Niall Horan’s three-year prank on Fitzy revealed live on air

Fitzy was left red-faced after it was revealed his long-distance friendship with Niall Horan was all a cruel prank.

Radio star Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald was left red-faced on air today when his long-distance friendship with Niall Horan crumbled before his eyes.

Dropping by Nova 96.9’s Fitzy & Wippa to chat about his new single, the former One Direction popstar was in hysterics as it was revealed the number Fitzy had been texting for three years was not in fact his, as Fitzy had been fooled into believing.

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Uncovering the ongoing prank, his co-host Michael “Wippa” Wipfli printed out the text message exchange, including promises that they would “catch up for a pint” the next time Horan was in Australia.

Niall and Fitzy's friendly text exchange was not as it seemed. Picture: Supplied.

The person on the other end of the number started by texting Fitzy when his AFL team lost, later reaching out again when Australia passed the same-sex marriage vote.

Niall and Fitzy's text exchange

The mystery texter stuck to the bit for three years in total. Picture: Supplied.

“This why I love Niall,” Fitzy had said before he read out one of the messages, with Wippa dropping the big reveal shortly after.

Fitzy was stunned by the revelation. Picture: Supplied.

“Do you remember the text message Niall?,” he asked, adding: “You probably don’t – because it’s at this stage Fitzy, we’ll let you know that Niall’s been in on the joke, it’s not his number.”

“You b**tards!,” Fitzy exclaimed, laughing, as Wippa added that it had been going on for three years.

Earlier in the show, Wippa had teased his co-host for “bragging on air” about his friendship with the star, who later tried to remedy the cheeky prank.

After reading through the fake message exchange complete with a mock Australian accent, Horan said: “You know what’s really wrong about it – the fact we haven’t gone for a pint yet, so you know it’s definitely not me.”

Niall Horan was in on it all along. Picture: Supplied.

“You know what we’re not going for a pint now. You can go get stuffed!,” Fitzy joked.

The show’s producer, Tommy, clarified that he had looped in a friend he knew in London to pretend to be the star for the epic, long-running prank.

Horan, 26, arrived in Australia on Monday to promote his new single, Nice To Meet Ya.

The star appeared on The Project onMonday night, later tweeting about how much he’s enjoying his Australian press run.

Long but very fun day of promo! All the interviews today were a great laugh. Australia I love ya. Now it’s time to chill and relax x

— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) December 2, 2019