It's 10 years ago today that five skinny-jean wearing boys were thrown together in a stroke of genius by X Factor boss Simon Cowell to perform Natalie Imbruglia's Torn at the judges' houses.
Few realised then that Zayn Malik, Harry Style, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan would go on to take over the world as One Direction, dominating the charts for five years before parting in one of pop's most brutal splits.
The drama went down in the middle of their On the Road Again world tour when Zayn, 27, was spotted crying on stage during their Hong Kong performance on March 18.
The next day he dramatically flew home from Thailand with 'stress', leaving the boys to finish the Asia leg alone.
Struggling with anxiety and fame, Zayn's personal life was in a state of disarray amid accusations he'd cheated on fiancée Perrie Edwards - claims he denied.
And he would later admit that he'd wanted to quit the tour 'from the beginning', telling The Fader: "I was always thinking it. I just didn’t know when I was going to do it. Then by the time I decided to go, it just felt right on that day.
“I woke up on that morning, if I’m being completely honest with you, and was like ‘I need to go home. I just need to be me now, because I’ve had enough’.
“I was with my little cousin at the time, we were sat in the hotel room, and I was just like, ‘Should I go home?’ and he was like, ‘If you want to go home, let’s go home’. So we left."
One week later, the news that every Directioner was dreading came - Zayn was done with the band.
He would later cite the style of music they made, his mental health battles and his discomfort with fame as the reasons for his departure. Indeed, even during the X Factor he'd almost dropped out at bootcamp because he felt like an 'idiot' doing the dance routines.
But for Harry, Niall, Louis and Liam, they were as shocked to hear of his struggles as the rest of the world.
Even more stinging though, said Liam, 26, was that Zayn walked away without even saying goodbye. He even branded his exit 'sordid'.
"I think with Zayn’s particular exit and the way he chose to go, we haven’t really heard from him since he left," he told GQ Hype.
"He didn’t even say goodbye, if I am being honest. It was a really sordid scenario, from our side certainly. A bit strange. It’s difficult."
He continued: "For Zayn, he loves music and he’s an amazing talent. He genuinely was the best singer out of all of us. But for him to get to a point where, you know, he can’t step on a stage? It’s a lot… He can’t seem to get past that part.
"You don’t want anyone going through such evils for no reason [but] it got to a point with me where I wouldn’t know where to begin with Zayn. I hope he has good people around him, but I don’t at this stage think it’s anything the rest of us can solve."
Harry, too, was blindsided. And while he refused to 'condemn' Zayn for following his heart, he admitted his bandmate could have executed his departure in a 'smoother' way.
Harry, 26, told Howard Stern: "Yeah I think it was a shame, it like was in a tour, if he has come to us and maybe kind of discussed it a little more we might have found a way to do it a little smoother, but ultimately if you don't want to be there, you don't want to be there."
At their next show in Jakarta, footage of Harry appearing to break down in tears went viral although it later transpired that he'd actually been hit in the face by a glow stick thrown by a fan.
Zayn - who is now expecting a baby with model Gigi Hadid - would later claim that he'd 'never really spoke' to Harry while in the band and didn't 'expect that much of a relationship' with him anyway.
Meanwhile, One Direction soldiered on before going on the longest hiatus in history in January 2016.
But they're planning to celebrate their anniversary in style with an immersive fan experience website called 10 Years of One Direction.
Their rep explained that a video will also be released featuring a timeline of the band's best bits, "from forming on The X Factor to releasing their single History including clips from music videos, performances and candid behind-the-scenes video content. And of course the special relationship they have with their fans."
Sadly though, Liam let slip that while he, Harry, Louis and Niall got in touch to discuss the milestone, he ruled Zayn out of any possible reunion.
"I don’t think that’ll ever happen," he told the Jonathan Ross show. "When he left, it wasn’t on great terms so I don’t feel like it’s a thing. If he didn’t want to be here, he shouldn’t be here, which is fine."
