Niall Horan has said he was “afraid” to go out after being “chased” by fans while touring with One Direction.
The 29-year-old, who rose to fame alongside band members Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik on the X Factor, told Cosmopolitan UK he “loved touring” with One Direction “but it was f***ing crazy”.
“We’d go to countries and never see a second of it – it was hotel, venue, plane, same again,” the Irish singer-songwriter said.
“We couldn’t get out the (hotel) door. If you went out in the car, you’d be seen and chased (by fans).
“I understand why it was going on, but it gave me a thing where, when I came back to London, I would be afraid to go out. There was a period where I actually couldn’t.”
The boy band was put on indefinite hiatus six years after it formed in 2010 and became one of the biggest pop groups in the world, with five albums and four world tours.
Horan, who has launched a solo career with hit songs Slow Hands and Heaven, said he is “excited” and “nervous” to be releasing his third album The Show.
“I hope I didn’t waste 18 months writing something for people not to like it… There’s no heartbreak stuff (on this album), so there needed to be a new concept,” he said.
“The only good part of the pandemic for me was that I was actually happy being still. I had time to breathe; I realised it doesn’t have to be a thousand miles an hour all the time.”
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‘Diamond geezer’ Lewis Capaldi and a ‘token celebrity moment’ with Channing Tatum
Horan, who played for US President Joe Biden at the White House for St Patrick’s Day in March, also discussed his friendship with Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi, who he called a “diamond geezer”.
“There’s not a bad bone in his body. He’s a solid friend, and he also happens to be one of the funniest f****** you’ve ever met in your life,” he said.
Horan also said “famous people” do not always know each other.
“You’re not friends with everyone in your office, are you? I remember seeing (Magic Mike actor) Channing Tatum on a plane.
“I’d never met the guy in real life, but he waved. We were laughing later. He was like: ‘I felt like I had to do the token celebrity to celebrity kind of moment’.”
A painting of a nude woman with her legs open has prompted a police visit to an art gallery in Mid Wales.
The painting is on display in the window of The Table in Hay-on-Wye, Powys.
Warning: The image below shows the painting
According to gallery owner Val Harris, the police have asked her to remove the painting under the Public Order Act, but she has refused to do so.
Ms Harris told Sky News the response the painting had received from some people was “shocking” and “rather sad”.
“We had the police here under the Public Order Act. They’d had complaints,” she said.
“I’m not prepared to take it out of the window. I run an art gallery, I support my artists, so that’s where we got to.
“And Poppy [Baynham, the artist] wants to keep it in the window, if she wanted to move it ’cause she was finding it too traumatic, I would have respected whatever she wanted.”
The painting formed part of the gallery’s It’s Party Time exhibition.
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Some of the complaints were read out in a public meeting on Thursday afternoon, called so people could ask questions about the artwork.
One complaint was that the painting was “not suitable for children”, while another described it as “very sexualised”.
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Baynham told Sky News it was “only supportive people” who attended the meeting after the complaints had been made.
“I think everyone who didn’t like the painting was just a bit scared to show their faces obviously. So it turned out really, really great, a lot of people showed up,” she said.
“I couldn’t do it without the support, I think I would have given in if it was all hate.”
The discussion that has been sparked by Ms Baynham’s painting is “all an artist dreams of”, she added.
“The publicity has been amazing for my work, I’ve never had so much people talk about it.”
Kylie Minogue has announced her biggest tour in more than a decade – as well as a new album.
The pop star’s Tension tour will open in her home country, Australia, before heading to Asia and reaching the UK in May 2025. More countries and dates in Europe and North and South America are set to be announced over the coming weeks.
“I am beyond excited to announce the Tension tour 2025,” Minogue said in a statement sent to Sky News. “I can’t wait to share beautiful and wild moments with fans all over the world, celebrating the Tension era and more!
“It’s been an exhilarating ride so far and now, get ready for your close up because I will be calling Lights, Camera, Action… and there will be a whole lot of Padaming!”
The UK dates include shows in Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham and Birmingham, and two at London’s O2 Arena.
Minogue first teased the news as she announced her new album, Tension II, earlier today – revealing the sequel will be released in October, with the lead single, Lights Camera Action coming on 27 September.
“But wait! There’s more…” she added.
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The tour announcement followed this afternoon. It will be Minogue’s first since her Golden shows in 2018 and 2019 and her biggest since the Aphrodite: Les Folies tour in 2011, which followed the Aphrodite album and hits including All The Lovers and Get Outta My Way.
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Kylie speaks to Sky News on the Brits red carpet
The new album includes the dance hit Edge of Saturday Night with The Blessed Madonna, as well as collaborations with Orville Peck, Bebe Rexha and Tove Lo, and Sia.
“The Tension era has been so special to me,” the star said. “I can’t possibly let it be over just yet!”
Minogue, who rose to fame on Australian soap Neighbours in the 1980s before becoming a pop mega star, has had hits throughout the decades ever since – from I Should Be So Lucky, Hand On Your Heart and Better The Devil You Know, to Confide In Me, Spinning Around and Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.
Padam Padam, released in 2023, marked another reinvention with a move into electronic dance, and became a viral hit.
Earlier this year, she was named a global icon at the Brit Awards, and won the Grammy for best pop dance recording for the single.
Coronation Street star Geoff Hinsliff has died aged 87, ITV has said.
The actor was best known for playing Don Brennan on the soap from 1987 to 1997. He died last weekend.
Helen Worth, who plays Gail Platt in the show, paid tribute to Hinsliff on behalf of Coronation Street and ITV, saying: “Geoff was a lovely, quiet man who will be sadly missed by us all.
“His partnership with Lynne Perrie was something rather special and they gave the viewers huge pleasure for many years.”
Born in Leeds, Hinsliff studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and initially appeared on Coronation Street in 1963 and 1977 as different characters.
He joined the cast as taxi driver Don in 1987.
His 10-year stint on the cobbles saw him commit kidnap and attempted murder after several business deals went wrong before his character died when he crashed his car into a viaduct.