Sunday, June 10, 2012 9:04am ET by  
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Harry Styles’ classmate reveals One Direction star has faced backlash from home town

A former classmate and bandmate of Harry Styles has revealed how the One Direction star has become the target of abuse in his hometown of Holmes Chapel.

19-year-old Will Sweeny, who was in the same high school band, White Eskimo, as the teen heartthrob, told The People that Harry has had to deal with a lot of negativity from the area he grew up in ever since he rose to fame:

“There’s been a lot of jealousy and resentment in Holmes Chapel towards Harry, particularly towards his success.

“It’s so sad. A lot of these people used to be his friends but now they hate him. They say it’s because he left us and dropped us for fame and fortune."

Will went onto add that the 'One Thing' singer has found it difficult to understand the behaviour of those who knew him before his success:

“It really upsets Harry because he’s a ­sensitive guy. He doesn’t understand it either. People call him a d**khead and refer to him as that t**t. More recently he’s had abuse on network sites and chatrooms.

“It gets him down and when he comes back to see his family he just likes to keep out of the way of some people because of what they’ve said.

“He thought people would be proud of him. The last thing he expected was to be resented by people who are just jealous of what he’s achieved. He doesn’t read the messages any more. He just ignores them now.”

 

 

 

Watch a recent interview with Harry and Zayn below: