Former One Directioner Harry Styles has lived a pretty wild life, one in which he's inspired oodles of Taylor Swift songs, sold out stadium tours, and brooded in a Christopher Nolan movie. Yet the part of his life that inspired a brand-new CBS sitcom has nothing to do with famous girlfriends or red carpet premieres. Instead, it was Styles' time living in an attic for nearly two years that sparked this upcoming TV project.
Styles recently got into the television producing game with upcoming CBS sitcom Happy Together. The show stars Damon Wayans Jr. and Amber Stevens West as a married couple whose world (and home) is rocked by, well, a rockstar — here, played by Styles' lookalike Felix Mallard.
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It turns out that Styles is more than just a producer on the series. He's also the show's muse. According to a panel at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, the show was loosely based on the time Styles lived in Happy Together executive producer Ben Winston's home.
Variety's Danielle Turchiano reported the news to Twitter:
"Harry Styles lived in Ben Winston's attic for 18 months, suburban neighbourhood, no one knew he was there. He said living in a quiet 'boring' family environment while undergoing a crazy time in his life helped him and inspired Winston to develop #HappyTogether #TCA18"
Harry Styles lived in Ben Winston's attic for 18 months, suburban neighborhood, no one knew he was there. He said living in a quiet "boring" family environment while undergoing a crazy time in his life helped him and inspired Winston to develop #HappyTogether #TCA18
— Danielle Turchiano (@danielletbd) August 5, 2018
Shortly after, Winston himself confirmed that intriguing piece of information, though was quick to clarify that the pop star in Happy Together ("Cooper James," which is a Harry Styles codename if I've ever heard one) was not literally based on the "Kiwi" crooner.
"Haha Danielle welcome to 1D twitter. Harry moved in to ours after he lived with the boys. But - let me say again although Harry and I are producing this show together, it is simply loosely inspired by our living situation. NO character and NO stories are based on anything real!"
Haha Danielle welcome to 1D twitter. Harry moved in to ours after he lived with the boys. But - let me say again although Harry and I are producing this show together, it is simply loosely inspired by our living situation. NO character and NO stories are based on anything real!
— Ben Winston (@benwinston) August 6, 2018
This isn't the first time that Winston has spoken about his unexpected roommate. A 2017 Rolling Stone article titled "Harry Styles' New Direction" documented the sitcom-ready situation.
"Two weeks [after I told Styles he could stay] and he hadn’t bought his house yet," Winston explained to Rolling Stone. "It wasn’t going through. Then he said, 'I’m going to stay until Christmas, if you don’t mind.' Then Christmas came and [went.]"
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Winston added that — despite his wife's initial protests — it was hard to see Styles fly the coop, 20 months after moving in:
"That period of time, he was living with us in the most mundane suburban situation. No one ever found out, really. Even when we went out for a meal, it’s such a sweet family neighbourhood, no one dreamed it was actually him. But he made our house a home. And when he moved out, we were gutted."
At least Winston and Styles have found a way to recreate that happy time in their lives — and if they just so happen to get millions of One Direction fans to tune into CBS, well, all the better.
Happy Together premieres in the US on Monday 1st October. UK air date TBC.
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