One Direction assures fans split won’t be permanent

FILE- In this March 25, 2015 file photo, members of One Direction, from left, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan, wave during an event to promote their film “One Direction: This Is US,” in Makuhari, near Tokyo. A British newspaper has reported Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, the band members would go separate ways after finishing a tour this autumn and promoting their fifth album. Publicist Simon Jones says he won’t comment on “speculation” that the group will take a hiatus starting in March. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

LONDON — Members of One Direction have confirmed the band is taking a break, but are reassuring worried fans that it won’t be permanent.

Niall Horan tweeted that “we are not splitting up,” while Louis Tomlinson posted “it’s just a break … Promise.” Liam Payne tweeted Tuesday that “there’s so much more to come.”

The Sun newspaper reported Monday that the four band members will go their separate ways for at least a year after finishing a tour this autumn and promoting their fifth album.

One Direction formed in 2010 after five teenagers — Horan, Tomlinson, Payne, Harry Styles and Zayn Malik — auditioned individually for British TV talent show “The X Factor.” Entertainment mogul Simon Cowell put them together as a boy band.

Malik quit the chart-topping group earlier this year.