Earlier this week One Direction broke the hearts of millions of teenage girls when they announced the band would take an extended hiatus starting in March of next year. Simon Cowell spoke about the "hiatus" and said he did not believe the band was breaking up for good.
"I don't know if they're definitely going to split up to be honest with you. I've known for a while that they were going to take 2016 off and they had to on their workload," Cowell told Yahoo! Celebrity UK. "As I've always done with the guys, I said 'Make your own decisions, I hope you stay together but you've got to want to do it for yourselves', but they're smart guys and they'll work it out."
The "X-Factor" judge was part of forming the group when each member of One Direction tried out for the UK talent show independently five years ago. After the group place third on the show, Cowell signed them to his record label, Syco Records.
"Having a year off is going to be a healthy thing. I hope they'll come back together afterwards but there's not going to be any pressure from me," Cowell said, according to Billboard. "They're nice guys, they're loyal and they'll be fine."
One Direction member Niall Horan also confirmed on Twitter that the band was not breaking up.
"Ok so Lots of rumours going round. We are not splitting up, but we will be taking a well-earned break at some point next year," Horan wrote. "Don't worry though, we still have lots we want to achieve! Can't wait for you to hear all the new music we have for you and to perform."
