Harry and James have enjoyed a bromance that has extended for a long time. Per People, James revealed that former One Directioner Louis Tomlinson's late mother, Johannah Deakin, is the reason why he first met One Direction.

"[She] wrote me an email one night saying, 'My son's down in London. I don't know if you remember me. You met him years ago. We're slightly worried that he's in London on his own. Would you reach out to him?'" James explained at the New Yorker Festival in 2022. "And I said, 'Sure.'"

Louis was in London at the time because he was on The X Factor, which is the show that launched One Direction.

That initial plea for guidance from Louis's mother spurred James to develop a friendship with the band.

"Various members of that band would come around to our house in North London and we'd eat pizza and play PlayStation and my wife [Julia] would feel like she was babysitting," James recalled.

In the years since, fans have seen plenty of crossovers between James and One Direction. After an initial 1D interview in May 2015 on James's show, Harry did solo interviews on multiple occasions afterward (as, of course, have other 1D members).

Harry also collaborated with James on a crosswalk concert in 2020, and appeared alongside James in his signature series Carpool Karaoke. The two once faced off in a dodgeball match that was broadcast on television and social media, and Harry even took over for James as host of The Late Late Show one night at short notice when James's wife unexpectedly went into labor.