Nova radio receptionist Anna Crotti pictured with One Direction. Picture: The Daily Telegraph Source: The Daily Telegraph
- Radio station secretary attracts attention from band member
- Cancels date following series of threats and hate mail
- Fans tracked secretary down, bombarded her with messages
IF you're lucky enough to get up close and personal with One Direction, prepare to cop the wrath of the teenage fans who missed out.
As the UK five-piece continued to reduce young Sydneysiders to tears yesterday, a hapless radio station secretary who was asked out on a date by one of the pop superstars was forced to cancel after being deluged with threats and hate mail from the group's fanatical followers.
Anna Crotti, 20, who works on the front desk at the Nova radio network, caught the attention of the boy band on Wednesday morning when the lads arrived for an interview with breakfast hosts Ryan "Fitzy" Fitzgerald and Michael "Wippa" Wipfli.
Lead singer Harry Styles commented to the radio duo that brunette Anna had "beautiful eyes". Zayn Malik and Niall Horan both agreed.
The jokes continued throughout the live chat until a member of the band's entourage got her phone number and gave it to Zayn.
But the light-hearted banter was making the fans very, very dark.
"We were communicating (via text) through the whole day pretty much (and Zayn) asked if I would like to catch up. I said I was free a bit later," Anna said.
It didn't take long for fans to track down Anna on Facebook and bombard her with intimidating messages.
One read: "Why would they choose you?" Dozens of others were more sinister.
Anna said: "By the end of the day it got a bit too scary. I didn't even want to walk home. It was so intense.
"I messaged (Zayn) and said, 'Maybe it's not a good idea we meet up'. It was just a bit too full-on. I know it's just typical teenage girl stuff, but I don't understand it."
But the nasty girls needn't have worried - Anna has a boyfriend of two years, named Jack.
Radio host Fitzy said he was "shocked" by the pandemonium.
"I didn't think anything could top that Bieber kid but these guy have," he said.
"Poor Anna. I don't think she knew how to handle it - it was just crazy. She's had mothers calling her saying their daughters are crying and would kill to be in her shoes."
Meanwhile, two other members of the What Makes You Beautiful chart-toppers, Louis and Liam, tried surfing at Sydney's Manly beach yesterday.
The pair caught some waves at North Steyne beach before an audience of screaming young girls on school holidays.
Directioners all over the world have a sad history of bullying girls singled out by the boy band, with even the lads' own girlfriends copping death threats and abuse online.
Liam leapt to the defence of his girlfriend, dancer Danielle Peazer after she was targetted on Twitter with hateful messages from nasty fans.
And Hannah Coogan, who was was invited for "cuddles" with the Fab Five during their Today show interview on Wednesday revealed even her closest friends had a "jealous" moment after her One Direction close encounter.
"They were a little bit jealous at first. I got a little bit of hate," she said yesterday when she returned to the Today show couch.
"It's fine now - I would (have) reacted exact the same way as my friends did ... it was justified.
"They were 'Just give me a moment, I need to get over this."'
Lisa Wilkinson, who spearheaded a national anti-bullying campaign recently, was appalled by the reaction to Coogan's special attention.
The One Direction team take measures to minimise the potential for bullying and safety of the fans even though the Brit It boys tend to want to get up close and personal with the young ladies.
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