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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.

The town where I live is quite small and there isn’t much for young people to do. I spent most of my time just hanging out with my friends or singing, and obviously all that singing is what led me to The X Factor.

When I went along for the audition I was a student at Coláiste Mhuire and I’d just finished my GCSEs. I was planning to go to university and study Civil Engineering, which would have been a bit different from the pop-star route.

Zayn: I’ve always been quite noisy and confident, even when I was a kid. I had bags of energy and I was always running around. In fact, I was so hyperactive that once my mum even took me to the doctor. I wasn’t allowed any vitamin C because that’s what was making me so hyper.

I was an in-your-face kind of kid and a bit of a handful. I always sang and I was in the school choir even in primary school, and then I carried on singing whenever I could. But not on the same scale as The X Factor, obviously.

Liam loved singing from a young age

Zayn as a toddler

Louis as a toddler

I’ve always been the loud one in my house. I’ve got one older sister called Doniya, who’s 19, and two younger sisters, Waliyha, who’s 10, and Safaa, who’s eight. I like being the only boy because it means I’m pretty spoilt. I’ve got the big TV and a Playstation and they have to share a room, whereas I get my own.

I don’t mean to sound like a bighead, but I was quite popular at school. I was a bit of a bad boy and I used to mess about and have a laugh. I did well all the same and passed 11 GCSEs with high grades. I remember my Drama teacher telling me that if I carried on and worked hard I could really make something of myself, but I thought she probably said that to everyone so I took it with a pinch of salt. When it came to A-levels I thought I could keep getting away with it, so I still messed about quite a lot, and I ended up with pretty rubbish grades.

I’ve acted since I was 12 and I’ve been in a lot of shows because I was at a performing arts school. I played Bugsy in Bugsy Malone, and was also in Scrooge and Grease. When I was younger, I always wanted to be an actor, but I also really liked the idea of becoming a drama teacher. Louis and I are very similar like that – he wanted to do the same.

I thought teaching would suit me. I come from a big family, as my dad was one of eight children, and I’ve got loads of cousins. We’re always in each other’s houses and I’ve always been around people. Also, I look after my younger sisters, and I like kids, so teaching felt like something that I could do.

Louis: I grew up in Doncaster and I talked a lot from a really young age. I’ve always been a little bit gobby and not lacking in confidence. Apparently I used to sit in my pushchair and talk to random people and get annoyed when they wouldn’t reply. When I was about four, this man walked past and I said hello and he ignored me, so I turned round to my mum and said really loudly, ‘He’s mardy, isn’t he?’ I wasn’t a shy boy.

Louis limbering up

Harry dressing up

I’ve got four younger sisters: Charlotte, who’s 12, Felicity, who’s 10, and identical twins called Daisy and Phoebe, who are six. I’m a pretty good older brother, I think. I get on really well with all of my sisters and I look out for them. People are often very surprised how good I am with kids.

I’ve always really enjoyed singing, but when I was younger I was much more into acting. I used to do little bits of work as an extra in TV shows like Fat Friends, and I also had a small speaking part in an ITV drama called If I Had You.

When I was about three I wanted to be a Power Ranger when I grew up. Then, like a lot of lads, I went through a phase of wanting to be a footballer. Since the age of 13 I’ve wanted to be an actor or a singer.

I always had a back-up plan, though. Because I love kids, I decided it would be great to be a teacher. There are so many teachers that are dead strict, so I wanted to be a fun Drama teacher. I’d planned my uni course and everything. It would have been funny if Zayn and I had somehow ended up on the same course.

When I was 14 I had a little spell in a band called The Rogue – great name! We did talent shows and put on shows at school and I used to really love it. That was what first made me think about auditioning for The X Factor.

I posted some clips on YouTube of me singing songs like The Fray’s ‘Look After You’ when I was about 15 or 16, to try and get some kind of feedback. There’s also a video on there of me performing as Danny in my school’s production of Grease. I loved being in that show, it was such a laugh, and I was really pleased to land the role of Danny as it was the first show I’d auditioned for.

A lot of kids complain about school, but I actually enjoyed it and I really miss it now. It was more of a social thing for me, and I was always the one trying to make people laugh. The teachers either really didn’t like me or really got on with me. I remember one of my RE teachers saying to me once, when I was about 15, ‘I can tell by your personality that you’re going to go on to do big things.’ I went back to Doncaster recently and went to see his class and say hello, and he reminded me of it.

Liam enjoyed his time at school

Niall on holiday

Liam singing ‘Cry Me a River’ for his audition

I did alright with my GCSEs, though, and got eight out of 11. I failed Business Studies, History and Geography. But then when it came to my A-levels I did too much messing around. Unless I love something, I’m not great at working hard at it, and I lost interest in my A-levels. Thank god for music!

The all-important audition

Liam: I’d always known I would give The X Factor another go, it was just a case of when. I never, ever gave up the idea of giving it another shot. Some people advised me against it – I think because they were worried that I’d get hurt – but most people were really supportive, which meant the world to me.

