One Direction: Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction (8 page)

QUICKFIRE

DOB
: 8/29/1993

STAR SIGN
: Virgo

favorite…

FILM
:
Click
, and I love all of the
Toy Story
films

BODY PART
: My arms

FOOD
: Chocolate

ALBUM
:
Echo
by Leona Lewis

FRIEND
: Martin, Andy and Ronnie

CELEBRITY LADY
: Leona Lewis

SHOP
: All Saints

DRINK
: Coca-Cola

COLOR
: Purple

TV SHOW
:
Friends
and
Everybody Loves Raymond

AFTERSHAVE
: One Million by Paco Rabanne

PERFUME
: XXX

GAME
: Pokemon

IPHONE APP
: Flick Kick Soccer

WAY TO SPEND A SUNDAY
: Staying in bed watching movies

DATE VENUE
: Cinema

COUNTRY
: America

RESTAURANT
: Cosmo. It’s a Chinese eat-all-you-can restaurant near my home and it’s great

WAY TO RELAX
: Massages, especially when I’ve got a bad back

MODE OF TRANSPORT
: Car

NIGHT OUT
: Bowling

BAND
: One Republic

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR DUVET COVER
? Blue

WHAT KIND OF UNDERWEAR DO YOU WEAR
? Armani boxers, but that makes me sound very diva

FIRST PET
: A terrapin called Frederick—I’m very inventive with my pet names

DO YOU LIKE YOUR OWN COMPANY OR OTHER PEOPLE’S
? I like being on my own a lot

LAST BOOK YOU READ
:
Forever Young
by One Direction

LAST FIVE THINGS YOU BOUGHT
: A Greggs, some protein powder, a PSP, a hat and some sneakers

WHAT TYPE OF GIRLS DO YOU LIKE
? I like girls who are quite quiet but friendly. Looks-wise, I love girls with curly hair, but apart from that I’m open to ideas!

LOUIS
TOMLINSON

THE ROGUE

It won’t come as much of a surprise to people to hear that I was always a very chatty kid and I liked to talk to anyone we met on the street. I went to nursery school in Doncaster, which was a lot of fun. I enjoyed being around other kids and playing games. I was obsessed with Power Rangers, and whenever I was asked what I wanted for Christmas or my birthday I always chose a new Power Rangers toy. The Red Ranger was my favorite. When I met Zayn I discovered that he was mad about them too, and we used to swap notes!

 

When I was four we moved to Poole, near Bournemouth, and it was lovely. What young kid wouldn’t love living by the sea and being surrounded by amusements? I remember going on the Power Ranger rides on the seafront and being really excited. There was always a lot going on and it was a perfect place for a young kid to be. I went to a school there called Uplands for Reception and Year One. Both years I was there I won all my races on sports day.

 

After we’d been in Poole for about two years my mom got pregnant with my sister Charlotte. We then moved back to Doncaster and I started going to a primary school called Willow. I never did anything that creative there in terms of performing, but I was very confident and quite loud. Starting at a new school was quite hard for me, as I was only six, and I’d left my best friend Alex behind in Poole. I soon made friends again, but I was quite cheeky and used to get told off for it. I wasn’t naughty as such, but I always liked to be the class clown and make people laugh. Luckily the teachers still seemed to like me. (In case any of them are reading this, I apologize for making that crazy assumption!)

 

In those early years I spent most of my time with my great nan Edna and great granddad Len because both of my parents used to work. My nan used to pick me up from school and take me to the park, and I was with her almost as much as I was at home. I used to have a great, great relationship with them, and every time I went around to her house my great granddad would make me an ice cream. I miss them dearly. My nan used to love
The X Factor
, so she would have loved seeing us on the show.

 

I feel very lucky that I’ve got quite a big family. I remember when my first sister Charlotte was born. I was about six and I burst into tears because I was so overwhelmed with the whole experience. I was incredibly happy, but I’d been an only child up until then so it was probably a shock to me. I’ve got four sisters now, Charlotte, aka “Lottie,” Félicité, aka “Fizzy,” and Daisy and Phoebe, who are twins. It’s great having that many siblings, but I did always want a little brother. I’m not complaining, because all of my sisters are amazing, but I would have liked another boy in the house.

 

When I was growing up we didn’t have a massive house and there were five women running around, so my dad and I had to stick together! I suppose in some ways it did teach me about women. I’m certainly not intimidated by them—because I’m so used to them. Having that many sisters has definitely helped
me with children too, and people always comment how comfortable I am around kids. I absolutely love babies and kids, and the boys are always taking the mickey out of me for it. I definitely, definitely want kids of my own one day, so I can have that little boy I always wanted. So there is a slight possibility I could end up with around 15—20 kids if I don’t have a son straight away—something to be aware of, I guess, for anyone thinking of marrying me (though I hope it wouldn’t affect her decision).

