Niall Horan said remembering his ‘humble’ beginnings as a ‘working class lad who just happened to do well’ has kept him grounded throughout his rise to fame and fortune.
The Mullingar, Co Westmeath native shot to fame with One Direction on the X Factor in 2010, and went on to become one of the biggest boy bands since the Beatles with bandmates Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik.
Looking back at their meteoric rise to fame over a decade on, the Irish singer credited his home roots and his bandmates for keeping him humble.
The 27-year-old said: “To be honest, part of it is being Irish. I mean this is the least humble thing you could say, but we’re quite humble people.
“There is a lot of if you’re acting out of line, you’ll get slapped straight back down, cut at the ankles and be told to get off your high horse. There’s definitely a bit of that.
“After that, I don’t know. I just kinda rolled with it. A lot of it in a way I was lucky I had all the lads around me.
“You see solo artists who lose their path a little bit because everyone around them is a lot older or whatever and grown up, if you like.”
The Slow Hands hitmaker also revealed that their Where We Are tour was called that because the lads were constantly in awe at where they were in the world performing.
“I just rolled with it. I didn’t see it as a job. I seen it as we’re just having fun.
“We always seen each other as very normal guys from very working class backgrounds that just happened to do well and do this really abnormal job, we always said that.”
Speaking to Nick Dougherty and Andrew Coltart during an Instagram Live for weekly golf show Dough and Co, Niall said it was “mind blowing” to experience global success as a teenager - where fans filled the streets to see them.
“I only turned 17, that’s when it started really. It was school kids going around on tour buses and planes for a few years and it was a good laugh and in a way madness.
“But I got to mature a lot quicker.”
“Luckily enough, mentally I never really struggled.
“I had moments where I was like ‘I would like to go outside’ but I never really struggled mentally, thankfully. But if I did, I think I would be one to talk about it.”
“I’m a very heart on my sleeve kinda guy.”
But the Our Song hitmaker said things have calmed down recently, meaning he can now go about his day without as much fuss.
“I can go most places to be fair. There was a period of time where I couldn’t when I was younger.
“Walking down the street wasn’t even an option and to be honest, even if it was, I had myself convinced that it wasn’t.
“If one person takes a picture, it is a bit of a stampede and then it kicks off. These days are more chilled.
The singer, who was catapulted to fame as a baby faced teen with blonde highlights also joked, “I don’t have the blonde hair anymore so that helps.
“I’m a bit older and I’ve dealt with it long enough so if it does kick off,
“I know how to deal with it. I was thinking about it the other day. I’ve been doing this for 11 years this year, which is nuts because I’m only 27.”
