The X Factor releases new video revealing moment One Direction was formed

It's been 12 years since these fresh faces were introduced to the world as One Direction. Photo / Getty Images

It's been 12 years since The X Factor famously spawned One Direction and the show has celebrated by releasing never-before-seen footage of how the judges formed one of the world's biggest boy bands.

Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson were all eliminated as solo performers on the TV talent show before they were brought back to form a group. The newly released video from 2010 shows that decision being made as judges Nicole Scherzinger, Simon Cowell, and Louis Walsh sift through photos of discarded contestants.
And as the video demonstrates, it was Scherzinger who played the biggest role in grouping the eventual band members together.

She's seen shouting "Yes!" when spotting Styles' photo and suggests pairing him with Horan before Tomlinson is also added to the pile.

"The little girls are gonna love them," Scherzinger (accurately) predicts.

Payne and Malik are later added to the pile of photos on the judges' table, although Cowell suggests Payne should go to another group. Scherzinger stands firm in keeping him with the others.

"They have just the right look and the right charisma on stage, I think they'll be really great in a boy band together," she says of the newly formed group.

"They're like little stars. You can't get rid of little stars, so you put them all together."

One Direction didn't go on to win The X Factor that year – but they did go on to sell tens of millions of albums before going on hiatus in 2015.