One Direction star Louis Tomlinson has revealed he wanted to “throw the towel in” after his mother died last month.

Johannah Deakin died in December at the age of 43 after a battle with leukaemia.

Just days after her death, the pop singer performed his new single on the X Factor and said it was his mum who had pushed him to keep working.

Louis Tomlinson's mother
Louis with his mother (Deakin family/handout)

Louis, 25, told Billboard: “It was my mum who said to me that I’ve just got to keep going.

“She told me very sternly that she wanted me to.”

He told the magazine that initially he had wanted to “throw the towel in”.

Louis and Zayn
(Ian West/PA)

Louis also opened up about his relationship with former One Direction member Zayn Malik following the latter’s departure from the pop band.

He said: “Me and Zayn have spoken recently, we’ve gotten to a point now where you can just really be happy for each other.”

“Things have happened in the past, of course. And his first song was an absolute smash, and that’s a great song, so yeah it’s nice.”