Harry Styles and Ben Winston‘s friendship goes way back! The pair met during Harry’s One Direction days when Ben produced music for the band, and the “As It Was” singer even lived with him and his wife at one point!
Who Is Ben Winston?
Ben is a British producer and director and a co-executive producer of The Late Late Show With James Corden, making him the youngest show producer of a late-night show in America. He’s helped produce a number of successful shows and projects, including the Friends Reunion in 2021! Plus, he is now the executive producer of Hulu’s The Kardashians.
On top of that, he also famously helped create the concept of James Corden’s iconic carpool karaokes.
James Corden explained, “Ben Winston and I always thought there was something very joyful about someone very, very famous singing their songs in an ordinary situation. We just had this idea: Los Angeles, traffic, the carpool lane — maybe this is something we could pull off.”
How Did Harry Styles and Ben Winston Meet?
In 2014, Ben was executive producer of The X Factor in the U.K., where he met Harry for the first time. Ben would later go on to produce One Direction: This Is Us for Columbia Pictures and direct many of the English band’s music videos such as “Best Day Ever,” “You and I,” “Midnight Memories” and “Night Changes.”
The pair remain incredibly close to this day, with Ben even giving Harry the title of “godfather” to his daughter, Ruby! You might recognize her voice from the English singer’s single “As It Was,” where she says in the beginning, “Come on, Harry, we want to say goodnight to you!”
Did Harry Styles and Ben Winston Live Together?
Harry lived in Ben’s attic for 20 months. Yes, you read that right! After moving out of his mother’s Cheshire home, Harry had his eye on a property in an area where Ben was living, but his new house required some work. Ben invited the singer to stay at his home for two weeks while Harry waited on his new home — and soon, those two weeks turned into 20 months!
“Two weeks later and he hadn’t bought his house yet,” Ben shared with Rolling Stone. “It wasn’t going through. Then, he said, ‘I’m going to stay until Christmas, if you don’t mind.’ Then, Christmas came and … ” Ben trailed off.
“But no one ever found out, really,” Ben said. “Even when we went out for a meal, it’s such a sweet family neighborhood, no one dreamed it was actually him. But he made our house a home. And when he moved out, we were gutted.”
After Harry moved out, Ben produced a show called Happy Together, which is loosely based on his and his wife’s experience living with one of the most famous singers in the world.
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