UPDATE: April Fools!!!

One Direction star Niall Horan is to quit the band to become a priest.

He told his shocked band members during an after-concert dinner and they all agreed to support him.

Horan told them he had been thinking about doing it for some time and had been searching for the meaning of life. He said the break-up of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin had deeply affected him as they seemed the perfect couple.

"So many girls, so much good times, I guess Niall felt guilty about it," said band member Harry Styles. "He is thinking about being a monk, getting away from it all."

Horan will enter the seminary on April 1 and will be on a fast track to priesthood. He will study in Tibet at a remote Christian monastery there.

"We could be welcoming Father Horan within two years" said Father Seamus Mulligan, a long time Trappist monk based in Nepal.

“We have expedited paths to the priesthood for major names."

He said the pope had been informed.

He stated they were hopeful Chris Martin of "Coldplay" might consider holy orders after leaving Gwyneth Paltrow.

"We all need to uncouple, to learn what is important,” said Father Mulligan.