In every boy band there is always some sort of drama or rumor that lingers around the internet, getting into everyone’s head. For One Direction, specifically Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, the biggest conspiracy of all was “Larry Stylinson”– and many fans still question who was involved and whether it was truly real. Even six years later, after the band broke up, many fans still think “Larry Stylinson” was a legitimate relationship at one point of time. 

Back in 2010, five young boys from the UK auditioned for the X-Factor, the television-aired competition that gives undiscovered artists the opportunity to make their mark in the world. All the boys auditioned separately but did not end up going through the second round of the competition. Instead of fully eliminating them, fellow judge Simon Cowell decided to put Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Liam Payne together as a boy band. This created the biggest boyband on the planet, and even today, One Direction is still in the top boy bands of all time– even though they disbanded a long while ago. Teenage girls around the world didn’t only like the band for their incredibly addictive music, but for their real personalities. 

Every band has some sort of management team to guide them through the music industry, but sometimes management tries to cover up certain things that could get the band bad publicity.  Allegedly, in One Direction, there was a hidden romantic relationship between Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. In many videos and recorded interviews there has always been a certain tension between the two boys. In an X-Factor interview in 2010, Harry Styles was questioned who his crush is in the X-Factor, Harry responded with “Louis Tomlinson.” The interviewer asked again, and got the same response. The interviewer asked if Louis Tomlinson felt the same, Harry nodded saying, “Yes, we’ve discussed it. It’s mutual.” Harry then smiles in the interview and blushes. Although Harry Styles fully admits to the relationship, they were forced to be apart. 

With a band comes a fan base, and One Direction’s fans were called “The Directioners.” Many Directioners supported the relationship and made many fan fiction stories about them, even creating a relationship name for the two boys: Larry Stylison. Although the boys never talked about their sexuality, many fans assume them to be bisexual– but this has never been clarified. This hidden relationship between the two boys obviously was not properly hidden, as in another one of their interviews, many inappropriate remarks and mixed signals between the two young stars were shared. Many people said that “boys will be boys” and will inevitably act that way, but the way Louis and Harry looked at each other was definitely brotherly or friendly. 

Many rumors say that Louis Tomlinson signed a contract in 2012 to make sure his relationship was either going to stop or not be shown in the public’s eyes; it was never made clear on which one he chose. After 2012, the band changed their style from pop to a rock pop, and even their clothing changed; they started dressing like college frat boys, which created what fans call “One Direction’s Frat Era.” During this time, the boys began to be more private and barely posted on social media, not showing much about their lives anymore. The sources fans had for information about their favorite media sensations were rare interviews. In many of these interviews, Harry and Louis were sat far away from each other and were acting more like strangers towards each other than even friends. 

Currently, the band has split up and gone in their own directions. Harry Styles is one of the most known music artists in the world, with more than 63 million fans and 3.8 billion streams, and has reached number one on all the charts several times from his popular music. Louis Tomlinson isn’t as well known as Harry Styles, but still has a large fan base with a current new album called Faith In The Future. There are many conspiracies about Louis and Harry currently seeing each other, but this information is not confirmed. Harry Styles fan Helen Escobedo shares her thoughts on this belief: “I definitely think they were together in the past, but are now friends.” As of right now, there is no new information about both artists– except both of them going on a world wide tour. Maybe one day in the future we will find the truth about Larry Tomlinson, but as of right now, it will remain an ongoing conspiracy.