X Factor choreographer Brian Friedman claims the historic scene where One Direction members were chosen was ‘re-shot’ after his suggestions.

Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik rose to fame on the 2010 series of The X Factor.

Despite coming in third place behind winner Matt Cardle and runner-up Rebecca Ferguson, they went on to become one of the biggest boybands in the world.

Since then, they’ve gone on to carve out successful music careers, filled stadiums, had children, and sold millions of records individually.

Dancer Brian, 46, who had a brief role on the judging panel in 2007 before becoming the series’ creative director, reflected on how the scene allegedly played out on screen.

‘I had a brief from Simon Cowell which was “we want to put a boy group together,”‘ he said in a snippet for an upcoming documentary.

‘So I’m working with the contestants backstage before they ever hit the stage, before they go in front of the judges. So after I’ve done all my coaching with them. I had a short list and four of the boys’ names were on it.

He continued: ‘I passed my list in and they re-shot the scene where Simon and Nicole decide who the boys are going to be.

‘We do a lot of things and don’t get compensated for it. I can be in the room putting One Direction together and never see a penny of anything they do.

One Direction’s dedicated fanbase were left devastated when Zayn left the group in 2015, which resulted in the other four members calling it quits the year after having released their final album – The A.M.

One Direction formed in 2010 after the five boys auditioned as solo artists on The X Factor (Picture: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Clear Channel)

There was no beef with Zayn’s departure though, as he described wanting to be a ‘normal 22-year-old’ for a time and cited the other guys as ‘friends for life’.

Since, Harry, 29, has rocketed to international stardom as a solo artist, with Liam also releasing an album back in 2019, and Louis making two; one in 2020 and another in 2022.

Meanwhile, Niall recently released his third solo album, The Show, andannounced his first tour in five years.

Metro.co.uk has reached out to ITV and Simon Cowell’s reps for comment.

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One Direction were formed on X Factor.