Louis Tomlinson Says One Direction Split Left Him ‘Mortified’ — But He’d ‘Be Up’ for a Reunion

“I was a bit bitter,” the singer said in a new interview as he reflected on the band’s 2015 split

Louis Tomlinson. Photo: Noam Galai/Getty

Louis Tomlinson is getting candid about One Direction’s split.

In a new interview with The Times on Thursday, the singer, 31, confessed that the band’s breakup in 2015 left him “mortified.”

“When One Direction split up, I was mortified, I was absolutely gutted,” he said. “I was a bit bitter, I suppose because it just felt like another loss to me. But I’ve a better understanding of things now, and there’s not as much anger. It is what it is.”

The band — made up of Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Liam Payne, — announced they were going on hiatus in August 2015. The following year, Tomlinson’s mother Johannah Deakin died from leukemia at the age of 42. His 18-year-old sister Félicité then died two years later, after accidentally overdosing on cocaine, painkillers and an anxiety drug.

Despite his feelings over the band’s split, the British star says he’d still “be up” for a reunion with the boys, who were formed into a group during the 2010 series of The X Factor U.K.

One Direction. David M. Benett/Getty

“Getting back together at some point is hard to imagine right now,” he continued to The Times. “But I’d be surprised if we lived out our lives and didn’t have a moment where we had a reunion, or whatever you want to call it. I’d be up for that.”

He added, “I do miss the boys and I do definitely miss being one of the five, but I like doing my own thing too. It was time.”

Since leaving One Direction, Tomlinson has released two solo albums, 2020’s Walls and 2022’s Faith in the Future, the latter of which went to No. 1 in the U.K. and No. 5 in the U.S.

Harry Styles performs at the 2023 Grammys. Kevin Winter/Getty

But that hasn’t stopped him from being envious of Styles’ success. The 29-year-old recently won two Grammys, four BRIT Awards and is currently on a sell-out global tour.

“Well, it’s not a surprise is it?” Tomlinson said of Styles’ stardom. “We were always aware that Harry fit that mold, and it’s been an amazing thing to watch. Envy? At the start maybe, when I was trying to find my feet, but it’s never healthy to cross-reference your own success with others is it?

“These days I’m learning to elevate myself in those moments when I have to. I didn’t know how to do that before, but now? Now I know I f—ing can.”

Styles thanked his One Direction bandmates during his acceptance speech for British artist of the year at the BRITs earlier this month.

“I want to thank my mum for signing me up for X Factor without telling me, so I literally wouldn’t be here without you. I want to thank Niall, Louis, Liam and Zayn because I wouldn’t be here without you either. Thank you so much,” Styles said in his speech.