Former One Direction singer Liam Payne has admitted there was a bit of a power struggle between himself and Louis Tomlinson in the early days of the group.
In fact, in a new interview with Hits Radio Breakfast, Liam admitted he “absolutely hated” his former bandmate when the boyband first got together, not that fans were any the wiser, because they “hid it” so well.
“When we were in the band it kind of felt like, because he was the oldest and because I’d been singing for quite a bit of time we both got put in a weird position,” Liam explained.
“[Louis] was wanting to be the leader, and I was doing my thing and wanted to. So, at first we didn’t get on at all. We absolutely hated each other, it was so funny. Really bad. We hid it well.”
He also said his experience in One Direction could border on “toxic” at times, due to the “level of fame that we had in the band”.
This isn’t the first time Liam has lifted the lid on life in One Direction being far from perfect, though.
In 2017, Liam revealed how being in a successful pop group had taken a toll on his mental health, saying: “I shouldn’t have been able to do as many shows as we did, if I’m honest about it, if I’m brutally honest about it.
“Going out and putting that happy smile on my face and singing the songs, honestly, sometimes it was like putting on one of those costumes, going out there and, underneath the costume, people don’t really see what’s going on.”
Listen to Hits Radio Breakfast with Fleur East, Greg and James every weekday from 6am.