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