Um, did Niall Horan just shade One Direction? The singer just opened up about some of the frustrations he felt during his time in the band, and he even claimed that he’s much happier now. OK, ouch, our hearts are breaking.

“Back in the day you just went along with it as there was nothing you could do about it. It was insanely fun — what 18-year-old wouldn’t want that — but it did used to frustrate me that I couldn’t get out of the hotel,” the 25-year-old told Daily Star.

As fans know, 1D was one of the biggest boy bands in the world, which unfortunately came with mobs of screaming fangirls everywhere they went. We totally understand why that could get frustrating!

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But now that he’s released music as a solo artist, Niall explained that things have calmed down a lot.

“But last year I got to see more of the actual countries on tour which I am very happy with,” he continued. “Now I can walk down the street which is quite nice and I can go as I please.”

Phew, we all just want him to be happy, so hearing that is such a relief. And it turns out, this isn’t the first time the “Slow Hands” crooner has opened up about his frustrations with the massive crowds.

“It can be quite frustrating being stuck in a hotel,” Niall told Now Magazine back in 2015. “I remember in Peru — I got up, went into Louis [Tomlinson’s] room and said, ‘Right, what we doing today?’ And he goes, ‘We should go shopping!’ Then we looked out the window. There were 10,000 people on the street outside our hotel.”

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Niall has also been pretty open about the fact that he’s claustrophobic — which probably doesn’t help.

“I’m quite claustrophobic and I don’t like everyone crowding around and shouting the same questions. I get a little bit scared sometimes,” he told We Love Pop Magazine in 2013. “It’s all good as we’ve got a good security team.”

We’re so glad that the heartthrob can walk around freely now.

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