Niall Horan has revealed he was "afraid" to go out during the height of One Direction-mania, fearing he would be chased by fans wherever he was touring. The boyband, which formed in 2010 on The X Factor, are one of the best selling groups of all time but announced an indefinite hiatus in 2016 to allow members to pursue their solo careers.
The Irish singer-songwriter rose to fame alongside band members Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik and recently spoke to Cosmopolitan UK about the launch of his new album. Explaining what it was like to part of One Direction, he said: "I loved touring, but it was f****** crazy."
"We'd go to countries and never see a second of it – it was hotel, venue, plane, same again. We couldn't get out the (hotel) door. If you went out in the car, you'd be seen and chased (by fans)."
"I understand why it was going on, but it gave me a thing where, when I came back to London, I would be afraid to go out. There was a period where I actually couldn't."
Horan also opened up about his friendship with Scottish star Lewis Capaldi, who he called "diamond geezer". He added that his close friend doesn't have a: "Bad bone in his body. He's a solid friend, and he also happens to be one of the funniest f****** you've ever met in your life."
Horan, who played for US President Joe Biden at the White House for St Patrick's Day in March, insisted not everyone famous knows each other, however.
He joked: "You're not friends with everyone in your office, are you? I remember seeing Channing Tatum on a plane."
"I'd never met the guy in real life, but he waved. We were laughing later. He was like 'I felt like I had to do the token celebrity to celebrity kind of moment'."
Horan will release his third album, The Show, on June 9 and admits to being nervous. Talking to Cosmopolitan UK, he said: "I hope I didn't waste 18 months writing something for people not to like it...There's no heartbreak stuff (on this album), so there needed to be a new concept.
"The only good part of the pandemic for me was that I was actually happy being still. I had time to breathe; I realised it doesn't have to be a thousand miles an hour all the time."
