Niall Horan became a household name back as one fifth of One Direction back in 2010 - and what has followed since has broken music records all over the globe.
Over fourteen years on from the young Mullingar-native's life-changing appearance on the X Factor alongside Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik, Niall, 29, is still one of the biggest artists on the planet - and he's loving doing it alone.
Having just realised his third studio album, The Show, Niall reflected on his incredible success as a solo artist and how his path to fame and fortune was carved out by the kindness of his French teacher who had unwavering belief in the then 16-year-old student.
Speaking exclusively to The Mirror at the Capital Summertime Ball with Barclaycard, Niall discussed the version of his life that could have come to fruition if he had never stepped foot on the X Factor stage in front of judges Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, and Katy Perry.
When asked where he thinks his life would have ended up if he had never appeared on the X Factor, the Irish superstar looked visibly perplexed as he tried to fathom parallel universe where he wasn't doing what he loved.
"Oh my god, do you know what, I think about that situation every single day. It's hard to see a life where I'm not making music, but who knows what I would be doing. It's been fourteen years since then, so to think of what I would have been doing for all those years instead of touring the world and recording music is kind of unimaginable," Niall shared.
"I would like to think that I would have been in the music industry if I had never have went on the show - but I don't think the success would have been to that magnitude."
Niall went on to explain that he wasn't truly keen on the idea of applying for the X Factor, but it was his French teacher who pushed him to show off his undeniable potential.
After sharing hints of his musical talents in school, Niall's teacher took it into his own hands to fill out the application for the ITV talent show - not knowing then that he would become one of the most famous young men on the planet alongside his four bandmates.
"I was actually going to apply to the show - it was my French teacher who did it for me. He filled out the forms and sent them off and encouraged me to go to the audition. If it wasn't for that, and for all the encouragement from my school, I genuinely wouldn't be here now standing in Wembley Stadium about to perform in front of 80,000 people," Niall gushed.
Although he leads an incredibly busy lifestyle, with endless famous friends in his phonebook, and a tour ahead of him, Niall still hasn't forgotten his teacher's kind gesture, and in return, he tries to pay back the favour everytime he goes home to Ireland.
"I still see him. Every time I go home we go for a few pints - on me of course - and we catch up. I mean it's been almost fifteen years now and a lot has happened in between those years so it's nice to go home back to where it all started and ground myself."
Speaking about performing for 80,000 in Wembley stadium, Niall said he like it should never feel 'normal' to be doing such a huge show.
The Slow Hands singer confessed: "Unless you play for England this should not be normal.
"I had some great memories like three nights on the bounce in 2014" - an emotional throwback for all of us Directioners.
"I've done a couple of Summertime Balls here myself and it's the pinnacle for us. You think about getting up on a stage somewhere and it doesn't get any bigger than Wembley stadium."
Lifting the lid on his new album, The Show, Niall said: "It's mad - I wrote the first song for it in August of 2020 and we're finally here a few years later. It's nuts."
