It’s nearly 15 years since One Direction formed on The X Factor, later announcing an indefinite hiatus in 2016.

The show turned Harry Styles, the late Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and former member Zayn Malik into overnight stars. Prior to the shocking and sad news of Liam’s death in October 2024, fans thought they had spotted clues over the years that a reunion was potentially on the cards.

Since Liam’s sad passing, fans have still been hoping for a reunion, with One Directioners being delighted to see Louis Tomlinson supporting former bandmate Zayn from the crowd, while he was on tour. In May 2025, fans were left excited once again at the prospect of a reunion as Zayn followed Louis on Instagram.

Here we take a look through all of the clues that fans spotted over the years, pointing towards a potential One Direction reunion.

Much of this article was written before the tragic news of Liam Payne’s death. Our thoughts are with Liam’s friends, family and fans.

Zayn follows Louis on Instagram

After Louis was seen supporting Zayn from the crowd, back in January 2025, in May, he started to follow his former bandmate on Instagram. The singer, who only follows 15 accounts, none of which are his former bandmates – apart from Louis – has not commented on the recent move.

Many fans are believing this could led to a reunion of sorts. One fan account wrote: ‘📲 Zayn followed Louis on Instagram. I repeat: ZAYN. FOLLOWED. LOUIS. INSTAGRAM!! 😱😭

‘ZOUIS IS BACK. ZOUIS FOREVER!! 😭♥️♥️’.

What has Simon Cowell said about One Direction reuniting?

Having formed on his show The X Factor AND been mentored by him in the Groups category on the show, 1D were signed to Simon Cowell’s record label Syco Records after the series ended – so it’s safe to say he knew the group pretty well.

But appearing on Stephen Bartlett’s The Diary of a CEO podcast, Simon poured cold water on reunion rumours, telling Stephen he “doubts” there would be a reunion – but added it was something they’d safeguarded for during the group’s time together.

He said: “When I was talking to One Direction, I remember saying to them, ‘Our goal is for you to have enough hits that if you ever reform, that you can do stadium tours. That means you’ve got to have about 10 hit singles.”

Has Harry ever teased a One Direction reunion?

In March 2023, Harry shared an Instagram Story of himself wearing a One Direction T-shirt in a gym. The singer quickly deleted the photo, but that didn’t stop fans sharing it widely on social media and speculating that a reunion could be about to happen.

He later told fans at his gig in Auckland: “I guess some of us have secrets! Maybe, maybe like some people, you chose to keep it to yourself and maybe one day, you’ll like accidentally post it to your Instagram followers.”

What did Liam Payne said about a reunion?

Prior to his shocking death, it was reported in April 2023 that Liam was ‘desperate’ for the One Direction boys to reunite. Speaking to OK!, a source revealed that following Liam’s reunion with Louis at the premiere for his documentary All Of Those Voices, he would love to relaunch his career with a One Direction reunion tour!

They said: “Liam is desperate to get back on the road with the boys.”

What has Niall Horan said?

Niall spoke to Hits Radio in February 2023, and when asked about a reunion he said that his answer hadn’t changed in about five years. He said: “I don’t have any other answer. I’ve been giving the same answer for about five years.” So sadly we might have to wait a bit longer.

Fans were also convinced that Niall and Harry might have had something up their sleeve prior to the release of Niall’s third solo album ‘The Show’, with many thinking that Harry was going to feature on one (or more) of the tracks. Sadly, this didn’t prove to be true, but the evidence did look pretty convincing! Check out all the clues that fans spotted about a Niall and Harry collab!

Has Louis teased a reunion?

Back in 2023, Louis said a reunion was: “Hard to imagine right now”. While promoting his film All Of Those Voices, he said he hoped they would reunite at some point, but he didn’t think it would be any time soon.

In January 2025, Louis was spotted supporting Zayn while he was on tour, and they caused many fans to think the pair might reunite, however this has yet to happen.

Then, in May 2025 Louis was followed by Zayn on Instagram, causing much excitement, however the pair have still not commented on if anything is happening.

What about Zayn Malik?

Although Zayn hasn’t commented on a One Direction reunion, in 2022 he shared a couple of versions of some old One Direction songs. In August 2022 Zayn shared an uncaptioned, 30-second video of ‘Night Changes’, which got fans very excited.

This followed a video that he shared in June 2022 of himself singing ‘You and I’.

Then, in January 2025, Zayn was seen at one of his gigs talking about the possibility of performing a One Direction song as part of his set. Talking about a 1D songs, he told fans: “Did you like that one? Maybe I’ll mix it up at some point, maybe a 1D song in there or something.”

He then had to clarify: “Don’t get excited, not tonight! Sorry, I didn’t mean to tease you like (that) it’s not tonight.”

Did One Direction reunite on The Late Late Show?

Rumours that the band were going to reunite on James Corden’s final episode of The Late Late Show circulated in April 2023, causing excitement among fans. However, the talk show responded to the rumours on Twitter ahead of the show airing and confirmed that the boys wouldn’t be reuniting for the finale.

Referencing a news story about a potential One Direction reunion, a tweet from The Late Late Show’s official Twitter account read: ‘Nobody loves the boys more than us…but this story just isn’t true. What’s true is we’ve got an absolutely brilliant 2 hour finale planned to celebrate 8 years of #LateLateShow at 10pm on April 27th.’

Remembering Liam Payne

On 16th October 2024, the news was announced that Liam Payne had tragically passed away at the age of 31, after falling from a hotel balcony while on holiday in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Tributes poured in for the former One Direction singer, including from the likes of Dermot O’Leary, Olly Murs, Rylan Clark, Marvin Humes, JLS, McFly, Charlie Puth, Brian Friedman and Zedd.