Louis Tomlinson never "enjoyed" performing One Direction's debut single.

The 33-year-old singer shot to fame when he was put in the boyband after auditioning for The X Factor and while the group's first song, What Makes You Beautiful, was a huge hit around the world, Louis admitted singing it was always a "challenge".

Speaking on Capital FM, Louis said when asked which song he most hated performing: "Maybe some people wouldn't answer this, but I'm not sure there was a single time I performed One Direction's What Makes You Beautiful and enjoyed it. That always felt like a bit of a challenge."

Louis - who was joined in the group by Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and the late Liam Payne - revealed one of his favourite 1D songs was never released.

He said: "I think we wrote it for the last One Direction record album or the one before...I think it got leaked, actually -- it was a song called Where We Are.

"I always really, really loved that song. I was fighting for that song to make the record. It never did."

Louis recently admitted he doesn't think he can ever "accept" Liam's death after his former bandmate passed away in October 2024 after falling from a hotel balcony.

He told The Independent: "It's something I'll never really accept. I don't think."

And Louis praised Liam as the "most vital" member of the band - which went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016, following the departure of Zayn in 2015 - because the late star was already a seasoned performer.

Louis explained: "He'd already played at half time [at Molineux, at a Wolverhampton Wanderers game], we'd done s***** school shows.

: In between him playing that role and also doing a huge chunk of the songwriting ... it's not even up for debate."

"Liam would always entertain me. If I was bored and wanted to have a laugh, he would play that role...

"Even if he might have been struggling, he put himself second and still turned up. Those moments are really testament to the truth of who he was as a person."