15 Crazy Things You Never Knew About 1D

One Direction may be on hiatus at the moment, but that doesn't mean that we have forgotten about our favorite British boys! Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik (yes, we know he's no longer in the band, but we refuse to erase him from One Direction in our minds) got up to some pretty exciting things during their five years on the world stage. Their story is bursting with secrets that you'd expect of the biggest pop stars in the world, as well as a few things that we're guessing you didn't even know! They may be some of the most sought-after stars on the planet, but that doesn't mean these boys are free of irrational fears and shady pasts. Here are 15 savage facts about One Direction that prove this band has zero f**ks to give, and make us love them even more!

15 Rumors Nearly Tore Them Apart

Rumors are part of the superstar life. If people are interested in you, they're going to speculate, talk, and spread. That's just how it goes! One Direction always had it particularly tough, because their fan base is made up primarily of teenage girls, who have been known to get a little rowdy and OTT. But some of the rumors spread about One Direction have reportedly been really hard for the members to hear, and have been said to have almost come between them. Perhaps the most famous rumor regarding the band is that Harry and Louis are secretly in a relationship with each other, and are “shipped” under the name “Larry” by thousands of fans. The other boys in the band have stated that these rumors make Harry and Louis feel awkward around each other, which would naturally have an impact on their performance. Despite that, the boys trekked through all that gossip like champions!

14 Niall Is A Brunette

We're going to go right ahead and say that this is ground-shattering information. Niall Horan, One Direction's resident Irish-born, guitar-playing member, is actually not a blonde at all, but a brunette like the others. We know that hair color isn't a big deal when you step away from your first-world problems and get your priorities in order, but for mega-fans whose world solely consists of this band, it's freaking huge. Niall is the blonde one! All Directioners know that. That lemony hair is his thing, and it helps him to stand out from the other three brunettes and Zayn (back in the day!). We're guessing that the fact that Niall led on legions of fans by pretending to be the blondie has broken a lot of hearts, and that makes him kind of a savage dude. Now that he's working on his own stuff, Niall has left the hair color closet, and he does still look like a cutie.

13 They All Got Rejected As Solo Acts

This isn't really a secret per se since it was broadcast on international television. But unless you're a big fan of One Direction, you probably didn't hear about them until they became huge superstars and were clear of their early X Factor days! It actually shocks a lot of people to learn that One Direction became a band in the first place because they were all rejected off the reality show as solo performers. They were about to be booted off the show for good when the judges called them back and decided to put them in a group together. So this is like the ultimate example of God closing a door and opening a window instead! We can see from this too that the boys have had to overcome challenges and contrary to popular belief, do know what it's like to have doors closed in their face. Thank goodness they were rejected!

12 Liam Was Rejected Before

So you now know that Liam was rejected once as a solo act when he auditioned in 2010. But that wasn't his first time hearing the word “no”. In 2008, Liam auditioned on the show for the first time and actually made it through to the judges' houses. He sang “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra, and although he impressed the judges enough to make it to boot camp, Simon Cowell loved Liam but ultimately thought that he wasn't quite ready for superstardom. He was only 14, after all! Liam was advised to take two years to get his GSCE (a basic high school diploma) and come back when had matured a little. It's a good thing that Liam took his advice! The moral is that giving up on your dreams, even after you've been hanging in there for years, won't get you into one of the most successful bands in the world!

11 Louis Was Savage At School

It's well-known amongst hardcore fans that Louis Tomlinson, the oldest member of the band, is also the sassiest. He's been compared to Peter Pan thanks to his small stature and cheekiness, so it's not really a huge surprise to us that he was kind of savage back at school. It's been reported that before he graduated, Louis actually mooned the head teacher. It's one thing if you know you're going to be a pop star and then you decide to ruin your academic reputation because you think you won't need it, but this was before the 1D days! That definitely takes a lot of savagery! It's also been said that Louis was also suspended from school, and actually had to retake his final year. Former 1D bodyguards have reported that Louis is undoubtedly the most mischievous of the band members, so it looks like the fame hasn't changed him too much!

10 Niall Has Strong Beliefs

Being born and raised in a country like Ireland, which has a rich Catholic heritage, it's to be expected that Niall has a few strong beliefs. It's never been officially confirmed, but many websites have reported that Niall doesn't believe in cohabitation prior to marriage. In simple terms, he doesn't believe in sleeping with anybody unless you're married to them. Now, not knowing Niall personally, we have no way to tell whether this is true, but if it is, we do admire him for believing in something and sticking to it. You have to admit that such a belief would be hard for anybody to follow, let alone when you have the most desirable people in the world throwing themselves at you everywhere you turn. Niall's dad Bobby has stated that he doesn't actually think Niall still has his V-card, although he did mention that he never brought girls home as a young boy!

9 Zayn Didn't Get Out Much Before The Band

Quite literally, Zayn didn't venture out of the country before he was a member of One Direction. He couldn't because he didn't have a passport! In fact, he had never even been on a plane in his life. Overnight, he went from never having traveled to five years of flying all over the world! This not only shows how drastically being in the band changed his life (and that of his bandmates!), but it also reminds us that these guys were just normal humans before. That does sound like a pretty obvious fact, but you'd be surprised how many people don't quite grasp it! When you consider fans who have said that they'd cut off limbs to talk to one of the members, or even threatened to hurt themselves and others for a mere Twitter follow, it's pretty clear that people forget One Direction is made up of regular boys who got a lucky break.

