Simon Cowell has revealed he's given One Direction bandmates Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson permission to work on solo material as long as they stay together.

Simon Cowell

Simon Cowell

Cowellhas revealed he doesn't mind if Styles, Horan, Malik, Tomlinson and Payne work on their own individual projects on the side, as long as they come back to the band.

He told The Sun newspaper: "I hear Harry is going to go solo all the time.

"My advice is they should stay together.

"They can still do things whenever they want. They should stay together."

The 'X Factor' judge signed the heartthrobs to his Syco record label after mentoring them to third place on the British talent show.

The 'Steal My Girl' hitmakers have been working on their own music alongside their work as a band with Zayn Malik teaming up with Naughty Boy and Harry Styles recording a duet with 'All About That Bass' singer Meghan Trainor.

Meanwhile, the 20-year-old star is said to be "ambitious about his future" but is making the most of his time with One Direction.

A source said previously: "Harry's a very sensible man. He knows he's got time on his side and doesn't want to rush anything.

"Right now he loves that his life in One Direction means he gets to meet so many interesting people who might be able to help him in the future.

"He's very grateful for everything One Direction has given him. He appreciates it every day.

"But obviously he does think about his future and what he might like to achieve.

"That's inevitable. He's ambitious about his future."