It was gutting to get thrown out the first time around. I knew how awful it felt and I didn’t want to have that feeling again, but I was willing to take the risk. I wanted to get through more than anything. I had vocal coaching in-between so I could be at my best.

To me, that second audition was my chance to prove to Simon that I’ve got what it takes. I went there with one aim – to get a yes from him. Of course it also mattered to me what the other judges thought, but I guess because I had history with him I wanted to know that he felt I’d improved and moved on and grown up since he’d last seen me.

I knew that I could do well in the audition because I’d been working so hard, but there’s always that danger that the nerves will get in the way, so the whole thing was pretty terrifying. Dermot calmed my nerves a bit backstage. He’s such a nice friendly guy and when he recognised me, it put me at ease. He said it was nice to see me back, and I said it was nice to be back!

Getting up on stage again was bizarre. I looked out and saw Louis, Cheryl, Simon and guest judge Natalie Imbruglia, and it felt surreal to be back there again. I just wanted to hear what Simon had to say. I really wanted him to say yes, for my parents as much as anything. My dad has always said to me, ‘We’ll get you on that show one day son.’

I sang ‘Cry Me a River’ because I had seen Michael Bublé perform it on TV, and within minutes I was on the internet trying to find a backing track I could practise along to. I wanted to do a really big song.

I got a standing ovation from the audience, which I genuinely wasn’t expecting. I was close to tears when I looked out and saw everyone clapping and cheering. It was so overwhelming. Cheryl said to me, ‘You’ve definitely got it, whatever it is, you’ve got it.’ Then Natalie said, ‘I think other people in this competition should be a little bit worried about you.’

Louis took the mickey out of Simon for not putting me through last time around, but Simon said he knew he’d made the right decision and that he felt I was a different person now. Not surprisingly, all of those comments made me feel very glad that I’d come back.

My family and friends were all waiting backstage, and they leapt on me as I walked down the stage stairs. Dermot gave me a big hug and joked, ‘The boy becomes a man!’ All I could think was, ‘I’ve done it!’ My face was actually hurting because I couldn’t stop smiling. I never expected in my wildest dreams to get that kind of reaction from the judges and audience.

Niall: I’d always known that I wanted to try out for The X Factor. I think anyone in the country who sings wants to give it a go. It’s the biggest talent competition out there, and this year felt like the right time to audition. I want to be like the big names in the world, like Beyoncé and Justin Bieber. I’ve been compared to Justin a few times and it’s a comparison I like! I want to sell out arenas and make an album and work with some of the best artists in the world. I was hoping the audition day would be the start of it all. If I got through to the next round it was game on.

After his first audition, Katy Perry tells Niall he is ‘adorable’

Harry wows Pussycat Doll Nicole with his Stevie Wonder performance

I stayed with my cousin in Dublin the night before the audition but I didn’t sleep I was that excited. I got to the Dublin Convention Centre at 5am and I was absolutely bricking it. There were so many people there, I thought there was no way I was ever going to get through. I even thought of changing my song at the last minute to improve my chances.

I felt so excited getting up on stage and singing in front of the judges, but of course the nerves were still there as well. Katy Perry was the guest judge and I had a bit of a joke with her about entering the competition so I could become more popular with the girls at school. It was half a joke, but half true, if I’m being honest.

I sang Jason Mraz’s ‘I’m Yours’ and Simon said it was a lazy choice, so then I sang my other song, ‘So Sick’ by Ne-Yo. When I’d finished, Katy told me I was adorable, which are always the words you want to hear from a gorgeous, world-famous pop star, aren’t they? But she also told me that I had work to do and that even though she’d started out when she was 15, she hadn’t actually made it until she was 23.

Simon told me I’d chosen the wrong song and I wasn’t prepared enough, but he still said he liked me, which was a massive bonus. Cheryl said no, but in the end I got three ‘yes’ votes because Louis more or less forced one out of Katy. That was enough to put me through to Bootcamp. Of course I would have loved the full four, but as long as I was going on to the next round I didn’t mind too much.

Harry: Standing backstage with Dermot and my family before my audition was so surreal. All my family were giving me good-luck kisses, which was a bit embarrassing. I got some cheers when I walked out on stage, which felt great and made me feel a bit more relaxed.

I smiled and tried to look as confident as possible, but inside I was a right mess. This meant everything to me and I just wanted to do a brilliant job. There were hundreds of people there, but all I could see was Simon, Louis and guest judge Nicole Scherzinger looking up at me and I was like, ‘Please like me, please like me.’

Standing in front of all of those people was something totally new for me and I was really nervous. It was a big adrenaline rush and I think that’s what gets you through the performance – you’re on a bit of a high, so you don’t really have too much of a chance to think about things.

I sang Stevie Wonder’s ‘Isn’t She Lovely’, a song I’ve always loved. I tried out loads of different songs beforehand and then chose the one I thought I sounded best on – which was that one, obviously! I even gave a little bow at the end, which was a bit cheesy, but I thought it would be funny.

Nicole said I had a beautiful voice, which meant so much to me, but Louis said I didn’t have enough experience or confidence and that I was too young. Thankfully Simon disagreed with him and said, ‘I think with a bit of vocal coaching you actually could be very good.’ It was really nice to get the positive feedback. I honestly didn’t expect to get through, so I was chuffed with the good comments.

