Former One Direction singer Liam Payne has admitted there was a bit of a power struggle between himself and Louis Tomlinson in the early days of the group.
In fact, in a new interview with Hits Radio Breakfast, Liam admitted he “absolutely hated” his former bandmate when the boyband first got together, not that fans were any the wiser, because they “hid it” so well.
Liam Payne (Photo: Cindy Ord via Getty Images)
“When we were in the band it kind of felt like, because he was the oldest and because I’d been singing for quite a bit of time we both got put in a weird position,” Liam explained.
“[Louis] was wanting to be the leader, and I was doing my thing and wanted to. So, at first we didn’t get on at all. We absolutely hated each other, it was so funny. Really bad. We hid it well.”
Louis Tomlinson (Photo: Karwai Tang via Getty Images)
He also said his experience in One Direction could border on “toxic” at times, due to the “level of fame that we had in the band”.
This isn’t the first time Liam has lifted the lid on life in One Direction being far from perfect, though.
One Direction in 2011 (Photo: Claire Greenway via Getty Images)
“Going out and putting that happy smile on my face and singing the songs, honestly, sometimes it was like putting on one of those costumes, going out there and, underneath the costume, people don’t really see what’s going on.”
Listen to Hits Radio Breakfast with Fleur East, Greg and James every weekday from 6am.
It might be surprising to recall that Zayn's inclusion in One Direction wasn't actually all that well-received, given that he'd refused to dance at boot camp, walking out rather than finishing his choreographed routine. Even Mary Byrne gave it a jaunty shimmy, Zayn!
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One Direction and short-lived rivals The Wanted had a long-standing feud, which peaked when Zayn called their lead singer, Max George, "chlamydia boy" during a heated Twitter row. Eventually Jay McGuinness stepped in, urging Louis Tomlinson and Zayn to "stop mentioning us in your gigs", adding: "We certainly no longer mention you and it's time to let dead dogs lie."
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