Simon Cowell has admitted that One Direction could go solo with his permission - but only if it meant the group didn't split up.
Simon Cowell
Helping to put the group together back in 2010 on The X Factor, he's happy for the fivesome to work on solo projects as long as it's "on the side" and doesn't affect their being a part of the boy band.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper at the BRIT Awards this week, he explained: "You can't knock what One Direction are doing. They're making great records and I think that's why they're still so popular.
"I hear speculation all the time that they're going solo. My advice is they should stay together but still do things they want as a little bit on the side."
Earlier in the evening, Simon collected the British Artist Video of the Year award for the group for their tune 'You and I', as they're busy touring in Japan.
Accepting the accolade, he said: "This is so exciting. But Sam [Smith] you can't win everything tonight.
"The boys are in Japan and they kind of made up this speech incase they did win and they wanted to, first of all, say hello to everybody. They want to thank their fans for voting, because they do have the best fans in the world...
"I'm incredibly excited and I want to officially say thank you to the boys for being just amazing. It's a great video; I'm absolutely thrilled. Thank you everyone for voting."
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