The estranged father of One Direction star Louis Tomlinson has come forward to a national newspaper, saying he was overwhelmed with pride when he went to see the singer perform.
Louis hasn't spoken to Troy Austin since he first auditioned for The X Factor back in 2010, and his half-sister Georgia has apparently only met the global superstar three times.
Troy and Georgia went to see the boyband in concert this week, and were apparently blown away.
“Seeing Louis on that stage was amazing. He’s in the biggest band in the world and I’m the proudest dad in the world. I just hope he knows it," he told the Sunday Mirror.
He was hoping to see his son backstage after the show, but was told the band had to "rush off".
"It was a shame we couldn’t see Louis and tell him how brilliant he was. But I know he and the rest of the lads are really busy. Georgia was gutted – she’s his half-sister after all," he said.
“I haven’t been there for most of his life, so I understand I’m not one of his main priorities."
He went on: “He knows we were in the crowd and now I want to tell him what it meant to me to see him up there. I cried buckets.
“I thought the best concerts I’d ever been to were U2 and The Waterboys, but not any more.”
Speaking about when he found out Louis' life was about to change forever on a certain ITV talent show, he recalled: “A few days before, his mum rang out of the blue and told me Louis wanted to see me. He was so grown up. The last time I’d seen him, he was a boy. Now he was a handsome young man.
“His manners were impeccable. I was bowled over by how he’d turned out. I told Johanna he was a credit to her. He explained that he’d auditioned for The X Factor and that he’d been put in a group by Simon Cowell. He said he didn’t want me to find out just by seeing him on TV.
“I knew he’d been in a band when he was at school and that he was into performing. I think he gets it from my nan, his great-gran. She died in 2001 aged 86 but was still singing in her local pub right up until the end. She was a born entertainer.”
It is pointed out by the tabloid that Troy was not paid for his interview, but a donation was made to the Bluebell Wood children's cancer charity on his behalf.
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