7 Reasons It's Ok To Like One Direction Over The Age Of 20

As teeny boppers One Direction kick off a stint of sold out shows at London's O2, we discuss why it's perfectly acceptable to be cray cray about the manufactured popsters. We're stepping out of the closet of shame and are ready to embrace 1D.

Try as we might, we can't escape the pull of lovable popstars One Direction. In vain we have attempted to remain aloof, unphased and impervious to the five scallywags, who were brought into being by the music industry mega-mogul that is Simon Cowell.

But enough is enough. We are powerless to resist the dimple-cheeked, fluffy-haired scamps any longer. Here are our seven reasons it's ok to heart One Direction (even though some of us could have potentially given birth to them):

1) Harry Styles The follicly blessed chap from Cheshire is by far the main attraction of One Direction. He's handsome, he's charming and he's a major fashion fan - he's pals with Christopher Bailey and has sat FROW at several Burberry and Aquascutum shows during London Fashion Weeks gone by. He's also BFFs with the London glam set including Nick Grimshaw, Tinie Tempah, James Corden and Alexa Chung. Plus, he has been linked to a string of famous ladies, including Cara Delevingne and Taylor Swift, which keeps us very entertained.

2) They have some talent Sure the boys can hold a tune but they have been widely maligned for their absence of musical ability. But, what do you know, the lads co-wrote four whole songs for their second album (steady on). And little Niall Horan (the Irish cutie) even plays the guitar, too.

3) Not all pop They may be the biggest boyband in the world, having released some perfectly cheese-tastic pop songs, but the lads themselves have pretty good taste in music. They name The Killers, The Cribs, John Mayer, Coldplay and Ben Howard as some of their favourite acts. Oh, and Harry Styles used to be in a rock band called White Eskimo before he hit the big time with 1D.

4) Le freak is not chic There isn't a lame choreographed dance routine, or an overly dramatic Westlife-esque key change, in sight for this boyband, which earns them some serious cool points. We bet Gary Barlow is wondering why he never had it so easy.

5) It's all about charidee One Direction are officially the richest boyband in the world right now, having earned themselves a staggering £25 million in the last couple of years. And, according to this year's Sunday TImes Rich List, the boys are also some of the most generous charity donors in showbiz.