Louis Tomlinson has shut down a long-held fan theory that he had a secret relationship with his former One Direction bandmate Harry Styles.
A certain corner of the boyband fandom – who refer to themselves “Larries” – have spent years “shipping” the pair while trading theories about the two singers.
While their theories are completely baseless, videos continue to circulate on social media and in online forums which analyse the interactions and body language of Louis and Harry from throughout their time in the band.
The Back To You singer has now hit out at the speculation as “ridiculous”.
Speaking to fans on Tuesday during a Q&A on X, Louis was asked about a recipe for “chicken parmesan”, which just happens to be the dish “Larries” think Louis and Harry once shared during a supposed date.
“You start by realising all these ridiculous childish theories and conspiracies are wasted time and energy and then just throw the chicken in the oven to be fair,” Louis wrote.
“Simple stuff.”
Back in 2017, Louis revealed in an interview with The Sun that the persistent theories about himself and Harry had affected their friendship.
“It kind of happened naturally for me and Harry because a certain amount of the fans drew up this conspiracy,” he explained.
Louis later added: “It created this atmosphere between the two of us where everyone was looking into everything we did.”
In 2019, Louis also voiced his disdain over an animated love scene depicting himself and Harry that featured in the US teen drama Euphoria.
He previously said that the conspiracy theories felt “a little bit disrespectful” to Eleanor Calder, his on-off girlfriend from whom he split in January of this year.