One Direction stars say farewell to fans with touching tweets

One Direction have bid farewell to their fans in a series of heartfelt tweets the day after the boys performed together for the last time before a planned 2016 hiatus.

The group performed a medley of new songs on U.K. TV talent show The X Factor on Sunday night (13Dec15), and bowed out as a group on Monday (14Dec15).

Taking to Twitter to wish fans a happy Christmas, Niall Horan wrote, "5 of the best years of our lives so far... Thank you all so much for your incredible support. I hope you guys realize what you've done for us.

"Can't thank you enough to be honest... Don't worry, we'll be back... Looking forward to chilling for a while now."

Meanwhile, bandmate Harry Styles, who recently suggested the group would be taking 18 months off to concentrate on solo endeavors, added, "To you, you have changed our lives and no words will ever be good enough to thank you for what we have done together... You are the greatest team mates we have ever known. Thank you."

And Liam Payne opted to leave the fans with a little humor, tweeting, "Off to the job center... Hope it all works out."

"Just kidding," he added. "Honestly thank you so much to everyone look at all the amazing things we have done together like wtf (what the f**k) man."

The boy band first found success on The X Factor in 2010.