The only thing One Direction has more of than hit songs is ex-girlfriends. Within six years, the four dudes have collectively dated almost 20 girls. It's an impressive figure, especially given the fact that they spend at least 9 months of the year on the road. (Do you have any idea how hard it is to carry on a long-distance relationship when you have spotty-at-best access to wifi? Facetiming with fickle internet is no way to fuel love.)
As such, we've compiled a comprehensive list of everyone who has been linked to 1D. (As Zayn Malik tragically left the band, we've left Perrie Edwards and Gigi Hadid off the list, but shoutout to them anyway!) Dating a member of one of the biggest bands in the world may have its perks, but it can also lead to being hounded by fans and media outlets alike. Still, here's your guide to living vicariously through these 18 lucky ladies.
Louis Tomlinson:
Name: Hannah Walker
Time they dated: 2010
When Louis was nothing more than a shaggy-haired contestant on The X Factor, he was dating Hannah Walker. She starred opposite him in a school production of Grease and later became his very first girlfriend.
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Name: Eleanor Calder
Time they dated: 2012 — 2015
Harry isn’t just a semi-professional comedian; he’s also a proven matchmaker. Back in the early days, he played Cupid and introduced his boy to a cute girl he knew through friends. Eleanor, of course, would go on to become Louis’ girlfriend of three years and the subject of a dozen Tumblr sites that continue to obsessively document her style. The two split due to distance—can you imagine dating a dude who spends nine months on the road?
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Name: Briana Jungwirth
Time they dated: 2015
The aspiring fashion stylist met Louis in LA through friends and, after dating (?) briefly, is now expecting a child with him. It’ll be the first One Direction baby (unless you count Harry who, at 21, is by far the youngest in the band). The two are no longer together, but you can expect to see a lot of Briana when Baby Tomlinson arrives.
Name: Danielle Campbell
Time they dated: 2015 — present
Right around the time Louis was singing his heart out on The X Factor, Danielle was experiencing a similar kind of small screen fame as a Disney child star. Now 20, the actress is on the hit CW series The Originals. No one really knows how the two met — there’s obviously some sort of secret society for the beautiful and famous — but we do know they fell hard for each other over milkshakes, as you do. Kelis knew what she was talking about.
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Liam Payne:
Name: Danielle Peazer
Time they dated: 2010 — 2012
Liam met the classically-trained ballerina and professional dancer, who has hit the stage with Jessie J and Katy Perry, when they were both on The X Factor. They dated on and off for two years (much to grief of Directioners everywhere), and eventually called it quits due to both of their busy schedules. Danielle is now the star of a YouTube fitness channel.
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Name: Sophia Smith
Time they dated: 2013-2015
Liam first met Sophie back in school, pre-One Direction fame, and they reunited at a friend’s birthday party in 2013. After a whirlwind relationship — private planes! red carpets! an endless stream of adorable paparazzi snaps! — they called things off in 2015. He told a British newspaper that he was "absolutely devastated" and that “Being on the tour all this year and being away from her was so hard. We spent so much time apart. But in order to do right by somebody sometimes it's better not to do what your heart wants, but to do what's better for them.” But it was likely as devastating for fans—many of whom continue to optimistically ship #Sophiam—as it was for Liam and Sophia themselves.
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Harry Styles
Name: Abigail Crawshaw
Time they dated: 2007
Last fall, Harry had an exceedingly adorable reunion with his first-ever girlfriend at the Newcastle show of One Direction’s On The Road Tour. But he won’t be winning his old love back anytime soon. These days, Abigail, who’s from Harry’s native Redditch, has a boyfriend named Kenny, a penchant for emojis, and a bunch of tweets gushing about The Weeknd.
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Name: Felicity Skinner
Time they dated: 2010
Though Harry Styles insisted in a 2013 interview that he’s never really fallen for a girl, Felicity has taken liberties to describe herself as his first love. (We’d do the same, tbh.) "There was no real reason why we split up. We just drifted apart. I don't think the distance helped and we were really young. It was sad when we first broke up but I'm happy now,” she said in an interview with a UK newspaper. "I think my new boyfriend is better looking than Harry anyway." Revenge is a dish best served shady.
