one direction It was the quintessential boyband of recent years. Since the band was formed in 2010 and until today, almost ten years after their separation, the British do not stop hogging the covers of magazines and newspapers and every move they make goes viral. However, in the United Kingdom, at that same time, there was another band of five British boys who also did not go unnoticed: The Wanted.
One Direction showed up like this on the red carpet… with an elegant style mixed with their little touch. / EDITORIAL / los40.com
The tension between one direction and The Wanted It could be felt in the atmosphere every time a member of one of the two boy bands made a movement or made a comment. Although at first it seemed that the members of both groups got along well and good vibes reigned, the truth is that as time went by the rivalry to see who was the British boyband of the moment caused them to throw things at each other’s heads.
The Wanted premieres ‘Rule The World’ / Mike Marsland (Getty Images)
As if it were a battle of cocks, the young British did not miss the opportunity to make all kinds of insults and pejorative comments to the rival gang. Of course, always through social networks. Within this dialectical battle, music took a backseat, despite the fact that both achieved record numbers in every song, every album and every concert they did.
Chronology of a death foretold
As expected, these strings of insults could not end in any other way than by throwing even more things in their faces, if possible. In 2014, the year in which The Wanted decided to put an end to their time as a boyband, Max George I affirm that one direction was the cause of the dissolution of his group.
But let’s go back a couple of years to find out how the particular cold war between the two bands began. Both groups met at the end of 2010 when The Wanted went to the contest X Factorin which one direction was formed, to interpret his great success Lose My Mind.
The first history of this beef dump dates back to July 29, 2011. After launching Glad You Cameone of the songs with the most reproductions of The Wantedin an interview with Daily Star, Max George he snapped a first insult at one direction: “We’re glad we’re not an X Factor band. One Direction, where are they now? It’s good that we are a band that started with nothing. The X Factor is just for that moment and we didn’t want to get caught up.”
After this message, one direction attended an interview presented by Scott Millsjust one month later, and Louis Tomlinson He did not hesitate to respond although, seeing his message, it seemed like a pacifying response: “Things are often taken out of context and I don’t know if that’s what he said. “I mean…we kind of…get along with those guys, so I don’t know, it would be funny if that’s what I said.”
In 2012, one direction He had already released his first album, Up All Night, and the madness with them had spread from the United Kingdom and Ireland to the rest of the world. By Jay McGuinnessmember of The Wantedexpressed her happiness at not sharing fandom: “We’re very, very happy for them. They’re nothing like us, so there’s no rivalry! They own the whole Bieber-style mania and they all look perfect; we could never do “We both have our place and you can’t help but wish the best to the guys you really like.”
In the month of March 2012, The Wanted He launched Glad You Came in the United States, reaching the top 5 of Billboard in the country and Nathan Sykeswas quoted in the magazine People, saying that, based on the numbers, they couldn’t even be considered rivals: “If you look at One Direction’s position on the charts and then you look at ours, they’re actually not even our rivals. They have different fans than ours. We don’t want their fans, they are too young. We laugh and say that their fans are our fans’ little sisters. “We have our own success in America and it’s not just about the music.”
From here the famous dialectical battle on Twitter began. Although there is no clear consensus on how this entire war over social networks broke out, several sources suggest that Louis Tomlinson He made some public comments about the rival gang, which it seems did not sit well on the other side of the trench. In this point, Thomas Parkerresponded to Doncaster through tweets that, in order to maintain peace, he finally ended up deleting. louis would have laughed at the rise to fame of parkersaying that he couldn’t even pass the auditions X Factora program that catapulted to fame one direction and which, on several occasions, has served The Wanted as a way to belittle the five Britons.
Among the several messages that both exchanged on Twitter, one of them became quite famous among fans of both bands, in which louis I wrote to Thomas, with mention included, how fun it is “to see how in face to face you act like a little girl. “Good night old friend.”
In case there were few at the party, Zayn Malik decided to join her, calling her a geek Max and the latter, a week later, a photo on Twitter with P.S.Y.the interpreter of Gangnam Style, and wrote: “PSY and I getting crazy #geekandproud :).” And after this first confrontation between the one from Bradford and the one from Manchester, a curious conversation began through Twitter.
Zayn He called him “I want to and I can’t”, to which Max He replied: “This is not very nice. “I was starting to like you and your RnB hits.” To which the of one direction He responded again: “I’m not really sure why you keep talking to me man, the conversation ended when I called you a geek.”
Then, Thomas Parker He came out in defense of his partner: “I think “1 stripe” got twisted in his panties brother.” AND Zayn He responded again: “Man, if I had your face, my hair would be the last thing I worry about.” And if before Thomas came out in defense of Maxnow Louis Tomlinson does the same with Zayn: “calm down, bad boy.”
This is when one of the most memorable insults of this beef arises. And it is that Zayn Malik, It seems that he had too much imagination to disqualify at that moment, he couldn’t think of anything else other than calling him “chlamydia boy.” Max George. And after this tweet and the response from the singer of The Wantedboth of them thought that the best solution was to meet in person and resolve it face to face.
“Tell me your problems without the eight security guards in New York. The only problem I have with you is the shitty jokes. “Mature,” he tweeted. Maxwhat Zayn he replied:
“I would love to see you in New York, big man, clown.”
Did One Direction cause The Wanted to break up?
Only a few days had passed since 2014 began and The Wanted had already announced their dissolution as a group. According to the news that came to light at that time, the rift between the British was due to Max George and Nathan Sykes They already had individual projects in mind, outside of The Wanted.
Own Max, stated in an interview he gave shortly after his group announced the worst news for their fans, that: “Siva will concentrate on his career as a model, Tom will continue as a DJ, Jay has plans to become a radio or television presenter and Nathan, like me, will pursue a solo career. Also, I plan to pursue a career as an actor.”
One Direction and The Wanted
In that same interview, although he did not confirm anything, he also Max George dropped that direct competition with one direction for topping the charts worldwide and being the boyband of the moment would have taken its toll on them as a band. Finally, the British ended up confessing that The Wanted could not compete with the success that one direction I was harvesting.
The peace between Nathan Sykes and Harry Styles
As revealed in 2015 the Daily Mirrorit seems that a night out would be the final point to bury the hatchet between the two boy bands. Harry Styles and Nathan Sykes They met in Los Angeles and after greeting each other with a few extra drinks, they both hugged, leaving old war incidents behind.
Nathan Sykes and Harry Styles
The British media also shared some statements from the former member of The Wantedin which Nathan He expresses that, for his part, “I have never had any problems with any of the One Direction boys, and I have never been involved in the fights they had on Twitter. It had nothing to do with it. I think sometimes you can be a victim of hate by association. On those occasions I always thought: But I haven’t said anything!
In October 2020, Thomas Parker He informed his fans that he suffered from stage four glioblastoma and, unfortunately, on April 20, 2022, he died. At his emotional funeral, his family, his closest friends, and his former bandmates said their final goodbyes, and on that day, Liam Payne He did not miss the opportunity to show his respect by also attending the funeral, which took place at Saint Francis of Assisi Parish Church. Furthermore, the one of one direction He also participated, a year before, in the charity concert Stan Up To Cancerwhich organized itself Thomas.
