The Late Late Show responds to claims about One Direction reuniting for James Corden’s final episode

Staff at The Late Late Show with James Corden have responded to whispers of One Direction making a reunion appearance on the programme.

Corden is set to round out his tenure on the CBS talk show on 27 April after an eight-year stint as host.

Ahead of the actor and presenter’s final show, details of featured guests set to appear to say goodbye to Corden have been emerging.

So far, celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Ben Affleck, Mila Kunis, Seth Meyers, Kate Hudson, Bryan Cranston, Billy Porter and Sharon Stone have been confirmed to join Corden in the show’s final weeks.

After some eager One Direction fans noticed similar gaps in the group members’ individual tour schedules, rumours of the band making a surprise appearance on Corden’s final episode began to spread online.

Corden has expressed his appreciation for the “Drag Me Down” vocalists in the past. As well as this, One Direction have appeared on the show on three occasions, beginning in 2015 as part of the Emmy-winning “Carpool Karaoke” segment.

However, on Thursday (13 April), the programme’s official Twitter account debunked the rumour of the band’s appearance.

“Nobody loves the boys more than us … but this story just isn’t true,” the message reads.

“What is true is we’ve got an absolutely brilliant two-hour finale planned to celebrate eight years of #LateLateShow at 10pm on April 27th.”

One Direction have been on an indefinite hiatus since 2016, after releasing their fifth studio album, Made in the AM, the year before.

Originally formed of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, the boy band was founded during the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010.

Malik left the group to pursue a solo career in 2015.

After announcing his departure from The Late Late Show last year, Corden opened up about the moment that made him decide to bow out.