Though the five One Direction lads looked happy on the outside, they struggled to cope with their drastic rise to fame, which practically happened overnight.

Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and the late Liam Payne came together under the direction of Simon Cowell on The X Factor in 2010.

None of the then-teenagers knew one another, but quickly formed an unbreakable bond as they navigated fame and fortune together.

Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Liam Payne of One Direction perform during the Closing Ceremony on Day 16 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium. Pic: Getty Images

Liam previously spoke about how ‘the best way to secure’ the One Direction members was to ‘lock’ them in individual rooms, and now Niall has said he ‘didn’t leave a hotel once’ for the duration of his boyband days.

Speaking to football aces Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes and comedian Paddy McGuinness on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, Niall said: ‘I tried my best to try and keep things private outside of work because my whole life was very private and there were periods where I literally didn’t leave, I’d say for five years, didn’t leave a hotel once.

Niall Horan of One Direction performs in support of the On The Road Again Tour at Ford Field. Pic: Getty Images

‘I just couldn’t get used to not being able to go outside and stuff. I struggled with that side of it,’ Niall continued.

The One Direction star recalled how he and his bandmates once planned to visit a shopping centre in Pery, but a swarm of 10,000 fans saw them remain in their accommodation instead.

Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik of British singing group One Direction perform on FOX’s “The X Factor” Season 2. Pic: Getty Images

Niall never let fame get to his head, and said his Irishness stopped him from getting ‘too big for my boots’.

He explained: ‘Until we left the band, we never really knew how big it was, even though we were standing there on stage, looking out, we were just in this little bubble, and it was only afterwards looking back in.

‘Usually a musician has a slow build in their career, it takes a while to get going, but our first appearance was on national television to 10 million people, and from there it was just arenas or stadiums.’

Liam Payne and Niall Horan. Pic: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

Speaking about his close friends and bandmates, Niall continued: ‘None of us were maniacs, but we definitely looked out for each other.

‘That’s just the way it is. We had a good crew around us, we felt like we were in our bubble.’

The Mullingar man has been a solo artist since One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016, and he admits he ‘misses’ having the lads in the recording studio and on stage with him.

Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles of One Direction perform onstage at Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2016. Pic: Getty Images

He said there’s a lot of ‘pressure’ on one person, whereas this was divided between five of them in the One Direction days.

In 2021, Liam opened up about his battle with addiction stemming from his days in the band, when the five members were locked in separate hotel rooms with mini bars available to them.

Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson. Pic: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

He previously said: ‘When we were in the band, the best way to secure us — because of how big it got — was just lock us in our rooms. And of course, what’s in the room? Mini bar.

‘So at a certain point, I thought, “Well, I’m gonna have a party for one.” And that just seemed to carry on throughout many years of my life.’