Louis gave me a ‘no’, which was disappointing, but both Nicole and Simon gave me a ‘yes’, so I was through to Bootcamp. I was in a total state of shock! That was one of the best moments of my life.

My family went mad when I went back to see them. I was so incredibly happy, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I kept expecting someone to come over and say, ‘Actually, we’ve changed our mind, you’re not through after all.’ Can you imagine?

Zayn: I applied for The X Factor last year but didn’t turn up for the audition because I was too nervous. I wasn’t actually going to turn up this year either, but my mum basically grabbed me by the ear and told me I was doing it. It was something I’d always liked the idea of, and always thought I would do, but when it came down to it I panicked. So it took me a while to build up to it.

In the end I decided to go along to Manchester just for the experience, and if I didn’t make it, then I didn’t. When I got through the first stage and stood before the judges I thought I’d been kept so they could take the mickey out of me. I’d never had any singing lessons before and had only ever sung for my mum and my sisters or small audiences.

Despite feeling shaky with nerves, Zayn impresses the judges from the start

The day before the audition I went to sleep at four in the afternoon, then set off at two in the morning to get to the audition. My uncle drove me down, and he’s nearly seven feet tall so there was no missing us in the queue.

I was really shaky beforehand and when I got out on stage I was suddenly faced by all these people. I had to take a deep breath to calm myself. There were people as far as the eye could see! And Simon Cowell was sitting in front of me; it was amazing but terrifying at the same time. I know he doesn’t exactly hold back with the criticism, so I was really worried about what he would say.

I sang Mario’s ‘Let Me Love You’, a song that I thought suited my voice and also one that I’d practised a lot. Louis said straightaway that he liked me, and Nicole said there was something special about me. Simon said he agreed with Nicole, but he also commented that I needed to be hungrier for it. I think Simon gets you as a person from the minute he meets you, and I think he was right – at that point I didn’t yet want it the way I should have done, and he knew it. But the further I got into the competition the more and more I wanted it.

Louis: I auditioned in Manchester and I was one of the last people to try out. I first auditioned for The X Factor in 2009 but didn’t get through, so I was determined to come back and try again. All I wanted to do was get to Judges’ Houses. That was my target. I also wanted to know from the judges if I was any good or not. I wanted to have that experience so I could say I’d done it and not always wonder what it would have been like.

I thought about it all the time, so when I got the letter inviting me to auditions I was so happy. I wanted to work really hard and prove myself, and this time around I did a month’s worth of singing lessons before I went along to my audition.

Louis’ singing lessons pay off

My best mate Stan came with me and we drove down on the Friday night before the Saturday audition. We set off at midnight, got to Manchester MEN Arena at 2am and, incredibly, there were already people queuing.

I set my alarm, got a couple of hours’ sleep in my car, and then started queuing at 4am. Stan and I took our sleeping bags into the queue and we kept falling asleep, so people would nudge us and move us along every now and then. I’d already decided at that point that if I didn’t get through on the Saturday I was going to sneak back on the Sunday and try again. I don’t know if I would have got away with it, but I was willing to try.

I waited quite a while in the holding room, then my number was called. Just before you go on stage this guy counts you down and it’s like, ‘3, 2, 1 – on you go!’ As soon as I saw the audience and the judges, the adrenaline kicked in and my mouth went dry. I’d seen that scenario so many times on telly, and now there I was, in that place, with those judges. So much rested on that one moment.

I performed ‘Elvis Ain’t Dead’ by Scouting For Girls, but Simon stopped me and asked me to sing something else, so I did ‘Hey There Delilah’ by the Plain White T’s. Nicole made me feel a lot better by smiling at me all the way through, which was nice, as you never know what Simon’s thinking. As it turned out, Simon did say he liked me and that I had an interesting voice, Louis also thought I had an interesting voice, and Nicole said something about liking how I looked. That was a surprise because my hair was pretty awful! The sides were really long and I had a bit of a mullet going on at the back. Thank god we got some styling done.

I got three ‘yes’ votes, but all of the judges said I wasn’t confident enough, which may have been partly because I was so tired. If I ever audition for something again I won’t do it on two hours’ sleep.

Bootcamp and beyond …

Liam: In July we all went along to Wembley Arena for Bootcamp. Obviously we didn’t even know each other then, so to think we would go on to become a band is totally surreal.

Harry: There were 211 acts at Bootcamp in total, and when I arrived and saw so many people I didn’t rate my chances.

Louis: Because Dannii was on maternity leave and Cheryl was still recovering from malaria, Louis and Simon were the only judges there at the start. On the first day, Louis told everyone, ‘Bootcamp is tough. This is what it’s all about. Showbusiness is tough. To survive in this business you’ve got to be tough.’ It was all a bit scary. Suddenly everything seemed so real and we all had to fight to prove that we deserved to be there and to get through to Judges’ Houses. I’d been having so much fun with the excitement of it all, but now there was everything to sing for.