Simon Cowell once flew Louis Tomlinson to Los Angeles to scold him for being drunk on stage.
The music mogul was not impressed when Louis got drunk before taking to the stage with One Direction early in his career and Simon arranged for Louis to travel to LA so that he could have words with him.
Speaking to Matt Edmondson on BBC Radio 1, ‘Back To You’ singer Louis explained: "One of the first few shows we did for One Direction. I was new to it, straight out of Doncaster obviously, I had just started drinking – that kind of thing. So, I had a drink before one of our first gigs, and obviously I was nervous as well, so I thought – well I’ll just have a couple of beers. I ended up being really, really drunk on this show. This again, one of the first things we did.
"And I woke up to a text, to find out that I was going to LA the next morning – flown out. I was sat on the plane, thinking ‘what is coming next’. And I landed at Simon’s, and he gave me a little dressing down. It was positive, but he gave me a little dressing down. It was positive, but it certainly felt like the scary Simon you see on TV."
When Matt asked, "He flew you out to Los Angeles so he could give you a ticking off?", Louis replied: "Yeah, in true Simon style, you know, business class, the Four Seasons, but that’s his kind of thing."
Matt joked: "What a punishment, I wish I got on the wrong side of him more. So, it was just a free holiday, which is lovely."
He went on to ask: "And, I assume he didn’t raise his voice, that he just said – was he like very calm, was he passive aggressive? And kind of like, listen I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed."
Louis replied: "It was that disappointed vibe yeah, very calm yeah, but yeah."
However, Louis – who has signed to Simon’s Syco record label for his solo career – admitted that the incident made him and Simon closer and he believes it is one of the reasons they have such a good relationship now.
He explained: "He gave me like the dressing down at first sight, maybe five or 10 minutes, and then we actually had a proper chat. And honestly, if I hadn’t have had that chat with Simon then, I don’t think we’d be as close as we are now, you know what I mean. I do really feel like he’s got my back, you know, I’ve done quite a lot with him even outside of One Direction. And actually, I think it was vital for me as an individual and also our relationship."
Simon Cowel flew Louis Tomlinson to LA for scolding
