Louis Tomlinson has challenged Niall Horan to a rap battle.

Louis Tomlinson

Louis Tomlinson

The 25-year-old musician and his One Direction band mate got into a fake Twitter feud earlier this week after Louis said Irish duo Sean and Connor Price, who are competing on UK talent show 'The X Factor' should stop rapping.

Niall - who hails from the Irish town of Mullingar - then joked that the jibe was directed at him and that he is in fact an excellent rapper, and the 'Back To You' hitmaker has now told him to put his money where his mouth is and face him in a rap battle.

Speaking to Darryl Morris backstage at Key 103 Live in Manchester on Thursday (09.11.17), Louis said: "Niall yeah, he's been talking big, hasn't he, on Twitter. He certainly has. He thinks he's the man for a few bars. But, look I'm willing to challenge him any time, any place, I'm ready. I know Niall's got a dodgy knee so, I'll be coming for that first."

In Louis' tweet which sparked the jokey exchange, the star hit out at the young hopefuls, who added a rap segment to Sia's 'Cheap Thrills' during the live shows of the talent competition at the weekend, as he said he'd had "enough" of hearing them rap.

He wrote: "I like these little Irish lads but enough with the rapping."

To which Niall, 24, fired back: "Stop talking about me like that , I'll rap if I want . You know I can spit bars . (sic)"

Louis played along with the joke, writing: "lad you're forgetting I taught you everything you know #raplife #donnysoldier (sic)"

The 'Slow Hands' hitmaker was quick to agree with his close pal - whom he met when their band was formed on 'The X Factor' in 2010 - as he said: "True dat !! Forgot the Yorkshire lads are known for rap aswell hahaha (sic)"

It was Louis who had the last word in the exchange though, as he took aim at the lack of rapping talent to come out of Ireland.

In a sarcastic tweet, he wrote: "just like the long list of Irish rappers ... (sic)"