Joe Bonamassa

Monday, October 25, 2010

X Factor pin-ups One Direction and Matt Cardle get a taste of fame as they're mobbed by fans

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

This will take some getting used to: One Direction's youngest member Harry Styles (front centre) and Liam Payne (behind Harry's arm) fight their way through a mob of excited girls

Over the past few weeks of their X Factor fame, the finalists have been adjusting to the daily presence of the paparazzi photographing their daily movements.

But after half-term from school kicked off this week, the wannabe popstars found a group of 70 screaming teenagers waiting for them as they arrived at rehearsals.

Future pin-ups Matt Cardle and boy band One Direction in particular were mobbed by excited young female fans as they tried to make their way to the north London studio.

This is crazy: Matt Cardle keeps his cool as he is surrounded by young X Factor fans

Some fans were getting so excited and obstructing the entry to the rehearsal studio, police were called to try and dispel the chaos.

One Direction bandmates Harry Styles, 16, and Liam Payne, 17, found themselves besieged by girls hoping for an autograph, photo or even a kiss from their new idols.

While One Direction looked like they were enjoying being in the thick of a mob of screaming females, former decorator Cardle managed to keep his cool when they spotted him.

Helping hand: An assistant guides One Direction's Louis Tomlinson through the chaos

Keeping calm: A police officer talks to the young fans in a bid to get them to move on from outside the studio

The 27-year-old, dressed in his trademark hat, looked amused as he stood in the middle of the over-excited fans.

While the fans went crazy for Cardle and One Direction, their response was a bit calmer for the remaining contestants Katie Waissel, Cher Lloyd and Wagner Fiuza-Carrilho.

Attempting to diffuse continuing rumours of discord between them, Waissel, 24, and Lloyd, 17, arrived arm-in-arm, looking the best of friends.

I'm a star! Katie Waissel looks like she's enjoying the paparazzi attention

Calmer: The teenage girls who mobbed One Direction were a bit more relaxed when it came to Waissel and Cher Lloyd

X Factor bosses were probably hoping to keep the finalists' presence a secret after placing them in a house hidden away in one of the Home Countries.

While they've managed to keep the X Factor finalists' home a secret, they haven't been so lucky in hiding the location of rehearsals, with contestants being photographed outside on a daily basis since the live shows began.

Last year, the X Factor house in a quiet suburban street in Golders Green, north London was besieged by screaming teenagers during half-term, who graffitied on walls and left rubbish everywhere to the dismay of local residents.