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Name: Caroline Flack
Time they dated: 2011
The TV presenter was 31 when she began dating the fresh-faced, floppy-haired 17-year-old, who she met on The X Factor. "I already knew that he had a crush on me, he'd made it pretty obvious. He'd said it in magazines and he'd said it to friends. Although it was just a bit of fun we decided it was best to keep it to ourselves,” she wrote in her autobiography. "It began to go wrong when Harry was pictured coming out of my house one morning. And once that was out, it was open season.” The relationship was over before it really started — when the press called her a “pedophile” (ouch, and also untrue: because you were already wondering, the age for consent is 16 in the UK), she ended things.
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Name: Emma Ostilly
Time they dated: 2012
When the star of 1D’s “Gotta Be You” music video was photographed kissing Harry, fans spiraled into such a frenzy that she was forced to shut down her Twitter account. The Wilhelmina model is now back on social media, and she has a United States Marine Corps boyfriend with biceps the size of Harry’s thighs who could undoubtedly protect her from bullies (online and otherwise).
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Name: Taylor Swift
Time they dated: 2012-2013
Harry and Taylor were spotted together a few times, most notably holding hands (!) in Central Park. There was a trip to the British Virgin Islands, but the only photographic evidence is a fuzzy paparazzi snap of Taylor alone on a yacht. In fact, most of what we know — or think we know, at least — about their relationship comes courtesy of their music, like the infamous snowmobile accident, which is referenced in both 1989’s “Out Of The Woods” and Made in the AM’s “End Of The Day.”
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Name: Paige Reifler
Time they dated: 2014
The two didn’t really date, unless you count appearing in some vaguely racy Instagram snaps together dating. Okay, so yeah, they totally dated. The whole thing was as short-lived as all of Harry’s other romances, and it also remains totally unconfirmed. The model did once told a reporter that she was “seeing” him but, hey, we’re seeing him too — we’re literally looking at his photo as we speak.
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Name: Kendall Jenner
Time they dated: 2013-2016
After maybe-sorta dating in 2013, Kendall and Harry came together to make us all feel terrible about our own New Year’s Eve plans when they were photographed on a yacht in St. Barts. They haven’t been spotted since spending a weekend sharing a lounge chair on a boat deck, but that probably reflects more on their busy schedules than their romantic feelings.
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Niall Horan:
Name: Holly Scally
Time they dated: 2010
The story’s going to sound familiar by now. Much like the high school relationships of Harry, Liam, and Louis, Niall broke up with his childhood crush shortly after making his debut on The X Factor. “I think he felt bad because he kept saying: ‘I'm so sorry.’ I tried to sound like it was no big deal but it was a bit sad for me,” which seems like an understatement of the century. “I liked him more than I'd let on. I missed him but we still talked on Skype and we met up whenever he was back.” These days, she’s busy “just livin' life,” according to her Instagram bio.
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Name: Ellie Goulding
Time they dated: 2013
Although Ellie has said that she never dated Niall, she concedes that she did “go on a few dates” with him, which, same thing. And it would have been no big deal, except she was also dating Ed Sheeran—a card-carrying Directioner and longtime pal of the dudes—at the very same time. Your favorite redhead ended up writing a song about it, Taylor Swift style, but all three remain friends.
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Name: Barbara Palvin
Time they dated: 2014
After dating off and on for most of 2014, things appeared to be getting more serious between One Direction’s lone Irishman and the Victoria’s Secret model when they spent New Year’s Eve together. But of course, things aren’t always what they appear: After ringing in 2015, the two haven’t been spotted together since.
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Name: Melissa Whitelaw
Time they dated: 2015
Niall was spotted holding the Aussie student’s hand, like, twice. But the relationship was serious enough to inspire an all-knowing “source” to give a quote about their breakup. “Niall and Melissa did well to keep their romance low-profile during their time together. They were really close and had fun whenever they went out together,” an alleged insider told The Sun. “But realistically they always knew it was going to be tough, keeping a relationship going with such distance between them.”
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Name: Selena Gomez
Time they dated: 2016?
Although Selena has admitted to having a thing for guys from Mullenger—which just so happens to be Niall’s very small hometown in Ireland—we don’t really know the extent of their relationship. Are they just friendly? Best friends? Friends with benefits? The possibilities are endless, but Justin Bieber had probably better watch his back regardless.
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Related: Breaking: One Direction Has Reportedly Not Renewed Their Recording Contract
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