Dragons’ Den’s Peter Jones shares a surprisingly sweet bond with Harry Styles after a chance meeting back when the popstar was just 14 years old.
The entrepreneur, who is returning for new episodes of the business pitching series, appeared on Lorraine to talk about what’s to come for the BBC show.
However, during the discussion he revealed to Lorraine about his bonding moment with the Watermelon Sugar icon, which dates back more than a decade.
He revealed: “I was in Portugal, having a bit of food with my family, and there was this, this lovely young man with his friends. And I think he was, obviously Harry, and he's 14 and he was waiting and said, 'I'm a massive fan. Please, could I have your autograph?'”
“He told me what he was going to do is 'I'm going to be a musician' and I went, 'do you know what? I believe you,” Peter continued “I believe you're going to do that. So I put 'To Harry. Go make your dreams a reality. Best wishes, Peter Jones'.
It seems that his words stuck with the youngster, who is now a 27-year-old multi-million album selling megastar.
In 2010, just a few years after their holiday encounter, Harry auditioned for the X Factor, and together with Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson formed One Direction.
While One Direction didn’t win the series - being beaten by Matt Cardle that year - they went on to become the biggest pop group of the 2000s.
“Unbeknown to me, obviously, I didn't even know, watching X Factor and then the stardom that he's had,” Peter joked. “But I was at James Corden's wedding and he came up to me and told me the story.
“He said, 'You won't believe this'. He said, 'But you were the first person I was ever starstruck by, I'm a big fan'.”
With their friendship quickly solidified years on, the duo have kept in loose touch, resulting in a sweet full circle moment involving Peter’s own daughters.
“What was really funny, only just a few weeks ago, I got a text on my phone and, and it said did you just pass me in the car and it's H - it's Harry,” he told Lorraine.
“He said 'oh it'll be good to catch up, be good to see you', because he was in the UK. And I said to my girls I said I got a text me Harry Styles and they go, 'what?! Dad, you've got to text from Harry Styles?! They go mad... so life has gone full circle, it's brilliant!”
Since One Direction went on hiatus in 2016, Harry has become an actor and a solo artist, focusing on a more indie rock inspired sound.
Both his albums have been chart-toppers, with appearances in films including the Oscar-darling Dunkirk being applauded for his performance.
He is currently on tour in the US following the release of his album Fine Line, shortly after wrapping filming on new film Don’t Worry Darling.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
