One Direction: Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction Read Online Free PDF

going in for The X Factor we had a bit of banter because they thought it was quite funny, but they were also supportive.
     
    The only thing I really wanted to do was see Simon Cowell, and I waited nine hours in a line to get that chance, but it was definitely worth it. I felt quite grown-up at the time and like I was capable of handling everything that came with being on the show. But looking back now at all we’ve been through, there is no way I could have handled it. No way at all.
     
    It was horrible to be turned away at Judges’ Houses, but if I had made the live shows I wouldn’t have known what had hit me. JLS and Alexandra Burke were in that year and I would have been gone straight away.
     
    It was hard going back to school having done The X Factor because I got a real taste for performing on a big stage and all I wanted to do from that moment on was be a pop star. My schoolwork suffered quite a bit, to be honest, and I remember my head of year talking to me about my grades and things. I remember him saying, “Your grades are slipping. What if your voice breaks and you can’t sing anymore? What will you do then? You won’t have any qualifications to fall back on.”
     
    That really hit me and I started working a lot harder from then on and I ended up getting one A+ in PE, as well as two Bs, six Cs and a D. The school wanted me to carry on and do A-levels, but I went to music college instead. At least I did get decent grades in the end, though.
     
    Going away for a few years after I first tried out for The X Factor and doing gigs was the best thing I could have done. I worked with producers and writers but I never signed any deals, just in case I ever wanted to try out for The X Factor again. If I hadn’t made it I was going to do an apprenticeship with my dad, which seemed quite exciting to me, but first he wanted me to give the singing all I had.
     
    My dad works in a factory building planes, and in my mind I was going to be playing with giant Lego or something, but it’s actually really hard work. My other backup plan was to become a fireman. But then, when I was 16, I decided to give singing and The X Factor another go.
    THE NEXT STEP
    Trying out for The X Factor for a second time was really nerve-wracking because now I wanted it more than ever. Some friends and family members were even a bit worried about me going for it, in case I got let down again, but I knew I hadto try, whatever happened. I desperately wanted to get a yes from Simon and prove how far I’d come since the last time I was on the show. I’d grown up so much since I was last there.

    LOOKING MY BEST FOR GO-KARTING

    Getting through to Bootcamp was just amazing, but then finding out I hadn’t made it to Judges’ Houses was crushing. I honestly thought that was the end of everything and I was so upset. So to get the second chance like we did left me virtually speechless. I was the only one of the guys who really had to think about whether or not it was a good idea to become a band. I’d been working as a solo artist for so long that I couldn’t imagine not doing that, but as soon as I made the decision to go for it I knew I’d done the right thing.
     
    I was quite nervous about going to Harry’s stepdad’s house, because obviously none of us guys knew each other, so to be thrown together like that and have to get to know each other so quickly was a bit scary. We’re all quite different as well, so we did bicker occasionally. I had lots of friends at school, but they weren’t all that outgoing, and Louis is so outgoing that at first I was a bit wary of him. He’s a big influence on everyone in the band because he’s the eldest and he has a sense of leadership, so he’ll take charge of emails or phone calls from management. I’m more on the creative side, so I think we both want to take the lead in different ways, which meant it took us a bit longer to bond. We get on brilliantly now, though. As soon as we were honest with