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In 2010, millions of young people watched with gleaming eyes as Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson were grouped together to form a brand new boy band on the British talent show, The X Factor. 10 years later, and One Direction are still one of the most successful and well-known boybands — a term that many despise due to its connotations of young naivety — despite the members currently being on hiatus.

 

However, it was through living up to the stereotypical “boyband” label, and creating a distinct style for each of the members, producing OTT sell-out merchandise and constantly featuring in press releases across the globe, that they were able to shoot straight to the top of the charts. 

 

With the date of their 10-year anniversary on the 23rd July just around the corner, PolyFizz explores what it truly is like to have watched 1D blossom from over-styled talent-show contestants to winners of 242 global awards, from those who know them best: their megafans.

 

One of those manic adolescent ‘Directioners’ is Tamika, a 20-year-old fashion uni student who, when she isn’t partying as hard as any other first-year student, puts on one of her many beloved 1D t-shirts and daydreams about what she’ll be wearing when she makes Harry Styles fall in love with her — flared jeans, red heeled boots and a cute Chanel clip, of course.

 

While she’s happy to admit that she never voted for them during their stay on the X-Factor competition — apparently they were “too styled” and “not really them” — she still knows her love for the band is strong. Tamika shows this love/borderline obsession not only through her willingness to fight anyone who gets in her way of having any interaction with the band, but through her constant addition to her One Direction shrine — yes you read that sentence correctly; a shrine, consisting of limited edition yearbooks, a Louis and a Harry doll, magazine cuttings, and various other forms of exciting merchandise that she has been gifted over the years from her supportive friends and family.

After finally recovering from the disastrous news of Zayn leaving One Direction mid-tour in 2015, and the band announcing their hiatus a year later, the Directioner is beyond excited with the prospect of what the 10 year anniversary may have in store for fans. 

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Tamika, the 20-year-old whose love for One Direction is stronger than ever

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While the five original band members are all busy working on their solo careers — Harry, Liam, Niall and Zayn have now produced two solo albums, while Louis released his first debut album late last year — Tamika recalls the odd happenings that have been occurring in the past few months. Not only did all four remaining members of the band and the official One Direction page follow Zayn on the same day, but there has been a significant lack of consistency in the young men’s answers when cornered by the press about the 10 year anniversary — something smells fishy. On the various 1D-related Instagram pages that Tamika followed after recently being blocked from Twitter due to repeatedly spamming the band members, the assumptions surrounding how One Direction will celebrate a decade in the music industry range from a new documentary to a worldwide tour — which, naturally, the megafan would be willing to spend up to a grand to see.

 

Therefore, while Tamika has already cancelled her romantic trip to Paris that was planned for the exact date of the anniversary, the rest of the fanbase are eagerly on standby to find out how One Direction will choose to celebrate their decade anniversary — if they do at all. 

Either way, when the date comes around you can find us dancing all night to the best song ever.