Harry Styles Wound Up at the Pope’s Election Because He Was Getting a Haircut Nearby

Harry Styles is back in the news due to a highly anticipated tour announcement and the release of a new single, “Aperture.” But it was only May of last year that he was making unexpected headlines for showing up in an unexpected place: Saint Peter’s Square, shortly after the new Pope was elected. And he wouldn’t have been there had it not been for a serendipitous haircut.

In a new BBC Radio 1 interview, Styles confirms to host Greg James that it was, in fact, him walking through the faithful spectators celebrating the papal conclave’s election of Pope Leo XIV wearing sunglasses and a hat that says “TECHNO IS MY BOYFRIEND.” And that hat was hiding a fresh ‘do.

“I was getting a haircut in Rome,” Styles says, not giving a further explanation for why he was in Rome. (Maybe this barber gives really good haircuts.) “And I just heard all these people start shouting, ‘Habemus papam! Habemus papam!’ People just running down the street. So the guy cutting my hair stopped cutting my hair, and he was like, ‘Habemus papam! There’s a new pope!’”

It’s not that Styles didn’t believe his stylist, but when he finished the haircut, he figured he might as well see first-hand what all the fuss is about. “I was like, ‘I’m like five minutes’ walk from there.’ So I walked over there. It was wild.”

Of course, even with all of the hubbub, someone managed to spot and snap a photo of the singer hiding his new haircut, which we assume he covered with a hat in an attempt to be more incognito and not because there was anything wrong with his hair.

Check out the entire interview below.