Considering the rumpus it caused when the news broke a week ago, we'd say that One Direction's "hiatus" came as a surprise to most fans.

However music mogul Simon Cowell has claimed that the boy band's temporary split was actually the "worst kept secret" in showbiz.

Speaking to The Mirror newspaper, SiCo insisted that he has been trying to drip feed hints about the band taking time off, in order to mentally prepare fans for the trauma.

He said: "I kind of hinted a few months ago they'd be having time off. We haven't had a conversation where anyone has said it is the end, but the conversations have been 'we're exhausted, can we have time off?'

"You saw in the film we made that they went out to get shoes and within seconds they were mobbed. You can't live your life like that forever."

And he told the Sunday People: "This has been going on for a about a year now. It was the world's worst kept secret."