It was heartbreaking enough for his young fans when he started going out with a TV presenter 15 years his senior.
So the news that Caroline Flack wasn’t the first older woman to catch Harry Styles’ eye might be rather too much to bear.
It has emerged that the 18-year-old One Direction star had already had a secret romance with married radio presenter Lucy Horobin, who at 32 is the same age as Flack.
Their short-lived affair began when Styles was 17, and almost wrecked Horobin’s marriage.
He met Horobin, nicknamed Lulu by friends, last August, when she interviewed the band for Manchester-based station Key 103.
Their relationship was common knowledge among staff at the station, who had noticed them flirting on air.
A former colleague at Key 103 said: “Apparently Lucy and Harry hit it off from the moment the boys walked into the studio — it was electric and they were flirting like crazy.
“Lucy made it quite clear she fancied him and there was a lot of banter between them both on and off air. It got a little risque. She is a really fun girl with loads of personality and she’s not at all shy about coming forward and making sure she gets what she wants.
“People knew that Lucy’s marriage was in a strange place at the time and obviously the attraction between her and Harry was mutual. She looks just like George CloOney’s ex, Lisa Snowdon, and that sophisticated ‘older woman’ look obviously appeals to Harry.’
Horobin had been married to husband Oliver Pope for only a year when she met Styles. The couple lived in a rented terraced house in Chorlton, Manchester, where neighbours described them as “nice and friendly”. But they are said to have encountered difficulties and were leading separate lives at the time of the affair.
Horobin’s flirtation with Styles began on air when she interviewed him alongside his bandmates Liam Payne, 18, Zayn Malek, 19, Louis Tomlinson, 20, and Niall Horan, 18.
Introducing the show, she said: “I’m joined by five very handsome and lovely boys, and I’ve got you all to myself tonight.”
Styles was quick to compliment her, saying: “You look lovely today.” She replied: “Thanks Harry, so do you.”
The pair later exchanged flirtatious messages on Twitter and Facebook.
Horobin and Styles then met secretly at a hotel in Manchester, where they reportedly spent a night together. It is understood they met again in December — after Styles had started dating Flack — when One Direction returned to the city for another concert.
A source said: “I think that was the end of it. By then I think Lucy was determined to mend her marriage and put this fling behind her.”
In February, Horobin and her husband moved south together after she landed a new job at another radio station.
A former neighbour said: “She said she had a job at Heart radio. She said they were going to be renting a cottage on a farm so there would be plenty of room for her cats in the fields.”
Styles dated Xtra Factor presenter Flack for three months. They split in January.
The singer has previously denied he is attracted to so-called “cougars” — older women who seduce younger men.
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