Friday, August 31, 2012 11:18am ET by  
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Simon Cowell admits shock at rapid success of One Direction

Simon Cowell has admitted he was shocked at how quickly One Direction became worldwide stars.

The media mogul, who mentored the boyband during their X-Factor run in 2010, told the Evening Standard that the extent of their achievements have undoubtedly taken him by surprise:

“I haven’t seen a worldwide reaction like this to a group for a very long time — this is not standard, this reaction.

“If we’d been having a conversation two years ago, I wouldn’t have said we’re going to debut at number one in America. That would have been ridiculous.”

The 52-year-old, who also described the group as 'polite' and 'intelligent,' went on to praise his former contestants for the input they have in their career, citing their use of Twitter in particular.

“Everything we did was done with their support because they’ve got taste and they knew what they wanted to be.

“They were very good at connecting with their fans — they worked it.”

 

 

 

Watch One Direction's Judges House performance below: