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At one point in his son’s journey through the X Factor talent machine, Simon Cowell pointed out to Anne Twist that mothers can be a bit biased when it comes to their children’s talents.
“He said, ‘Mom doesn’t always know,’ Ann tells me with a smile. ‘But I always thought he had something.’
“He” is Harry Styles. That “something” was the charisma that made him a global superstar, and if it weren’t for a certain crown prince, you could easily know him by his Christian name alone.
Now a solo artist and former member of One Direction, he has sold millions of records, became the first man to solo on the cover of American Vogue magazine, and launched a film career. made his acting debut in 2017’s acclaimed war epic Dunkirk. .
He also has a wide fanbase around the world, from goggle-eyed teenagers to pensioners.
Then there’s the roll call of gorgeous and often older superstar girlfriends. . She recently dated actress Olivia Wilde, 39, for two years, whom she met on the set of the 2022 movie Don’t Worry Darling.
He’s now added another supermodel to his romantic resume. Three weeks ago, he was spotted canoeing with Emily Ratajkowski.
All of this happens before Harry turns 30. That milestone is his February next year.
Last year, he overtook Ed Sheeran to become the richest British star under 30, with an estimated net worth of £116 million. He has used his fortune to purchase an impressive real estate portfolio around the world with luxury homes in New York and London.
Yes, it’s clear that Harry has ‘something’. His mother’s instincts were right, but Ann, 55, or “Mom Her Twist” (her adorable name as she goes by her Twitter feed) tries not to make a fuss about it.
“He’s always the same,” she says. “When he was a very little boy, he looked a lot like him now. He just got smaller.”
But like any good mother, Anne doesn’t prioritize either of her two children. Harry’s older sister, Gemma, 32, is a writer and podcaster who has more than nine million followers on Instagram.
“I’m so proud of Harry and his older sister Gemma, and that they’ve grown up,” she emphasizes. .
“It may sound like a scary cliché, but as long as they’re happy, that’s what matters most.”
What is revealed today is that behind this massive star lies a close-knit family. “Oh yeah, we’re all close. It’s just geography,” says Anne. “When we can meet, we all meet.”
In fact, when they reunite at the family’s home in Holmes Chapel in Cheshire, Anne tells Harry to “open the fridge” as soon as he walks in.
A former pub landlady, Anne was married to Harry and Gemma’s father, Desmond, until the couple divorced when Harry was seven years old. After that she remarried her twice. She remarried first to businessman John Cox and in 2013 to Robin She Twist.
At just 19 and already a 1D star, Harry was best man at the wedding in Congleton, Cheshire. Security and secrecy had to be tight to prevent hordes of teenage girls from besieging the day. Unfortunately, Robin died of cancer four years after her, at the age of 57.
Harry has spoken about his happy childhood in an interview.Anne has had a new partner in the last three years that she doesn’t want to name.
“He always had a big smile on his face,” she recalls. “In comparison, Gemma has always been a bit quieter and less outgoing.”
Performance genes were there early on, too. Anne recalls that Harry used to play in school plays from an early age, and in secondary school, Holmes was the lead of a band called Chapel He’s Comprehensive and White He was her singer. I was. But he dreamed big.
In 2010, at the age of 16, she auditioned for The X Factor. His brief flirtation with stardom seemed to be over when he failed to make it to the “boot camp” rounds – Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and guest judge Nicole Scherzinger joined the boy band Until you come up with an idea for
They grouped Harry with fellow contestants Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik. It was the first time a group had been formed by the show’s judges. The rest is history: Their band, One Direction, only finished third in the competition, but Simon Cowell gave the group a rumored £2 million deal with his record label Syco.
By September 2011, their first single, What Makes You Beautiful, hit number one. The band quickly developed a devoted following, and Harry was the breakout heartthrob. When did Anne realize her son was a bona fide star?She says she didn’t—in fact, she was waiting for everything to go wrong.
“It was all such a new experience and I just went along with it,” she says. It didn’t happen.”
