Niall Horan is one of the most successful singers in the world, but the One Direction star says that his fame and fortune have come with a very steep price.
In the One Direction autobiography Who We Are , Niall talks about how the decision to compete on The X Factor had a negative impact on his life. According to Entertainmentwise , Horan expresses some regret about missing out on a normal childhood — he’s even sorry that he didn’t get to take his final exams.
“My childhood was cut short by ‘The X Factor,’ because One Direction took off and I never really got the chance to finish school or do my exams or anything like that. After the first audition, I packed up everything in my life in a bag. What I didn’t realize at the time was that, when I was stuffing clothes into the little suitcase, that was pretty much me leaving home for good.”
It definitely would have been hard for a teenaged Niall Horan to predict that he was about to become a member of one of the biggest boy bands in the world. Now he spends a large chunk of his time touring the world, making it tough to find a sense of normalcy.
In the autobiography, Niall goes on to talk about how it would be impossible for anyone to adequately prepare for the life that he’s currently living.
“Sometimes I wonder how my childhood prepared me for this madness. On one hand, there is no preparing for this, certainly not on the scale that the band has grown to but I can see how certain things in my early years have helped me.”
According to the Irish Independent , Niall Horan’s surreal life now includes over 20 million Twitter followers, making his account the 24th most-followed Twitter account on the social networking site. Niall might lament the loss of his childhood, but he’s still thankful for his fans. He tweeted his appreciation for their support shortly after he reached the 20 million mark.
Oi oi! 20 million followers! Amazing! Thanks everyone! Welcome to my world all the new followers
— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) October 5, 2014
Fans probably shouldn’t take Horan’s talk about the downsides of fame as an indication that he’s sick of One Direction . As The Inquisitr previously reported, Niall addressed rumors about the band splitting up a few weeks ago, and he was adamant that the group is still going strong.
“I’m still here, still with the band. I don’t need to think about it at all — I’m having a great time here, touring and having the craic with the lads — we are all still having a great time.”
It doesn’t sound like Niall Horan regrets trading his childhood for success too much. What do you think of his comments about fame?
[Image credit: Niall Horan/ Instagram ]
