Niall Horan has admitted to struggling with the instant fame he was afforded as a member of One Direction.
Now 29, the Irish singer shot to fame at the age of just 16 on The X Factor in 2010 as the boyband went on to become a worldwide phenomenon.
Speaking to The Sun about being thrust into the spotlight, he recalled: "There were periods where you'd go out and you wouldn't get five yards outside the door.
"I remember one time I stupidly went to Westfield [shopping centre] in West London, and honestly, swear to God, I was like, 'I'm going to die in here, I'm never getting out'. It was the fear of that which kept me in.
"I probably became a bit of a recluse in 2012, 2013, 2014... It was probably all in my head but I became a recluse because of the thought of going out, when I probably could have.
"There is a side of it where you've just come from zero to hero, the shock of it. It's a shock to the system and you're trying to live a normal life."
He added: "There was a period where if someone said, 'Do you want to grab a coffee?' or 'Do you want to go for lunch?' I'd have said 'absolutely not'."
Horan has previously spoken candidly about his childhood battles with obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety.
Neil Wilkes
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