Well this really was only a matter of time, wasn't it? Showing an admirable lack of irony here One Direction's walking haircut Harry Styles has mentioned his band in the same sentence as The Beatles, apparently saying to a reporter that "we're bigger than The Beatles, fame-wise." So if The Beatles are bigger than Jesus and One Direction are more famous than even them, how does one accurately quantify the levels of One Direction's fame?

Speaking to Top of the Pops Magazine, Styles elaborated further saying: "We all sat and watched the film of The Beatles arriving in America. And, to be honest, that was really like us. Stepping off the plane, the girls, the madness, it was exactly the same as when we got there - just 50 years earlier."

Before we get too carried away Styles did qualify his statement somewhat by acknowledging that his band might not be musically up to par with The Beatles yet, adding: "But none of us think we're in the same league as them music-wise. We'd be fools if we did. Fame-wise, it's probably even bigger but we don't stand anywhere near them in terms of music."

Now now Harry, that doesn't sound like the type of talk we'd expect from someone who wrote a tune called 'Best Song Ever', does it? Where's your self-confidence?

While they clearly haven't approached Justin Bieber levels of shitheadedness just yet, Harry Styles and the other four vats of fake tan seem to be headed straight towards a cliff of rock n' roll pastiche. First comes the "we're bigger than [insert band and/or deity here]" then comes the trashed hotel rooms, a shotgun wedding or two before one of them leaves the band to embark on a moderately successful solo career. Mild drug habits and failed business ventures will lead to a money-spinning reunion tour, as the various Hollyoaks castmembers and Celebrity Big Brother contestants get the band back together for one last whirl - and split again six months later.

You can practically picture the episode of 'Behind The Music' already.