Niall Horan and Ashe described their unlikely meet-cute story on The Late Late Show on Wednesday (Nov. 11) before performing their moving duet “Moral of the Story.” Though they recorded the song separately and released it in April, they met only a few days ago. But sitting side-by-side while speaking to host James Corden, the two seemed like lifelong pals.
“I feel like we were like immediate old friends. We were, like, cursing each other within the first five minutes,” Ashe said with a laugh. Like so many of us, they’d spent a lot of time chatting on Zoom and FaceTime getting to know each other, Horan added, joking that he suddenly felt like he was on Love at First Sight.
Ashe talked about what a longtime fan she was of Horan’s music before putting out feelers about a possible collaboration. “He jumped on, and it was so good,” she said, giggling, admitting to being nervous about speaking about Horan while he was sitting just inches away. “It was so weird. I was like, ‘Whoa, he’s so famous. This is very strange.’ But then it was sort of like, as soon as we were on a FaceTime together, it was like, ‘Oh we’re normal humans and just hanging out and making a song together.'”
They returned later to perform a lush version of “Moral,” which is on Ashe’s April EP Moral of the Story: Chapter 1. The song also appeared in February’s Netflix movie To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You. The performance, recorded at London’s Royal Albert Hall, found the duo singing at each other while socially distanced in the storied, empty theater as a giant disco ball threw light across their faces.
Check out the interview and performance below.
