Louis Tomlinson says he might not return to The X Factor

Louis Tomlinson has said he might not return to The X Factor if it gets in the way of his solo career.

The One Direction star won the last series of the ITV singing competition with his act Dalton Harris.

“It was such an amazing experience, I was nervous about doing it because I had not really done (anything) like that before”, Tomlinson said of being a judge.

But he told ITV show Lorraine: “If it’s going to get in the way of my mission for this year, which is releasing the album, it’s probably going to be less likely.”

Asked about Simon Cowell saying he wants all the judges to return, the singer said: “Well, he hasn’t called me yet!”

The interview was recorded just five days before the death, from a suspected cardiac arrest, of Tomlinson’s 18-year-old sister Felicite.

And Tomlinson said that being a father to three-year-old Freddie helped him through the grief process following the death of his mother.

“Every time I spend time with Freddie … you feel so much love and it doesn’t matter what’s going on, in that moment that’s all you are thinking about. Those times with him are priceless,” he said.

Tomlinson said of his son, who he had with stylist Briana Jungwirth: “He is well behaved but he is also a little bit mischievous, but in a harmless way.

“He is really funny and as he is getting older, I am seeing his personality come through. It’s so exciting.”

The singer said being a solo artist can be “daunting” after the experience of One Direction but added: “We are forever brothers”.

On getting the band back together, he said: “I don’t really know the answer” but “the reality is, I think it’s a must.”

He also discussed writing his new song, Two Of Us, about his late mother Johannah Deakin, who died from leukaemia in 2016 at the age of 43.

Tomlinson said: “We can all talk about it (grief) a little bit more.

“I think that’s why I feel good about singing the lyrics because it was a moment for me to speak about it publicly.”