Harry Styles‘ mother Anne Twist revealed that her son almost missed out on fame as she discussed his career and how he was always a ‘proper little entertainer’ from a young age.
The mother-of-two, 56, appeared on the Spinning Plates podcast with singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor on Monday, and the pair discussed her thoughts behind her son signing up for The X Factor.
The proud mum revealed her main reason for signing Harry up was because she had always known that he would somehow end up on stage from a young age.
She told Sophie: ‘I have always known since he was two or three that there has been something, that I used to say he would end up on stage, doing what I had no idea,
‘But he just always had something he was always happy, proper little entertainer, you know entertaining the other kids, there was just something.’
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Harry Styles ‘ mother Anne Twist revealed that her son almost missed out on fame as she discussed his career and how he was always a ‘proper little entertainer’ from a young age (pictured in 2017)
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The mother-of-two, 56, appeared on the Spinning Plates podcast with singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor on Monday, and the pair discussed her thoughts behind her son signing up for The X Factor (pictured in 2022)
Anne then revealed that Harry originally didn’t want to take part in the competition after he had a customer from the bakery he once worked in mention that he should sign up for the ‘local talent show.’
She revealed: ‘I remember saying to him, well he used to work in a bakery after school and at the weekends, and I remember him coming home and telling me he’d been in the back kitchen or something and he was obviously singing, and somebody one of the customers had been in and commented on it and said something about he should go to this local talent show.’
‘And he’d come home and told me about that and he was like ‘nah I don’t wanna do that’ and I was like right okay and then very shortly after that the letter came through, so I basically said to him okay I’ve got you this audition, but it’s totally up to you if you don’t wanna do it, that’s fine but i just got it just in case.’
She continued: ‘And I think he ummed and ahhed for a little bit but not for a great amount of time and then we went for it.’
She also touched on the beginning of his career and how he skyrocketed to fame after the show when Sophie asked her: ‘Was there ever a bit at the beginning of Harry’s career where you thought oh my goodness, where does this lead us?’
She said: ‘I think that point would have been when the show finished because at least when it was the show, it was just the show, and there was an end to that,’
‘Like we’re doing this show, that’s great you’ll go as far as you go, see what happens and then no idea what’s gonna happen after that, and then obviously it all went ballistic.’
During the rare interview, Sophie and Anne discussed the pride that she feels when it comes to Harry performing for fans on stage and revealed that for the most part, she could relax and enjoy watching him perform.
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The proud mum revealed her main reason for signing Harry up was because she had always known that he would somehow end up on stage from a young age (pictured in 2013)
She said: ‘Yeah in the most part, and then at some point I find myself standing there staring at him, I don’t know is it adulation? I remember him when he was on the stage at school and I’d be sat there with tears streaming down my face, happy tears you know I’m either laughing or whatever,’
‘Just you know we discussed this pride word that’s just the feeling of warmth, kind of emanates from somewhere deep within.’
She continued: ‘He still amazes me at times, his last concert in Italy he did a whole speech in Italian and wow I was just sort of stood there with my mouth open really and then I also find I spend a lot of time looking at the crowd and looking at people’s reactions and its just lovely to see.’
Towards the end of the interview, Sophie comically asked the first-time writer if it was true that Stevie Nicks once claimed that she was going to be ‘Harry’s adoptive mum’.
Anne laughed before replying: ‘Yeah, I’ve got a great picture of me and Stevie actually in my cabinet at home.’
Sophie said: ‘You’re like you can be on our Christmas card list but you’re not being a mum.’
Anne laughed before adding: ‘Back off Stevie. She’s lovely and you know the fact that they are such close friends is absolutely incredible, it’s amazing.’
Harry has spent almost half his life in the public eye after being thrust into the spotlight following an X Factor audition at the age of 16 and he is now one of the most globally beloved solo artists.
After being put through the audition process by his mother, the British singer-songwriter originally sang for Simon Cowell and the other judges as a solo act, showing off his talents to Train’s Hey Soul Sister.
However, the track fell flat and it looked like Harry’s chances of making it may be over before they had begun, as Simon brought the performance to an abrupt end.
But after being given a second chance, Harry performed an acapella version of Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely – and his journey to superstardom began.
Despite trying out as a solo singer, the X Factor judges – namely Simon – had other ideas for Harry, as he made plans to put together a boyband. Picking Harry, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson from the bootcamp round, the worldwide phenomenon of One Direction was born.
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She told Sophie: ‘I have always known since he was two or three that there has been something, that I used to say he would end up on stage, doing what I had no idea (pictured L-R Anne, Gemma Styles, and Harry in 2017)
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Anne then revealed that Harry almost missed out on fame as he originally didn’t want to sign up for the competition after a customer from the bakery mentioned that he should sign up for the ‘local talent show.’ (pictured in 2015)
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She revealed: ‘he’d come home and told me about that and he was like ‘nah I don’t wanna do that’ and I was like right okay and then very shortly after that the letter came through,’ (pictured in 2015)
Harry stood out from the start, with his curly locks and cheeky grin he became an immediate hit with viewers, who watched the band make it all the way to the final, before finishing in third place.
Although the group didn’t win the show, there is no doubt they have gone on to be the ITV talent show’s biggest success story.