it. I’d had a really good rest, but I missed performing live and I was kind of itching to get back into it. Now we had some gigs coming up, so I was really looking forward to getting back out there and seeing all the fans.
January was also spent talking about plans for the future, and we were all set to start working on our album, so whenever we had a spare moment we were coming up with ideas about how we wanted it to sound and what kind of influences we wanted in there. We all knew that we wanted to be as involved in it as we could. That meant a lot of song writing, so we would bounce ideas off each other a lot.
When we were on The X Factor we absolutely loved being in the recording studio, so we were really excited about getting back in there. The studio is a great place to be because we get to hang out with each other, and we always get to order in good takeout. As anyone who knows us will know, we like our food. Then we heard that we were going to be heading to LA for work, which was a massive surprise, but a brilliant one. One of the first things I thought about, I admit, was how good the shopping would be over there. I love buying clothes, so I was already mentally planning what I would buy.
We went over for five days, of which we spent two traveling, so we were quite tired for some of it, but being in the sun made me feel much more energized and we made the most of the time we had. When we finally got to go shopping I was actually a bit disappointed. I bought a few things but I can get my Toms in England and that’s the most important thing!
While we were there we went for dinner with a big producer called Max Martin, which was a bit daunting. He looked like a really normal guy with jeans and t-shirt, but we were still quite intimidated. We also recorded a track over there with RedOne’s team and it feels very cool to say that we went to LA to record.
When we flew back from LA we had one of the best fan moments we’ve ever had. We had hundreds of fans waiting for us at the airport. We had to run through them all to try and get to our cars, but there was no chance of getting away. There’s only one way out of the airport terminal and that’s where everyone was waiting, and as much as we wanted to see the fans it would have been crazy to try to go out there and sign autographs.
I got a real buzz from the madness of it all, but Niall was absolutely terrified. To me it felt like being on a rollercoaster or something, and I just went with it. When so much is happening and you don’t know where to turn or where to go—and you know everyone is there for you—it feels amazing.
In the end we left through a side door, but everyone saw us and we were completely mobbed. I was wearing a hoodie and half of it got ripped off me. Later, when we went to a signing for the first One Direction book, Forever Young, there was a girl there who had brought the sleeve along with her to show me—and even asked me to sign it. I thought that was hilarious.
Rehearsals for the tour were another big thing for us early in the year. They were quite intense, and when we started practicing “Only Girl in the World” we realized that there was a lot more movement in it than there had been when we did the track in The X Factor. It wasn’t that it was difficult, but there was a lot to take in and learn and we had to go over things about 20 times. We were all keen to move on and learn new songs, so we got a bit frustrated at times. We all gave everything a go, though, and you could see us getting better and better each day, and that spurred us on.
Looking back at how much we’ve grown, I definitely think all of the rehearsing paid off. When I watch our performances from The X Factor, anything that required a little bit of movement or energy—like “Only Girl in the World”—looks so different from how we perform it now. I think we’ve all learned to have a bit more stage presence and we’re much more confident. Harry has always been the most comfortable on stage, but I think we’ve all caught up with him now. Going on The X Factor and playing in arenas so early on in your career is some of the best training you can ever have.
One of the best things about the tour was getting to hang out with everyone from the show. Matt is such a good guy and we had fun taking the mickey out of him, saying things like “Look at me, I’m Matt, I think I’m sick ’cause I won The X Factor.” It was also great to be around Aiden again—he was always someone I could talk to outside the band.
Every night after the shows an area of the bar or a room would be hired for us to go and chill out in. I tended to go there every other night so I didn’t get burned out. I think Niall was the only one of us who was down there every night—he loves to talk. He was always chatting away with the crew or the dancers. Even if we were down there he didn’t sit with us; he’d search out new people to talk to.
Every now and again we’d get this urge to do some daft stuff. When we were in Sheffield we trashed the dressing room. It all started with me trying to throw an apple core into the bin and missing, which somehow turned into everyone picking up apples and throwing them at the wall as hard as they could. We were sharing a room with the other male artists and we all started picking up any fruit we could find, so there were oranges all over the floor and bits of pear all over the tables. For those five minutes it was so much fun. We knew we shouldn’t be doing it, but we were caught up in the moment.
After the fruit fight I popped out to go to the toilet, and when I walked back into the room Vicky, the tour manager’s assistant, had just come in and seen the mess. I acted dumb, saying, “What has gone on here? Vicky, I have no idea how this happened, I was out of the room. Let me help you pick all of this up.” I started helping her but couldn’t stop looking over at Zayn and smiling. Meanwhile Vicky kept thanking me, so I totally got away with it.
We did the same again in Liverpo
ol, and this time we thought we would get away with it because we threw all the fruit into the shower and shut the curtains. We left the venue after the show and nothing had been said, then the tour manager Cara confronted us with two pictures from the dressing room showing us the state of the shower. She looked at us and said, “What is this?” Zayn got all nervous. He couldn’t look at her and just said, “I don’t know, I don’t know.” In the end we denied all knowledge. I think she secretly found it quite funny.
ONE OF OUR FIRST BOOK SIGNINGS, AT LAKESIDE. WHAT A CROWD! WE LOVE OUR FANS!
During the tour we kept being given carrots. Basically, this was because in Week 2 of The X Factor all of us boys were asked what we like in a girl, and I thought it would be funny to say I like girls who like carrots. Ever since then fans have turned up to see us with carrot banners, t-shirts and loads of real carrots.
One night these two girls dressed as carrots were dancing at the bottom of the stage. A friend then gave me a carrot costume and I wore it on stage during a show. It was brilliant and I love all that. Mind you, I should probably be getting some kind of cut from farmers, because I’m sure carrot sales must have gone right up.