Harry Styles Hints At 1D's Future & It's Not Great

There are few bands with a fan base quite as passionate as One Direction's, so it's no surprise that Directioners have been anxiously awaiting any news hinting that their beloved boy band may return to the stage. Of course, this comes after One Direction announced their "temporary hiatus" in August of 2015, as well as the early 2016 rumors that spread alleging the band's hiatus was actually a permanent split. So far, the "What Makes You Beautiful" bandmates have stayed mum on whether One Direction has officially dissolved, which is enough for Directioners to cling to the hope that the world will get a new 1D album someday. However, that might be wishful thinking: Another Man's new interview with Harry Styles suggests that we shouldn't expect a One Direction reunion any time soon.

Chelsea Handler interviewed Styles for Another Man, and naturally, the conversation turned to One Direction. Will the "Night Changes" boy-banders decide to come back together and delight Directioners everywhere?! Styles' isn't exactly saying "hell no," but his wishy-washy answers suggest that the band isn't moving towards a reunion right now. Here's what Styles told Handler when she asked if the band was getting back together:

"I don't know. When we started, people always asked, 'Where do you think you'll be in five years? It's a difficult question to answer. I would never say we'll never do anything again but it's good for us to be exploring different things... Maybe at some point everyone will want to do something again but it's better if it happens naturally like, 'Hey we all really want to do this again. If that were to happen it would be amazing. I would never rule that out."

Styles may not be ruling a 1D reunion out, but his words aren't going to give anxious fans the confirmation of a reunion that they're longing for. In fact, it seems like Styles is totally cool doing his own thing — he'll appear in the upcoming Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk in 2017, which is about as different from One Direction as you can get. It's not just a rising film career that Styles wants to explore: in June of 2016, Styles scored a solo record contract with Columbia Records, the very same label that One Direction was signed to.

So, really, were the signs that One Direction's hiatus was more permanent than anyone wanted to directly admit always there? It's possible that Styles' new interview is just confirming what so many clues told us — that One Direction may be a thing of the past, as least for the foreseeable future.