"You need to come back!" Cowell, Beckham, Robbie, Corden and more send 1D off on break

"You deserve the break and I want to take the chance to say thank you," Simon Cowell began, saying seeing them on stage again reminded him of meeting them for the first time five years ago, the band put together during the 2010 series. "You have been an absolute pleasure to work with and you're five of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.

"Enjoy the time off, have a fantastic time [...] It’s been a privilege, it’s been fun, enjoy the break and I’ll always be here," he added.

Then via a video package, a whole host of celebrities joined the celebration of the lads' work.

"Please don’t be away too long," pleaded The Late Late Show host James Corden

"Come back fitter and faster and stronger than ever," added Robbie Williams as footballer Wayne Rooney tipped his hat to their "massive achieenment".

Actor Danny DeVito joked he was pleased the boys were taking time to "spend some of that money you earned" joking they should "take some acting lessons" while they're at it.

The footage then cut to comedian Jack Whitehall crying before Little Mix enthused that the boys had "smashed it for many years" and they'll always be "big fans".

Then, David Beckham got right into the spirit with a clip of him singing along to Steal My Girl in his car.

"Boys what can I say?" he began. "Five years and you’ve given so much to so many people. Unbelievably talented and more importantly unbelievable boys.

"You need to come back soon or there'll be more videos like that," he warned with a grin.

After performing their track History, Liam said:

"We just want to thank X Factor, Simon and the whole crew, we can’t believe what’s happened. We’re sad to be going away for a little while, but we need it. You can see how happy we are, it’s genuine happiness."

The boys are expected to break for around twelve to eighteen months.

The X Factor concludes tonight on ITV