CELEBRATING MY FIFTH BIRTHDAY

BIG THUMBS-UP ON SPORTS DAY

READING TO MY ELDEST SISTER, CHARLOTTE. LOVING THE HAIR!

Secondary school was a bit crazy for me, because I ended up switching schools twice. There were two schools in my local area, and the one I really wanted to go to was called Hayfield. I didn’t get in, though, and ended up going to another school called Hall Cross. It was fine there but I never really settled, and although I made a couple of really good friends called Dan and Aiden, I just wasn’t very happy. Then I got offered a place at Hayfield after all and I moved there. That was quite hard, because I was now 13 and everyone else had been there for quite a while and they knew each other. I was the new kid, so the first few weeks getting to know everyone were tough. Looking back I’m so glad I made the move because it was a great school and I had arguably some of the best times I’ve ever had there.

 

I went through a seriously dodgy clothes phase when I was about 13. I used to wear jeans and England shirts. I also adopted the fringe-over-to-one-side, spiky-on-top hairstyle that was popular around that time. I didn’t take a massive interest in clothes until I was about 17—in those days I just used to throw on jeans and a t-shirt—but now I’m totally addicted to buying them and I love shopping.

 

After about a year of being at Hayfield I got into a band called The Rogue. I was on a field trip in Norfolk and I was sharing a room with my friends Geoff, Jona and Jamie. They were all in a band with a guy called Stan, who is now my best friend. We all got really friendly and while we were heading home on the coach,
Geoff said they were looking for a singer and asked if I wanted to give it a go, which was weird really as they’d never heard me sing! We used to practice once a week even though we didn’t have any gigs, and we used to play a lot of Green Day and think we were rock and roll!

 

At the end of every term we used to perform a song for our year group. One of the first songs we performed was “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers—which my friends came to associate with me for the rest of my school days. I really enjoyed performing and yet I never had the courage to do a whole school assembly because I was intimidated. So it’s so weird to think that I’ve ended up performing on stage in front of thousands. After about a year and a half the band decided that they wanted to get a new singer, so Stan and I kept the name of The Rogue and started working with another guy called Ben, who is very talented musically. We used to do acoustic gigs, but it was more for fun than anything, and we never expected to make it big—I just loved the feeling of performing to an audience.

 

I had already done little bits of acting aside from school shows, as I’d had some TV work as an extra. Because my sisters Daisy and Phoebe are identical twins they used to do extra work as babies, and they got a role on a show called
Fat Friends
. My mom asked the director if I could be an extra, so I went along and that’s where I met James Corden as he was in the program. He’s a top bloke and now a good friend of mine. Ironically I was one of the first people ever to ask him for an autograph, and I’ve still got it at home somewhere. I’ll have to dig it out and embarrass him.

 

After doing the extra work I started going along to an acting school in Barnsley and I got in with an acting agent. After that I did an ITV1 drama called
If I Had You
, and I had a small part in
Waterloo Road
. Acting is something I would definitely think about pursuing later on, but for now it’s all about the band. I won’t stop until we’re absolutely massive.

Toys R Us was one of many jobs that I had when I was at school. We all had to do work experience at the end of Year 10 and, because my granddad knew the chairman of Barnsley Football Club, I went and worked as a coach there for two weeks and it was great. I actually wanted to be a soccer coach at one stage. Either that or an English or drama teacher, because I loved the idea of working with kids.

 

I also worked on the tills at Doncaster Rovers’ Keepmoat Football Stadium selling snacks at half time, and the only thing I really liked about it was the free food. I then got a job at the Vue cinema, and that was great because I got to see all the new films. I was on three months’ probation, but there were a few times when I called in sick and later they found out I’d been out at parties, so the three months turned into seven and a half months. I think they quite liked me and probably wanted to keep me on, but they wouldn’t commit to giving me a full-time job. In the end it was actually
The X Factor
that ended that job for me. When I first applied for the show I had an audition on a day when I was supposed to be working, so I got a friend of mine called Laurence to cover for me. He forgot and didn’t turn up—but it was my responsibility. It was the last straw and I got the boot.

 

I was also a waiter for a while. I wasn’t the best waiter, but I used to get good tips because I loved a chat, and maybe a little flirting here and there…

 

I remember lots of stories from the parties I went to during sixth form, some of which were pretty crazy. One party, I’d had a few drinks and I missed my lift home and needed a place to stay so the obvious solution was to walk to the airport with my friends Rob and Curtis and sleep there. Can’t say it’s the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had!

 

Just to make things more confusing school-wise, I failed my first year of A-levels at Hayfield—mainly because I’d been too busy having fun. I remember the day
I heard I’d failed. I was absolutely distraught, because I knew that Hayfield wouldn’t let me back in to re-sit. All of my good friends had passed, and I knew that they would be going back the next year and then heading off to university and I’d be left behind.

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