One Direction's Liam Payne is on the cover of the upcoming issue for Attitude magazine, and some kind soul uploaded scans of the interview early to Tumblr.

Not only does this mark the first solo interview anyone from One Direction has given since they announced their impending hiatus, but it managed to be a candid, illuminating one, especially for a member of a boyband so tightly controlled by its team.

After addressing those devastating breakup rumors (“This won’t last forever, and there will be a point when we will break off and do our own things, but it’s something that comes back around and we will work together again”), Liam admits he’d rather be behind the scenes than pursue a solo career, anyway.

He said, “I like doing remixes…A lot of people say to me, ‘Oh, you’ll go solo,’ but I haven’t thought about that. If the right song comes along and I should sing it, then i will release it as a solo artist. Otherwise I’m happy being behind the scenes. When the other boys go solo, I would love to write songs for them.”

He also admits that he went through a bit of a party phase, where he was drinking and smoking to excess. Liam said, “I’m not afraid to admit that I actually went through a pretty bad stage. And for that time in my life, that was perfect for me. That’s what I wanted to do and so I enjoyed myself…I mean, you’re away from home all the time and that can get hard. Also back then there were a lot of things on my mind at the time and that’s what helped me through it.”

Keeping with the candid nature of the interview, Liam admitted that “just a few times" he “went over the limit with things and then [he] had to pull it back.”

Liam also addressed accusation of homophobia that have been hurled at him ever since he stated on Twitter that he's a fan of the Duck Dynasty family, the patriarch of which is known for his homophobic comments. Liam said it was all a misunderstanding, and that their homophobic remarks hadn’t made their way to the UK papers, yet.

He said, “To be honest, when I said what I did, I didn’t know about the comments Phil had made. It had only been in the press in America. I was most definitely not supporting what he said, I hadn’t even heard it…I am not supportive of everything they say. I just like their strong family bond.”

He continued to defend himself, saying, “…it upsets me that people believe that [I’m homophobic], because I know I am not, I know what I am like. So, it doesn’t matter massively what people say about me — not that what [he] said should be taken lightly.”

Liam went on to say that ever since gay marriage was made legal across the U.S., more fans have shown up to their shows brandishing rainbow flags — but he feels this stems from conspiracy theorists who believe members Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson have been embroiled in a secret love affair (dubbed Larry Stylinson) for the past five years. Liam maintains that there’s no truth to those rumors, though odds that fans will ever let their ship sink remain slim.

Liam said the rumors are "absolutely nuts and [drive him] insane.”

When pressed further Liam said, “It’s like when you know the ins and outs of what is going on with people it’s just annoying when it’s so stupid. It becomes like a conspiracy or like a cult, the people who watch them and think that every move they make is a gesture toward them being together, and I know it’s just not true and it makes me mad.”

He continued, “It’s so funny to be on the inside of it because you know what’s what and then you hear all these crazy theories.”

Liam even addressed the conspiracy theorists who, despite all odds, truly believe Louis’ (surprise) baby with Briana Jungwirth is part of some elaborate cover-up, just so their management team can keep Harry and Louis closeted. It’s certainly one of the more bizarre ideas to gain traction within the One Direction fandom, and one that somehow grows stronger each day — despite various denials from the members themselves.

Liam said, “[Louis is] very happy about becoming a dad. But the funny thing is there are some people out there who think that Louis getting Briana pregnant is fake. That it’s not real: It’s a cover up. And that’s the short of sh—t that gets to me.”

Liam's not a fan of the sexually explicit fan art he sees everyday, either: “I get a lot of drawings sent to us on the Internet. I get tagged in drawings of Louis and Harry being together. I remember this one time I was sitting next to my dad and I see this picture of me on top of Niall, which was quite intimidating. It’s just really weird to have people drawing these sexually explicit pictures of us in strange situations.”

Further, he straight-up doesn’t approve: “I don’t think it’s the right hobby for these girls to be enjoying. I find it very strange that someone so young can think up these stories or even imagine these things are going on. That for me is the sad and sorry side of what we have done.”

Larry shippers, are you okay? Is this another one of #managements schemes to keep Harry and Louis apart? Or will you finally give up the ghost and believe Liam when he says Larry isn't real? Let us know!

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