Simon Cowell reveals his ‘one regret’ about not owning name of One Direction, also doubts they will ever reunite

When he was asked if he thinks whether they would ever reunite, he said, “I doubt it.” (Images via X)

Simon Cowell is the one of the main reasons why One Direction exists (much rather existed). It was the British entrepreneur who formed one of the world’s most popular and highest record breaking boy bands ever. Cowell handpicked 5 contestants on The X-Factor UK in 2010, who had originally auditioned as solo acts and gave them another shot as a pop group. The 5 members were Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik.

On a podcast with Stephen Bartlett, “The Diary of a CEO,” the television personality and music mogul expressed his self-reproach for not keeping the ownership of the band’s name. “The one thing I regret is I should have kept the name,” Cowell said on the podcast. “I should have owned the name.”

“When I was talking to One Direction, I remember saying to them, ‘Our goal is for you to have enough hits that if you ever reform, that you can do stadium tours. That means you got to have about 10 hit singles,” said Cowell. When he was asked if he thinks whether they would ever reunite, he said, “I doubt it.”

Since the band members hold ownership of the One Direction name, Simon Cowell would need their approval to utilize it for any spinoff endeavor. “That’s the problem. Could have made an animation or whatever, but when you give an artist the name, it’s not yours — and that’s my only regret,” Cowell said.

Cowell then went on to poke fun at the members saying, “If you’re listening, I’ll buy it back from you,” then laughing.

The America’s Got Talent judge also went on to add, “If one of the band members, for whatever reason, say they don’t want to tour, it can stop the others [from] touring. So, if it was me who owned the name, it wouldn’t be a problem,” that if a member of the band decides they do not wish to tour, it can prevent the rest from touring. He implied that if he had ownership of the name, he could arrange a One Direction reunion tour without needing the participation of every member.

After the reality competition, the group released five studio albums. Zayn Malik left the band in 2015, and the next year, they took an indefinite break to focus on individual careers.