Entertainment
Harry Styles is coming back to the U.S. on tour in June, but you'll be able to watch him play some tunes sooner than that. British radio DJ Nick Grimshaw hosts Harry Styles At The BBC, airing on BBC America Friday, April 20 at 9 p.m. ET. (The concert special already aired on BBC One in the U.K. in November 2017.) Why is the "Sign Of The Times" singer sitting down with this particular host? Well, Nick Grimshaw and Harry Styles are friends — and the relationship between these British buds is pretty delightful.
As the host of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show for BBC Radio 1, Grimshaw gets to interact with a lot of A-listers. (Including Styles' bandmates, on occasion.) But his relationship with Styles evolved from professional to personal-and-professional relatively quickly. Styles became famous when One Direction competed during Season 7 of The X Factor in 2010. (Grimshaw himself became a judge of the reality competition show for Season 12 in 2015.) And by 2011, Styles and Grimshaw were flaunting their friendship over social media for all the world to see — like when Styles tweeted that he was supposed to be going to Grimshaw's house for Christmas that year.
Their friendship caused such a stir that some people even thought they were romantically entangled. But in September 2013, British GQ asked Styles directly about the dating rumors. Styles said, "We're not dating, no. We're just friends." In a 2017 interview with The Sun, the artist said that he "never felt the need to" clarify his sexuality publicly. (Grimshaw is gay and told Radio Times in 2015, "I never felt as an adult that I even had to come out.")
If you've ever listened to one of Styles' appearances on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, then you know all about this pair's familiar banter. And fortunately, Harry Styles Live At The BBC features not just an interview and several performances, but also a couple of segments with Harry and Grimmy just hanging out. So to prepare yourself to see Styles and Grimshaw's bromance in full force during this intimate concert special, here are some of the highlights of their friendship over the years.
Teasing On Twitter
Since the beginning of their friendship, Grimshaw has been teasing his superstar bud. As an deep dive into their Twitter mentions would reveal, the above interaction is far from the only time these besties bantered on the social media site. And don't worry, they use Instagram to tease each other too.
Taking Silly Selfies
Grimshaw has thousands of more posts on Instagram than Styles; on his account, you can find some gems of the two of them posing together in photos dating back to the early 2010s.
Congratulating Accomplishments
When One Direction won at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards for "What Makes You Beautiful" and for Best New Artist, Grimshaw congratulated Styles specifically on Twitter.
Partying All Night Long
After the 2013 BRIT Awards, Grimshaw and Styles made headlines for partying together until the morning. Since Grimshaw hosts an AM radio show, the world knew about their antics because Grimshaw went to work straight from partying. And he even brought Styles with him to the studio, as Daily Mail reported.
Defending Their Friendship
Some people judged Styles and Grimshaw's friendship — particularly when it first started — because of their age difference. For instance, The Sun reported that British comedian Russell Howard said in 2012, "Nick is my age and Harry is about 18 and they play frisbee together — it’s really weird." (Styles is currently 24 and Grimshaw is 33.) But Grimshaw defended their friendship to Now magazine in April 2013. "It seems totally normal to me: a DJ being mates with a pop star," Grimshaw said. "When anyone meets him, it's like, 'Oh yeah, he's really nice and interesting.' And they immediately understand."
Pranking Each Other
During a game of Call or Delete on Grimshaw's show (where guests have to prank call random people in their contacts or delete their number) in March 2014, the DJ encouraged The 1975 to prank call Styles. Maybe Grimshaw gave his friend a tip because Styles was remarkably open to giving away £5,000.
Posing With Supermodels
Grimshaw is also friends with an actual supermodel: Kate Moss. (In an interview with Evening Standard, Grimshaw said that Moss actually came up with the idea for Call or Delete.) In September 2015, Daily Mail reported that Grimshaw and Moss attended a One Direction concert together — and documented it with the above Instagram post. It was one of the last times anyone could see One Direction live since they went on an "extended hiatus" after that tour.
Celebrating Birthdays
Even though Styles' birthday is actually on February 1, Hello reported that he celebrated his 22nd birthday a bit early with Grimshaw in London in January 2016.
Bro-ing On The Radio
When Styles' first solo single was released on April 7, 2017, he — of course — took to the radio to speak to Grimshaw about it. Grimmy wrote on an April 4 Instagram post that they spoke for three hours and that "the song is beautiful." Now that the world has heard "Sign Of The Times," they know that Grimshaw wasn't just being kind to a friend when he praised the sweeping ballad.
Professing Their Love
After Styles' radio interview about "Sign Of The Times" aired, Styles wrote on Twitter, "Thanks for having me. Love you. H." Metro claimed that Styles was speaking directly to Grimshaw with that tweet. Although he could have been saying "love you" to his fans, it's nice to think he was directly recognizing his friend. Plus, it makes sense since Grimshaw was the one who specifically hosted him.
Getting The Intel On Taylor Swift
A month later, Grimshaw interviewed Styles again for the release of his debut solo album, Harry Styles. Grimshaw was bold enough to ask Styles if "Two Ghosts" was about Taylor Swift. To get out of the question, Styles animatedly asked his manager Jeffrey Azoff for help. Radio 1 made a video of Styles amusingly saying, "Help me, Jeffrey," that Grimshaw couldn't help but share on Twitter.
Rocking Matching Clothes
Grimshaw had his buddy back on in 2017 in July when Styles' film debut in Dunkirk premiered. They rocked very similar outfits and it wasn't the first time that the pair presumably coordinated. The Mirror reported that they wore matching outfits in June 2015 when Grimshaw launched his clothing line with the brand Topman.
Taking To TV Together
Not satisfied with radio, the buds decided to take over your TV together with Harry Styles At The BBC, as Grimshaw teased on his Instagram with the above photo in October 2017.
So if you are utterly American and had no idea who Grimshaw was before, now you'll know the cheeky chap who is so familiar with Styles during Harry Styles Live At The BBC — and that their friendship runs deep.
