Without Simon Cowell, the world may have never gotten this little band you might’ve heard of, One Direction. One member of the group is nothing but loyal to Simon, and that’s our dear Louis Tomlinson. Louis was on hand as Simon received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and seeing them together – knowing Louis was there to support the man who really kickstarted his career – was truly heartwarming. As we all know, Simon is THE judge on X Factor, and he was 1D’s mentor when they competed on the show. They ended up coming in third place, but Simon signed them to his label and well, the rest is history, as they went on to basically take over the world. 

Now, eight years later, Louis is joining Simon on that judging panel for the upcoming season of X Factor while continuing to work on his solo music and be a dad to his two-year-old son, Freddie. So Simon has seen Louis, along with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, and Zayn Malik grow up right before his eyes. His friendship with Louis is something special – and when the singer released his jam “Back to You,” Simon was nothing but proud and reminded Louis to always “always be true to yourself with the music.”

“Louis and I, you know, we’ve got this very close bond. When we heard about this current record, I remember calling him and going, ‘Louis, this record is special’ — and I could not be happier. Actually, with all the boys, if I’m being honest with you. They’ve worked for this. But yeah, you do feel a little bit like a proud dad when you see all five of them doing well now,” Simon said to Billboard. And it’s clear the love and respect are mutual since Louis was literally the cutest lil bean ever as Simon was being honored. The 1D crew is family for life, that is a fact.

Check out the gallery below to see Louis being adorable AF at Simon’s star unveiling! Because who doesn’t need some cute Tommo pics in their life, right?

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