23 November 2019
Newsdesk
The 25-year-old singer/songwriter admitted he finds it "weird" when people call him sexy and revealed he was worried about being open about sex when he was in boy band One Direction.
Speaking to Zane Lowe for 'New Music Daily' on Apple Music's Beats 1 Radio, Harry said: "Honestly, I’d say I try and think about it as little as possible, because it’s a very strange, dynamic thing. It’s also like a weird thing to think of about yourself.
"I guess the thing with like sex, in general, is like, it used to feel so much more taboo for me.
"Even like when we were in the band, the thought of people thinking that I had sex was like, 'oh no, that’s crazy. What if they know?'"
Harry also revealed he waited for One Direction to go on hiatus before experimenting with drugs.
The singer - who rose to fame at the age of 16 on 'The X Factor' in 2010 along with his bandmates Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Niall Horan - didn't want to threaten the success of the band, who had a predominantly young fan base, so he waited before dabbling with substances.
He explained: "When I was in the band, to me it felt like it was so much bigger than any of us I felt , I'm not going to be the one who f***ed it up ... I'm not going to be the guy who messes it up. So I was like, I'm not going to do any of that stuff."
The boy band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016 and then allowed himself to have more freedom in his lifestyle.
He shared: "I was like, now is the time in my life when you probably go out and experiment, and do this and you take this and you do that. And that's what you do with your friends."
The 'Watermelon Sugar' hitmaker first tried magic mushrooms last year whilst recording in Malibu in the famous Shangri-La studios, and he admitted it felt like the right time to take the hallucinogenic drug because he felt "safe".
Harry also believes that using magic mushrooms helped the creative process.
Harry admitted: "Making this album was all about freedom. I had a big moment ... I think part of the thing with the mushrooms thing for me is that I never do anything when I'm working, and I don't even drink when I'm working, if I'm touring or anything. I don't drink really at all.
"Making this record felt like... I just felt so much more joyous. And I was with my friends, and we were in Malibu I felt so safe. It was like, I want to take some mushrooms, I'm going to take some. Like now's the time to have fun. Like we're in Malibu. 24. I'm also in music. I'm not like, do you know what I mean? I'm not-I'm not a politician. I don't think it's that crazy. I think my thing with drugs is, if you're taking anything to escape both to try and hide from stuff then you shouldn't even drink. And if you're taking anything to have fun and be creative, then great. I was with my friends and making an album, you obviously get so in your head and you get so self-conscious about everything and you hit these bumps in the road where you're thinking this is good enough, and is it this enough? Is that enough?"
