Niall Horan has revealed that at one point he was too afraid to leave his house because the popularity of One Direction was so overwhelming.
The singer, 29, opened up about being catapulted into the spotlight after being formed on The X Factor back in 2010 when he was just 16 years old in a new interview with Cosmopolitan UK.
As one fifth of the British and Irish group, Horan along with bandmates Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik released five albums and enjoyed four world tours before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016.
The Heaven hitmaker, who is Cosmopolitan UK new digital cover star, admitted that while his career was flying high, his personal life was severely impacted at the height of the band’s fame so much so he feared leaving his home in London.
“I loved touring, but it was f***ing crazy,” he told the outlet. “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.”
Aside from the difficulties of fame, Horan admitted that he has found himself in some interesting situations thanks to his success, but warns that while he might rub shoulders with A-list celebs, it doesn’t mean that he’s friends with them.
“People have this idea that all famous people are friends,” he added. “But 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.’”
The musician’s interview comes as he prepares to release his third studio album, The Show, and revealed that more “excited” than ever for people to hear it.
He admitted: “I’m more excited than I thought I would be. I’m revved up, but I’m nervous. 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.”
