Harry Styles' mother, Anne Twist, has explained why she encouraged the singer to pursue fame.
One Direction star Harry, 30, shot to fame as a contestant on The X Factor in 2010 and was scouted by the manufactured boy band.
He has since achieved chart-topping status as a solo artist, but it's all thanks to his mother, 56.
Speaking to podcast host Sophie Ellis-Bextor on Spinning Plates, Anne said: “My dad always said I'd end up on stage and doing things I could never imagine, but he always had something, he was always happy, he was a proper little entertainer, entertaining other kids, there was something special about him.”
Despite Harry having hinted that he was too shy to sing in public, Anne signed him up to audition for The X Factor.
She recalled: “My dad worked in the bakery after school and on weekends, and I remember him coming home and telling me he'd be singing in the back kitchen or somewhere, and one of the customers would come in and comment on the song and say I should go to a local talent show.”
“And he came home and told me about it and he was like, 'No, I don't want to do it,' and I was like, 'Okay,' and then the letter came shortly after. And I said to him, 'I gave you the audition, but if you don't want to do it, that's entirely up to you. That's fine, but I took it just in case.'”
She added, “And I think he was like um, ah for a little bit, but I don't think it was very long, and then we did it.”