One Direction were all kinds of sneaky last night, as they surprised Simon Cowell by stopping by the Music Industry Trust Awards to honour their mentor.

Seeing as he's the man responsible for putting the band together in the first place, the boys clearly still look up to him and know that they wouldn't be here without his guidance.

(Since when were we so soppy?)

Luckily for us though, Simon had had a few glasses of wine before stepping up to the stage, which explains why he jokedabout botox, being hammered and the other massive elephant in the room...

"Just my luck I get the award I've been wanting all my life and I'm completely hammered. Guys, who misses Zayn?" he said, to a no doubt shocked crowd.

Apparently the boys didn't even react, but just stood there as that unexpected comment lingered in the air.

Excellent work, Simon Cowell.

- By Lucy Bacon