She’s the all-American girl who pens heartfelt songs about ill-fated love. He’s the bad-boy tween hunk with a weakness for hot older women. On paper, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift – or Haylor, as they have been dubbed – make the perfect First Couple of pop. But with insiders claiming their turbo-charged hook up has caused a monumental rift within the band, and jealous fans sending death threats to the talented blonde chanteuse over her involvement with Harry, Taylor is already being tipped as the temptress that will tear One Direction apart.
Dates before mates
Since the pair were outed live on air by X Factor USA host, Mario Lopez, 23-year-old Taylor has been the subject of a barrage of fan-focused scorn. First it was from jealous ‘Directioners’, who took to Twitter to venomously warn her off the 18-year-old British pop hunk. But now, it seems Harry’s band mates are also concerned about the motives of his new love interest, resulting in fears that Taylor (who’s been branded the Yoko Ono of One Direction) may lead Harry in the wrong direction, in the same way John Lennon’s widow was blamed for splitting up The Beatles.
“It’s really not far off from the Yoko situation,” spilled a source. “[Taylor’s] presence has stirred tensions in the band as Harry’s now spending most of his time with her.” While boy bands are built with an expiry date, usually triggered by internal rivalry (think Gary and Robbie, Noel and Liam, John and Paul), the shelf life of a successful BB is anywhere between five and 10 years; but just two years in, at the height of their fame, rumours that fresh-out-of-the-box 1D are to split, firmly point the finger of blame at Taylor.
The first sign of trouble came when Harry flew from New York to London in Taylors’ private jet, leaving the rest of the boys to slum it on a commercial flight (albeit in first class). Tensions flared when the boys disembarked in the English capital, only to be mobbed by a hoard of over-zealous fans, injuring 18-year-old singer Liam Payne to such an extent, he later tweeted “My scratch is that bad I think I might have to cut my arm off.”
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