AceShowbiz -

Harry Styles could've been the first member to exit One Direction, claimed Lance Bass. During an appearance on the Thursday, April 23 episode of "The Meredith Vieira Show", the former NSYNC member revealed that Hazza already planned to leave his 1D bandmates before Zayn Malik abruptly quit last month.

"Harry Styles has been ready to go solo for many months. In fact, he's been recording solo and was about to leave," said Bass. "The Zayn thing was just spur of the moment but I think the best move he could have ever done because everyone knows Harry."

"Harry Styles was a household name, my grandmother knows Harry Styles. Zayn Malik, didn't really know the name until he was the first to leave the group. Kudos to him to being smart to leave," he continued.

Although Styles didn't end up being the first to leave One Direction, Bass thought that he'd be the next to do so. "Hopefully, the other four can go on and do some more music. I just see Harry leaving soon and I don't see another One Direction album happening after he does," he added.

Despite his prediction, Bass was sure the remaining One Direction dudes and their former bandmate Malik would remain good friends. "I think the guys are always going to be friends. They're brothers," he shared. "They were put in a situation that they didn't know they were going to be in. They were put together on a television show. That they lasted this long as a group is a surprise to me."

One Direction's team has responded to Bass' statement. They tell Gossip Cop that reports claiming Styles working on a solo album aren't true, and that his individual work is actually for the group's upcoming fifth studio album.