One Direction's Niall Horan reflects on boy band days, says he ‘felt like prisoner’

Only if you had religiously followed Niall Horan and his bandmates, would you have understood what it felt like to be a fan of One Direction, one of UK’s most popular boy bands. In a recent episode of People, Just People with host Dermot O’Leary, Niall reflected on the times when he used to be a part of the erstwhile band and his experiences during international tours. It felt “like a prisoner”, the 27-year-old said. Recalling those previous instances wherein fans would be banging on his car windows, Niall said, “I struggled with the idea of, ‘Why won’t you just let us out?’”. Providing further insight into one of his international tours, he noted that the fans started hovering around them and did not let them visit the cities freely. On many occasions, “they” would surround their hotels which made it difficult for the boys to move out and walk down the streets freely. Citing an example of another incident, Niall said that once he and Louis were playing football in a hotel room and Liam pitched the idea of going out for a walk. When they peeked outside the window, they saw some 10,000 fans surrounding their hotel. Though there was a police presence for extra security, the huge number of fans stopped them from moving anywhere. Apart from Niall, the band also included Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson. They had boys come to participate in 2011 The X Factor as singles but they shot to fame after their band performed together on the show. The group was disbanded in 2015 after Zayn’s departure. Niall, Harry, Zayn, Louis and Liam are currently releasing solo projects.