Niall Horan and Katy Perry

First Demi Lovato, now Katy Perry? One Direction’s Mullingar native Niall Horan reportedly had a bit of a puppy love crush on the superstar songstress Katy Perry, who guest judged on the UK X-Factor when Horan was first discovered.

Unreality TV reports of Horan’s crush on the recently divorced Perry. An insider close to the band said that Horan said “Katy Perry still gets me every time. She’s very funny in person.”

The insider elaborated: “From the moment she put him through on X Factor he remembers her telling him not to let her down, and he was determined to prove himself to her.”

“He thought that now, because he had achieved all this success, she would look at him differently – but it didn’t work.”

“He’s gutted she doesn’t feel the same about him but it was definitely worth a go.”

The two do, however, enjoy a banter once in awhile via Twitter. Katy Perry tweeted to Horan saying  “@NiallOfficial congratulations, you didn’t let me down! Xo.”

Niall (@NiallOfficial) tweeted to Perry and his nearly 4.3 million followers in response saying “Hey katy, thank you, let’s hope it holds out this week!”

“Thank you for putting me thru!,” he added. “We’ve been working hard, I won’t let you down.”

The One Direction insider added, “Niall will always hold a torch for her. If she ever changes her mind he’ll be waiting.”