ONE Direction members Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan have cut ties with former X Factor boss Simon Cowell.
The music mogul recently appeared on Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast and expressed his biggest regret about the iconic band.
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One Direction consisted of Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Liam Payne.
They were put together on the X Factor in 2010 and went on to become one of the biggest boybands of all time.
But four years after they found fame, Zayn announced his departure from the group.
The following year, Harry, Louis, Liam and Niall revealed that they would be taking a break after their final tour.
While most of the boys initially seemed to have kept on good terms with Simon, Louis and Niall have recently unfollowed him on Instagram.
This came after he expressed regret over not retaining the One Direction name.
Despite the band not working together since 2016, they continue to generate massive profits, with £2.9 million in their joint company account.
Simon recently confirmed that the members of One Direction still own the name which means he is unable to profit from the.
“That’s the problem, could have made an animation or whatever but when you give an artist the name, it’s not yours and that’s my only regret,” he said on the Diary of A CEO podcast.
Simon continued: “So if you’re listening, I’ll buy it back from you. But that’s the only thing I do regret.
“If one of the band members, for whatever reason say they don’t want to tour, it can stop the others touring, so if it was me who owned the name, it wouldn’t be a problem.”
Steven then asked: “You could do it with three of them. So that’s what’s stopping a tour. Do they all own 20 per cent?”
Simon replied: “I believe so yes. I can be very naive at times, and that was me being very, very naive.”
Simon had previously hinted at a feud between himself and some members of One Direction, stating that Harry, Niall and Louis had been “incredibly loyal” to him.
In 2016, Liam signed a record deal with Republic Records away from Syco.
He later revealed his time in the band and how the lads were overworked.
He said: “We [One Direction] were definitely overworked. I had no personal life, I learnt nothing about myself.
“I just lived so long as this reclusive pop star who was afraid of people, who just stayed inside all the time.
“I needed to stop, definitely. It would have killed me.”
What are One Direction’s biggest songs and albums?
The band has sold millions of singles and albums across the world.
Their debut single, What Makes You Beautiful, reached number one on the UK Singles Chart.
Their biggest singles include:
What Makes You Beautiful (2011)
Little Things (2012)
One Way or Another (2013)
Best Song Ever (2013)
Story of My Life (2013)
Drag Me Down (2015)
Perfect (2015)
History (2015)
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