In fact, it doesn’t. After five albums, four world tours and 70 million record sales, the band came to an end in the summer of 2015 and Harry embarked on a solo career. I was allowed to.
Since then, more global record sales and sold-out gigs have taken the world by storm at some of the world’s most famous stadiums, including Madison Square Garden.
In February, Harry’s rise to the top of the music industry was cemented with two Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, ahead of Beyoncé and Adele. Of course, it’s the rare man who can transition from a boy band to a solo Grammy-winning global superstar.Apart from that definite “something,” what do you think Anne’s secret is about his son? mosquito?
“I think it’s because he’s so true to himself when it comes to music. He’s influenced by what he feels, what he hears, what he likes. I don’t think we need to make this song for demographics. He does what feels right to him – and it seems to be widely appreciated.
But there is a sadness that overshadows his success. Anne’s pride for her son is now mixed with grief. This is one of her reasons why she is doing this interview.
In August 2021, Harry’s grandfather Brian Selley died of Parkinson’s disease at the age of 86. Seeing his transformation and struggle, Anne decided to turn her attention to the disease.
“Seeing what my dad went through made me want to learn more about it and help him in some way,” says Ann.
Brian was an extrovert who loved playing golf, fishing and watching soccer, she says. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease after developing tremors in his early 70s.
“It started slowly with tremors, shivering and freezing, the symptoms most people are most familiar with,” recalls Ann.
“I thought it was Parkinson’s disease. I had no idea there were actually more than 40 different symptoms.
Initially, Brian was able to manage his condition.
“A caregiver came and gave him daily medication. It worked well for about six months, but then his mobility declined. As always, I arranged for a live-in caregiver.
“One of the hardest things in the last few years was watching him slowly disappear,” she says. “He became less and less able to do what he liked, and he could hardly understand why he could not.”
Brian was Harry’s number one fan. In 2013, at the One His Direction concert at the O2, he told reporters about his pride in his grandson when he was 77 years old. “He is the same he always was,” Brian declared. “He is always smiling, very loving and caring. We are all lucky to have him.
“To me he’s just Harry. I don’t think of him as a famous pop star like everyone else.
Today Ann admitted to me that her father actually fell asleep during the concert. was, she told me, watching him lose his individuality. There is a clear resemblance between him and Harry when she talks about him.
“My father had a great sense of humor. In what I call the early days of Parkinson’s disease, he retained it.
“Sometimes I get a clearer head and I think, ‘Wow, he’s here. We loved it as a family. I knew he was still there. Sadly, he is no longer the man he used to be. “
In the last few years, Brian also developed Parkinson’s-related dementia. “There are hallucinations, paranoia, obsessions, etc.,” says Anne. “It’s incredibly tragic.”
I am grateful to be with my late father at last.
Condolences have been sent to the bereaved family from the world of show business. While Harry has kept his feelings private, Gemma spoke for both when he wrote a tribute to her on Instagram: “Grandpa, easygoing cartoons, and great guys everywhere.”
Today, 18 months later, Anne confides that she still has moments when grief “completely hits your gut.”
Yet she remains determined to emphasize awareness. “Every hour in the UK, two people are said to have Parkinson’s disease,” she says.
“It affects about 145,000 people in the UK, which is about 1 in 350 of the adult population. Currently, there is no cure and drugs can only mask the symptoms.
The day before we spoke, she returned from a visit to the Parkinson’s Disease UK Brain Bank in London, the only brain bank in the world dedicated to the study of Parkinson’s disease.
“Control brains, the brains that people who don’t have Parkinson’s disease want more of. “I was very intrigued,” she says.
“One of the things that surprised me was that pathologists treated their patients with complete respect.”
I’ll try to convince Harry and Gemma, who have millions of followers, to do their job as well. didn’t do anything wrong,” she says.
- Anne is helping the UK with Parkinson’s on Tuesday’s World Parkinson’s Day. For more information, visit parkinsons.org.uk.
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