New Footage Shows ‘X Factor’ Judges Creating Boy Band One Direction

The X Factor UK released fascinating new footage showing that a massively successful band was put together in just a matter of minutes by the program’s judges. The show released this new footage which shows Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger and a third guest judge, sifting through photos of the auditioning singers and putting them into “Yes” and “No” piles, and grouping the young future bandmates up in the process.

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This footage is an interesting insight as both Cowell and Scherzinger have claimed sole credit for putting One Direction together, but the way the process is depicted in the video, they both made very active choices in how the group formed. It begins with the unnamed guest judge placing Niall Horan and Harry Styles together, quickly followed by Louis Tomlinson.

“Yes! They’re the cutest boy band ever! I love it!” Scherzinger exclaimed eagerly. She really goes to bat for keeping them in the running and later says, “They’re just too talented to get rid of. And they’ve got just the right look and the right charisma on stage. I think they’ll be really great in a boy band together.”

Scherzinger also insightfully contributes an observation on the band’s dynamic when she notes, “They’re like little stars, so you can’t get rid of little stars, you know? So you put them all together.” If you knew any One Direction fans at the height of, it was true that every single member truly had equally passionate fans, so Scherzinger is right to think of each of them as their own star that still complemented each other.

Cowell almost pushed the fourth pick, Liam Payne, out of the group to place him in a different configuration and is heard saying, “He thinks he’s better than everyone on that list.” Cowell is outvoted by Scherzinger and the other judge and eventually relents “that looks good” to the four members they’ve assembled. They also mentioned that Payne had “the standout audition,” and Scherzinger even hypothesized that he “could be the leader of the group.”

The last band member brought in was Zayn Malik, and even as the last pick the judges seemed just as excited about his addition. Cowell says, “Now that is a good idea, oh my god,” seeing them all together, and that assessment is pretty close to the truth.

One Direction was active from 2010 to 2016. Malik departed the group in 2015 and the band went on indefinite hiatus a year later. In their period of activity, One Direction was phenomenally popular, selling 70 million albums as of 2020 and taking one of the highest-grossing tours of any vocal group in history. Check out the incredible video below: