Simon Cowell has said that he is solely responsible for forming One Direction.
The 'Live While We're Young' boyband were put together on The X Factor in the UK in 2010, after all five members failed to advance as solo artists.
Cowell spoke about mentoring One Direction while appearing on their 1D Day webcast.
"It was my idea [to put you guys together]," Cowell said.
He then told the sceptical singers: "It was really weird… I just said, 'Why don't we put these guys into a group?' It took 10 minutes!"
Cowell then joked that he initially had far different plans for the members of One Direction during their tenure on The X Factor.
"I was disappointed because I thought all of you were going to go through as solo artists," he teased.
One Direction have gone on to sell 10 million albums worldwide in the last three years.
The group's 1D Day was streamed to more than 61 countries, with one segment seeing One Direction congratulate the cast of Doctor Who on the show's 50th anniversary.
Watch One Direction's 'What Makes You Beautiful' music video below:
Night News Editor
Justin has been with Digital Spy since 2010, and in that time, has covered countless major news events for DS from the US.
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