One Direction: A Fan Story

Original version

BBC Radio 1 England

BBC Radio 1 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967.

BBC Radio 1

Radio 1

England

A Fan Story

Podcasts

Music: Classic Pop & Rock

BBC Sounds

Speech content commissioned primarily for BBC Sounds

How five boys and one fandom changed things forever.

They were more than a band, they were everything. This is how five boys and one fandom changed things forever.

A Fan Story: One Direction: 6. A Normal 22-Year-Old

6. A Normal 22-Year-Old

One Direction

BBC Sounds - A Fan Story, One Direction, 6. A Normal 22-Year-Old

It was the beginning of the end - but why did Zayn leave One Direction?

This chapter details the darkest day in the One Direction fandom - one that many see as the official end of the band. 

Was Zayn telling the truth in his original statement? Did he really just want a normal life?

Hearts broke around the world but solace came from the most unexpected people.

Featuring interviews with One Direction songwriter Jamie Scott, actor/model/Directioner Grace Dumdaw; the 1D Historian, journalist/Directioner Haajrah Gilani and Radio 1 presenter/Directioner Danni Diston.

Archive in this episode:
BBC Newsbeat, 25 March 2015
Simon Cowell, The Late Late Show with James Corden, 2015
Zayn Malik, Call Her Daddy, Spotify, 2023
Professor Stephen Hawking, Sydney Opera House’s Ideas at the House, 2015

Presenter: Maddie Grace Jepson
Producer: Gráinne Morrison	
Written by Gráinne Morrison
Assistant Producer: Zayna Shaikh
Technical Producer: Ant Danbury
BBC Audio Editor: Andy Worrell
Commissioning producers: Jonathan O’Sullivan, Sarah Gosling
Commissioner for BBC Music: Will Wilkin

A Fan Story: One Direction

The best new music and entertainment across the UK

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Music: Pop & Chart

They were more than a band. This is how five boys and one fandom changed things forever.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

A Fan Story

One Direction

6. A Normal 22-Year-Old

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 1 England

About BBC Radio 1