Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan have unfollowed Simon Cowell on social media following him expressing his regrets about managing One Direction.
The music mogul formed the band, whose members included Louis, Niall, Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik, back in 2010 on The X Factor.
Earlier this month, the former X Factor judge revealed his biggest regret when managing the band was not owning the name.
Not owning the name means that he couldn’t continue its legacy after they broke up.
During their time together, One Direction released five albums went on four world tours, and starred in their own movie – before they went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016.
According to The Sun, both Louis and Niall have cut ties with the former boss days after he expressed the regrets.
Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast, he told host Steven Bartlett: “The one thing I regret is I should have owned the name.”
“They own the name. I could have made an animation or something.”
He continued: “That was me being very naive. Next time I need to own the name.”
“It was obvious as soon as they went on the show that they would be really really successful.”
“They were the perfect group. They made a lot of money.”
He continued to confess the advice he gave the band: “I told them to never complain about paparazzi because they are going to take your pictures, don’t complain about invasion of privacy because people will always want to have a picture with you, don’t complain about the long hours.”
“I told them if any of the above is going to be a problem then do something else because all this will happen. I told them about the gruelling schedule – it comes with the territory. It just comes with it, you will lose a lot of privacy.”
“If you want to be an accountant you won’t have any of these issues but it won’t be as fun,” he added.
Earlier this month, Simon revealed he is searching for the “new” One Direction as auditions are set to come to Dublin in July.
The former X-Factor judge is “praying” he finds a group as talented as the hit boyband as he launches his hunt.
Auditions are set to take place in Dublin on 28 and 29 July, although the venue has yet to be confirmed.
Other auditions will take place across the UK in Newcastle on 4 and 5 July, Liverpool on 7 and 8 July and London on 1, 2 and 3 August.
The music mogul is on the hunt for a new group that will rival the successes which were achieved by One Direction following their time on the X-Factor.
Simon confessed: “I would pray to find a band as good as One Direction and to find the records as good as they made, there are so many factors involved to make a band successful all over the world.”
“You can’t fake this, even though I’m the one going out to do the auditions, it really depends on the individuals. If you find the right people I’m not someone who says dress like this, say this, do this, it is just not my style and I never once did that with One Direction.”
“Bands never knock on your front door, it’s never happened in my career, someone has to go out and put them together – and the truth is since One Direction there hasn’t been a successful UK boyband.”
“The only way to do it is do what I used to do, go out and do it and audition and do it face to face and don’t have any pre-casting.”
“In other words, don’t have people choose people in advance, it really is first come first served.”
“You have to see a lot of people, the auditions are quick and you have to pray and hope enough people turn up and the right people turn up.”
“If we are lucky enough to find the right people then there has never been a better time to be in a band right now.”
Simon plans to bring it back to basics, not opting for auditions in front of large crowds such as on Britain’s Got Talent or The X-Factor.
On this decision, he said: “Because I wanted to show the process of what really, really happens when we do this.”
