One Direction: Forever Young: Our Official X Factor Story

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Foreword by Simon Cowell

STARTING OUT

THE X FACTOR DREAM

BECOMING STARS

Thanks

About the Author

Copyright

About the Publisher

Foreword by Simon Cowell

The decision to take five solo contestants and give them the chance to create a group was one of the best decisions we made. But the credit for making this group work goes entirely to Niall, Harry, Liam, Zayn and Louis, who embraced the idea and not only worked incredibly hard but became genuine friends.

The boys’ attitude throughout the series made One Direction firm favourites with everyone both backstage and in The X Factor house. They are incredibly talented and hard working, polite and great to be around.

They’ve gone from being five young unknown lads to being mobbed wherever they go, and yet they’ve taken it all in their stride and remained as down to earth as when we first met them.

I can honestly say it’s been a privilege working with them. They’ve taken everything we’ve thrown at them and run with it, they’ve brought their own ideas – whether it’s been on their songs or staging – and every week they did an incredible job.

They know who they are as a band, the type of music they want to make and they are full of ideas and plans for the future. As their mentor, I was disappointed the boys didn’t manage to become the first band to win The X Factor, but I have no doubt that they will go on to achieve great things and I’m very much looking forward to working with them for a long time to come.

The X Factor is all about discovering new talent, and One Direction are a testament to how much talent we have in the UK.

Thank you to everyone who voted for them and supported them throughout the competition. I know that they will not let you down.

STARTING

OUT

In the beginning

Liam: I first started to sing when I was about six. We used to go to my grandad’s in Cornwall or to holiday camps and I used to sing on the karaoke all the time. I loved singing Oasis, but my favourite track to perform was Robbie Williams’s ‘Angels’. I was in school choirs back home in Wolverhampton as well, and I went to a small local performing arts group called Pink Productions, so I was singing and also dancing.

I’ve got two older sisters, Nicole, who’s 22, and Ruth, who’s 20. I get on really well with them. They both like performing too, so we used to sing and dance around the house. That sounds a bit ridiculous, doesn’t it?

I had a really nice upbringing. I come from a typical working-class background. My dad works in a factory, building aeroplanes, and my mum is a nursery nurse. I was planning to go and work in the factory with my dad, to do an apprenticeship, but my dad wasn’t all that keen. He wanted me to sing! I was actually about to start the apprenticeship when I tried out for The X Factor the first time around, so the show kind of got in the way, but in a good way.

At one stage I wanted to become a boxer. I used to box three times a week, but had to give that up for The X Factor, as you can’t turn up on stage with bruises. I was also the best 1500-metres runner for my age group in Wolverhampton and nearly ran for the country, so becoming an athlete was another career option. I liked the idea of becoming a fireman too. I’ve always liked helping people, so I was going to do the training course when I was 18. But although I was drawn to all of these, music was still my first love.

I was 14 when I first auditioned for The X Factor back in 2008. I made it all the way to Judges’ Houses with Simon in Barbados and sang Take That’s ‘A Million Love Songs’. But Simon didn’t take me through, because he didn’t think I was ready for it. He said to me at the time, ‘You need to go and get your GCSEs,’ so that’s what I did.

It was a terrible disappointment, but I was up against a lot of stiff competition. It was the year that Diana Vickers, JLS and Alexandra Burke were in it, so it was a tough year. And looking back, it was probably a good thing I got kicked out, otherwise I wouldn’t be in One Direction now. I love being in a boyband and I think it really suits me. I also don’t know how I would have handled something on that scale at 14. It would have been scary.

It was tough to go back to school afterwards, though, having been on TV in front of 16 million people. All of a sudden you’re in a Spanish lesson you don’t want to be in, so it’s a bit of a comedown. Not that I ever got bullied because of the show. I was just always the boy who had been on The X Factor, so if anything it was cool.

For the next couple of years after my first audition I tried to make it on my own as a singer. I went through publishers and producers, but it felt like every time I was getting somewhere it fell through for some reason. You need a lot of time and money, and I wasn’t living in London, which made it even harder.

I did manage to get some public appearances off the back of The X Factor, though. I’d be singing for 200 people one week, and for 30 thousand people at a football stadium the next. The X Factor definitely opened a lot of doors.

Liam has been performing on stage from a young age

Harry as a toddler

Harry: I grew up in Cheshire and I’ve got one older sister called Jemma, who is 20. We get on pretty well.

I was quite cheeky at school and got up to a little bit of mischief, but nothing too terrible. I liked to get my work done, but I also liked hanging out with my mates. I was good at English, RE and Drama, I think because they were the subjects I enjoyed most. All I ever wanted was to do something that was well paid. I could never really pinpoint what that would be, though. I really liked the idea of being a singer, but I had no idea how to go about it.

I started singing in primary school, and was always in plays and shows, so I was performing from a young age. When I got to secondary school I kind of stopped singing for a while, but later with some school friends I formed a band called White Eskimo. We performed locally and also won a ‘battle of the bands’ competition. Winning that and playing to a lot of people really showed me that singing was what I wanted to do. I got such a thrill when I was in front of people that it made me want to do it more and more.

When I went along to The X Factor audition, I was a student and I’d just finished my GCSEs at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School. I had a Saturday job in a bakery and I was planning to go to college to study Law, Sociology and Business, but I wanted to see if I could make it as a singer first. If it didn’t work out, then fair enough, but if I didn’t try I’d never know.

My mum is always telling me I’m a good singer and it was she who put The X Factor application in for me. Obviously I was hopeful that the judges would like me as well. It would have been a major setback in my plans for world domination if they hadn’t.

Niall: I grew up in Westmeath, in the middle of Ireland, with my parents and my older brother Greg, who is 23. We didn’t get on when I was younger – I was probably a bit of an annoying younger brother – but as we’ve got older we’ve grown to like each other and now we get on really well.

Niall practising his technique

Zayn with his older sister

As soon as I went to school I began singing. My teachers always said that I should join a choir, so I did exactly that. Then when I was nine I played Oliver in the school play, and that went down well, and I really began to enjoy being in front of an audience.

When I went to secondary school, everyone realised that I could sing, so I started entering talent shows and I even won a few of them here and there. I sang ‘The Man Who Can’t Be Moved’ by The Script, and ‘Last Request’ by Paolo Nutini in two competitions.

While I was doing one of the talent shows, a guy asked me if I wanted to take part in a local Stars in Their Eyes type competition. I sang Jason Mraz’s ‘I’m Yours’, and although I didn’t win, I got a lot of good local press, which was pretty cool.

At school I loved French and Geography because I had really good teachers, but I was terrible at English and Maths. I talked a lot during lessons, but I didn’t get into trouble too much. All the teachers seemed to like me even though I was far from the perfect pupil.