The ‘real reason’ One Direction will never reunite has reportedly been revealed, shattering hopes the band would soon get back on stage together.
Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik allegedly turned down an offer to reunite at the 2025 BRIT Awards and pay tribute to Liam Payne, following his death.
But it has now been reported that Harry’s team strongly opposed his return to the group in case it sparked a ‘major step back’ in his solo career.
A music insider told The Sun: ‘Thousands of hours of blood, sweat and tears have gone into making Harry a superstar and he has spent a decade getting to a place of respect and legitimacy in the music business.
‘He has won awards and hit new heights away from the band. Any return would be a major step back. Harry knows it already but his team have been very clear that it would be a bad idea at any point in the foreseeable future.
‘It would just look like he has lost faith in his solo career if he bowed out to do something which he knows will be an easy earner in the short term.’
The ‘real reason’ One Direction will never reunite has reportedly been revealed (Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan pictured L-R in 2012)
Harry, Niall, Louis and Zayn allegedly turned down an offer to reunite at the 2025 BRIT Awards and pay tribute to Liam, following his death (pictured together in 2014)
MailOnline has contacted representatives for One Direction and Harry Styles to comment.
The band performed to their adoring fans in Hong Kong with Zayn, who quit the band in the midst of their world tour in March 2015, and there’s not been a reunion of all five members since.
The closest they were came to a reunion was when Niall, Harry and Liam, attended Louis’ X Factor tribute to his late mother in 2022, but Zayn was absent.
Their final concert together took place on March 18 in 2015, during the Asia leg of One Direction’s fourth world tour.
In January 2016, they announced that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus, explaining that they wanted to focus on solo projects.
The group were reportedly approached by bosses about the prospect of performing live at the 2025 BRIT Awards on March 1.
Liam died aged 31 in October following a drug binge, when he fell to his death from a hotel balcony in Argentina.
His medical cause of death has been announced to be ‘polytrauma’, a term which means a person has multiple traumatic injuries to their body.
But it has now been reported that Harry’s team strongly opposed his return to the group in case it sparked a ‘major step back’ in his solo career (pictured in 2023 at the BRIT Awards)
Their final concert together took place on March 18 in 2015, during the Asia leg of One Direction’s fourth world tour
While they may have met up privately behind closed doors, Liam’s funeral marked the first time the band have been seen together in public since the concert
He was laid to rest in a moving ceremony on October 31 after his body was returned to the UK, with all four members of One Direction attending his funeral.
While Liam’s passing did bring the band back into contact for the first time since Zayn left the band in 2015, it’s thought that they have no plans for any projects as One Direction in the foreseeable future.
Another source shared that Jack Whitehall, who will host this year’s BRITs is expected to ‘say a few words’ on Liam’s death, and a tribute will be a ‘strong section of the show.’
It’s thought that Liam’s family are being ‘kept in the loop’ on he tribute plans, but aren’t directly involved.
Last month, fans were delighted to see Louis support Zayn by attending his concert in Los Angeles, proving that the pair’s feud had thawed.
Sending the crowd into a frenzy of screams at the gig on Wednesday, Zayn informed them: ‘Tonight’s something special. An old friend of mine is here for me tonight.’
The Pillowtalk hitmaker – who quit the chart-topping boy band in 2015, the year before they announced their indefinite hiatus – didn’t want to give away Louis’ location to avoid fans all rushing at once to try and meet him.
He added: ‘He’s hidden somewhere here. I don’t want to give his location away, but Louis is here tonight.’
