NOT since Take That in the Nineties have pop fans gone as insane for a boyband as they have for One Direction.


The baby-faced five, who finished third in last year's X Factor, are on course to score a massive No1 on Sunday with their debut single, What Makes You Beautiful. The track is the most pre-ordered single in download HISTORY and had already hit the top of the iTunes chart by Monday.

Now you can read the lads' stories, in their own words, exclusively in The Sun. Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Niall Horan reveal childhood memories and secrets every fan wants to know.

Today, in the first of our series, baby of the bunch Harry, 17, who hails from Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, talks about his naked pranks while Doncaster lad Louis, the oldest at 20, reveals his broodiness and his fashion nightmares.

Extracts from the official book, Dare to Dream: Life As One Direction, published by HarperCollins, priced £16.99.



Harry Styles

I ALWAYS used to love singing. The first song I knew all the words to was Girl Of My Best Friend by Elvis.

My dad introduced me to his music and when I got given a karaoke machine by my grandad, my cousin and I recorded a load of Elvis tracks.

When I was seven my mum and dad divorced and that was quite a weird time. I remember crying about it. I didn't really get what was going on properly, I was just sad that my parents wouldn't be together any more.


Ace headgear ... Harry Styles as a nipper
Taken from Dare To Dream: Life As One Direction
My mum, my older sister Gemma and I left Holmes Chapel and moved further out into the Cheshire countryside.

On the subject of girls, when I was about six I was friends with a girl called Phoebe Fox. Her mum and mine were best mates and I bought her a teddy bear the same as my one. She was the cutest little girl.

I had a few other girlfriends here and there when I was really young, but I didn't have an actual girlfriend until I was 12.

Then I went out with a girl called Emilie, and for quite a long time considering how young we were. She's still a good friend now.

I was also with a girl called Abi. I guess you could say she was my first serious girlfriend.

When I was about 12 we moved back to Holmes Chapel and that's when my mum met my stepdad, Robin. I was really pleased when Robin proposed to my mum.

I have great memories of being in the (X Factor) house, especially all of the times I went naked. Stripping off is very liberating, I feel so free.

It's always a spur-of-the-moment thing, but no one seemed to mind. I think Mary (Byrne) secretly liked it...

I'd become a lot more confident during my time in the show through being in front of so many people, and my confidence came out in my nakedness.

I also used to moon a bit at school because it made me laugh, so I was carrying it on.

Sometimes I was totally starkers and sometimes I wore a thong. My friend Nick bought me a gold snake-print thong for my birthday and I took it into the house with me because I thought it'd be funny. Then I started wearing it.

One time I had to do a naked video clip for ITV2 where I was standing there with no clothes on and the boys had to pass various objects across me, keeping certain parts covered.

That was the plan, but at one point Zayn didn't move the book he was holding quickly enough and the cameraman got a bit of an eyeful.

I think you could safely say I'm not shy.



Louis Tomlinson

I'VE got four sisters, Charlotte aka Lottie, Félicité, aka Fizzy, and Daisy and Phoebe, who are twins. It's great having so many siblings but I did always want a little brother.

I suppose in some ways it did teach me about women.

Having that many sisters has definitely helped me with children too, people always comment on how comfortable I am around kids. I absolutely love babies and kids and the boys are always taking the mickey out of me for how broody I am.


Butter wouldn't melt ... Louis Tomlinson
Taken from Dare To Dream: Life As One Direction
I definitely want kids one day, so I can have that little boy I always wanted.

I could end up with around 15 to 20 kids if I don't have a son straight away — something to be aware of, I guess, for anyone thinking of marrying me.

I went through a seriously dodgy clothes phase when I was about 13. I used to wear jeans and England shirts and looked a proper chav.

I didn't take a massive interest in clothes until I was about 17 — now I'm addicted to buying them.

Because Daisy and Phoebe are identical twins they used to do extra work as babies and they got a role on a show called Fat Friends.

My mum asked if I could be an extra so I went along. After that I started going to an acting school in Barnsley. I did an ITV1 drama called If I Had You, and had a small part in Waterloo Road.

One of many jobs I had was at the Vue cinema, and that was great because I got to see all the new films. I was on three months' probation, but there were a few times I called in sick and later they found out I'd been at parties, so the three months turned into seven.

In the end The X Factor ended that job for me.

I failed my first year of A levels at Hayfield (School, Auckley), mainly because I'd been too busy having fun. I ended up going back to Hall Cross (School, Doncaster) and starting A levels all over again.

I was out all the time in that first year. That summer was the best I'd ever had. I went to France with my best friend Stan, then to Jersey to see Stacey, a girl I met on holiday, and to Leeds Festival.

There were loads of house parties. I had a party when my parents went away and that was phenomenal.

I invited everyone on Facebook and Stan brought along a massive amp. We plugged iPods into it and had it on full blast, so it was only a matter of time before the police came round and asked us to turn it down.

I wanted my mum to find out about the party while she was still on holiday, to give her time to get over it, so I put the photos up on Facebook.

Thankfully there was no damage and we cleared everything up, so it wasn't too bad.