Louis Tomlinson has vowed never to appear on BBC Breakfast again after being interviewed on Monday morning’s show.
The former One Direction singer is currently on the promo trail for his debut solo album, and took issue with presenters Louise Minchin and Dan Walker’s line of questioning following his appearance.
But while many fans suspected he was unhappy that the hosts focussed so much on his time in the chart-topping boyband, he later clarified he was more annoyed that they had put a lot of emphasis on his own personal troubles, namely the loss of his mother and sister.
After sitting down with the hosts, he tweeted: “Defo wont be going on there again Haha! Love to all my fans for always having my back.”
Presenter Dan Walker quickly wrote back: “Sorry you feel like that. It was nice to speak to you on #BBCBreakfast this morning. Can I ask what you are upset about?”
Louis then responded: “I was upset that you continued to ask me about my grief. It goes without saying how hard it is to lose both people so close to me.
“The least I ask is that you respect my decision of not wanting to be asked in interviews about something so painful.”
He added: “I’m lucky enough to have a creative outlet for me to talk about grief this doesn’t however give you the right to talk about it for gossip purposes.”
At the beginning of the interview, Louise suggested that Louis was “not feeling great”, but promised to “treat him nicely”.
After Louise asked what it was like being “at the centre” of a band like One Direction, Dan then brought up some of the “negatives” that come with “worldwide fame”, asking Louis how he looks back on his experience of being in the group.
“It’s all positive,” Louis insisted. “It is, it is. We had the luxury of going through that experience together, we all got on with each other, and we had a great time… and it was an incredible experience. So massive positive memories, only positive.”
Louise and Dan then moved onto some of the “deeply personal” tracks on Louis’ new album, with the latter questioning whether he ever felt he’d put “too much of himself” into his music, specifically referencing the deaths of his mum and sister.
The singer responded: “I think because of where I started my career, on X Factor, there’s always been a camera on me, and I’ve always given a lot of myself… so I kind of use that to my advantage, I’m brave enough to talk about these things and… yeah, it’s worked out.”
After a few questions about the song Two Of Us, which centres around the death of his mum, the conversation moved on, before Louise asked about the other members of One Direction (“they’re all on their second albums, aren’t they?”), specifically Zayn Malik, asking how their much-publicised “spat” was “going”.
“God you’re proper going in here today,” Louis replied. “People pick up on every little thing I say, I’m just not ready to have that conversation yet, that’s fair enough.”
Minutes later, the subject of a One Direction reunion was brought up, to which Louis said: “You’ve ticked them all off now. You’ve gone trauma, Zayn and now this one. I like it… I’ve only just released my first album, that’s what I’m here for, you know what I mean?”
In 2016, Louis lost his mother Johannah to cancer at the age of 43.
Three years later, Louis’ sister Felicité died after an accidental drug overdose, aged 18.
Félicité was one of seven children and is survived by Louis, older sister Lottie, twin sisters Daisy and Phoebe and twins Ernest and Doris. She was also an aunt to Louis’ son Freddie.