Harry Styles has joked that he could wake up in his forties with deferred mental health problems from his dizzying ascent to fame with One Direction.
The 25-year-old singer shot to fame in the boyband alongside Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik after they were handpicked by Simon Cowell on ‘The X Factor’ in 2010 and Harry admitted One Direction’s success came so quickly that he never had time to process it.
Speaking to The Guardian’s Weekend magazine, he said: "The craziest part about the whole ‘X Factor’ thing, is that it’s so instant. The day before, you’ve never been on telly. Then suddenly… You don’t think at the time, ‘Oh, maybe I should keep some of my personal stuff back for myself.’ Partly because, if you’re a 16-year-old who does that, you look like a jumped-up little sh*t. Can you imagine? ‘Sorry, actually, I’d rather not comment…’ You don’t know what to be protective of."
"We didn’t get to dip in a toe. But, listen, I was a kid, all I knew was: I didn’t have to go to school any more. I thought it was f**king great. Maybe it’s something I’ll have to deal with a bit later. When I wake up in my 40s and think: Arrrggh.
"We were fuelling a machine. Keeping the fire going. Coming out of it, when the band stopped, I knew that the thing I’d been missing, because it was all so fast paced, was human connection."
Although he joked about potentially needing therapy in the future, Harry – who has just released his second solo album ‘Fine Line’ – admitted he does sometimes see a therapist now and has found it hugely beneficial.
He said: "I go. Not every week. But whenever I feel I need it. For a really long time I didn’t try therapy, because I wanted to be the guy who could say: ‘I don’t need it.’ Now I see I was only getting in my own way. It helps."
Harry Styles jokes about needing therapy to cope with One Direction fame
