One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus eight years ago, but there’s one topic fans have yet to let go – and now, Louis Tomlinson has addressed it.
Yes, we’re talking about the theory that his close friendship with Harry Styles‘ was more romantic in nature than either bandmate let on.
Tomlinson, 32, has previously shut down the speculation surrounding his relationship with Styles, 30, and he’s now opened up about his frustration that the rumours continue to plague them both.
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“What’s tough is, I realised this some years ago – there is nothing I can say. There is nothing I can do to dispel the believers of that conspiracy,” Tomlinson told Brazilian news outlet g1 this week.
“They are so intertwined with what they believe to be the truth now that they won’t actually see the truth for what it is.”
Tomlinson and Styles notably met on The X Factor UK in 2010, with the competition series thrusting the duo – as well as Zayn Malik, 31, Liam Payne, 30, and Niall Horan, 30 – into a fivesome.
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The boyband went on to place third in the series, and became one of the best-selling boy groups of all time before their split in 2016.
Throughout it all, and to this day, rumours of a secret romance between Tomlinson and Styles have plagued he pair – the theory even aired as part of an episode of Euphoria in 2019.
“It does irritate me a little bit, you know? But it is just kind of [the] nature of the job, I suppose,” Tomlinson continued in his interview with g1.
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“There are times where it gets a little bit… at times it gets far too personal within that whole space. I’ve got my son Freddie [who is] the most important person in my life,” he continued, mentioning the eight-year-old he shares with Briana Jungwirth.
“Occasionally it kind of broaches some stuff that is really unfair.
“So it kind of just is this thing that exists now. There’s nothing I can do about it, there’s nothing I can say about it to stop people making up what they want to make up. So be it!”
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