8 “Perfect” Is Probably About Taylor Swift

This is an unconfirmed theory, but most people think it's true. The song “Perfect” which came off the boys' fifth album Made in the A.M, is widely believed to be about the brief fling between Harry and megastar Taylor Swift. The two were seen together in 2012, and a few of Taylor's songs are similarly said to have been written about Harry. The most obvious example is her song “Style”, but others from 1989 including “Out of the Woods” have been rumored to have been fueled by Taylor's anger at Mr. Styles. The main lyrics that have drawn attention in “Perfect” appear in the bridge, where Harry sings, “And if you're looking for someone to write your breakup songs about… ” The boys have said that the song is open to interpretation, but it sure does seem like even if this song isn't about Tay Tay, it was written to get people talking!

7 The Boys Have Fears

Again, anything that reminds the world that the members of One Direction are actually human seems to be a major shock to the system! Rather than going along with the narrative that they're perfect princes from dreamland, the boys have actually been open about the stuff that scares them-they couldn't care less if people know what makes them vulnerable, and we love that! The strangest 1D fear is Liam's issue with spoons. He can hold them, but won't eat with them because he doesn't know where they've been. He's even said to eat ice-cream with a fork! Niall is known to have claustrophobia, meaning he doesn't like being in small spaces or feeling trapped and enclosed in. When he was younger, he was also scared of clowns, which we think is perfectly reasonable! Zayn hates the water and has a fear of heights, while Harry is totally afraid of snakes.

6 They're Ridiculously Successful

You already know that the boys are successful, but the actual statistics leave a lot of people pretty dumbfounded! To date, the boys have sold more than 70 million records. On all the charts they've appeared on, they've had more than 100 number one hits. They've even broken a record set by the Beatles, as “Perfect” became their fifth Top 10 Debut on the Billboard Hot 100. Plus, their first single sold faster than the Beatles' first single in the United States. They have won more than 160 awards in total-for everything from music videos to artist of the year-which makes them the most awarded boy band of all time. As you can imagine, their tours are crazily successful, and their Where We Are tour in 2014 was one of the highest grossing in the millennium. When you consider all of that, it's easy to see why the boys needed a break!

5 And Ridiculously Rich

With great success comes great, massive, endless wads of cash! The boys are obviously raking it in, and according to Forbes, are some of the highest paid celebrities under the age of 30. As individuals, they are estimated to be worth more than £50 million each. If you want to do the math, that means that as a whole (including Zayn!), One Direction is worth more than a quarter of a billion. Take that, haters! Before the band went on hiatus, it was said that to hire them for one night, it would cost more than £30,000! The boys are said to splash their cash on expensive cars and other luxuries, but that doesn't mean they're no longer humans with feelings. They've all repeatedly said that they'd love to have opportunities money can't buy, like the ability to leave the house without being hounded and unlimited quality time with their families. Bless!

4 They Had Their First Kisses Young AF

Some people are just born heartthrobs! The boys have been open about their first kisses, and they were all kind of at young ages. Maybe we are just old fashioned, but One Direction was romancing the ladies when they were essentially still children! Zayn was the youngest when he had his first kiss at the age of 10 with a girl named Sophie. 10 might not seem too young for some people, but that is well and truly before the teenage years! Harry was a little older at 11, and had a few girlfriends before he joined the band, although none of them were really serious! Louis was also 11 and stated that his first kiss took place in a backyard because the door was locked and they couldn't get back inside, and Niall's was at the age of 11 or 12! All he recalls is that he was very scared, which makes our hearts melt.

3 Some Directioners Are Intense AF

The boys of One Direction can be a bit savage in their refreshing DGAF attitudes, but you should see what some of the fans get up to! Directioners do tend to get a bad rap for being a very intense fandom, however, we're sure that not all the fans are wildly inappropriate and OTT! One fan actually got braces put on her perfectly straight teeth just so she could be a little more like Niall. Another fan had every single one of Harry's tattoos inked onto her skin, which is a lot of money and a lot of pain for a celebrity crush! They've also been known to actually be kind of nuts when dealing with the boys-poor Liam had his hotel room nearly broken into and his boxers stolen by a crazed fan. Zayn also recalled seeing fans hide in a trash can to try and get past security. Yikes!

2 They Have Dating Standards

It's fair to say that the 1D boys can afford to be a little picky, although that probably isn't what most fans want to hear! They have been linked to some of the most famous and beautiful women on the planet, ranging from Gigi Hadid to Taylor Swift to Kendall Jenner to Cheryl Cole, but the boys have spoken out about what they look for in a girl, and what turns them off. Harry is said to be one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, but he does have a few non-negotiables when it comes to relationships! He doesn't like girls who swear a lot, who smoke, who are late, and who spit. All that seems fair enough! Niall, on the other hand, is a little less fussy, but always looks for a girl with sparkly eyes. And Zayn has said that the first thing he looks for is intelligence in a partner.

1 1D Almost Didn't Happen

The most savage fact on our list is so brutal that just the thought of it breaks our hearts! One Direction came very close, on more than one occasion, to totally being ruined. It started with the audition process-Harry almost didn't make it because he was rushed to hospital before going to the X Factor, and made it out just in time. Zayn only made it in the end because his mom pushed him to go. He'd already pulled out of one audition before! Niall almost didn't get accepted, but thankfully, Katy Perry put him through because she felt generous. So they almost weren't even created! Then once they were a group, they almost couldn't perform at Simon Cowell's house (which would have ruined everything) because Louis was stung by a sea urchin and sent to the hospital. Despite all that, the stars aligned, and we were blessed with five years of 1D!