Harry Styles almost missed out on his highly successful career as a musician and performer, but his mom, Anne Twist, gave him the push he needed.

During her recent appearance on the Spinning Plates podcast, Twist shared how she was the one to encourage Styles to sign up for X Factor – the singing competition that launched him into stardom.

She recalled how the customers of a bakery he used to work at as a teenager told him to “go to this local talent show” after they had heard him singing during his shift.

“And he’d come home and told me about that and he was like ‘nah I don’t wanna do that,’” Twist revealed.

However, she always saw potential in him “since he was two or three,” so she gave him a little nudge.

“And I was like right okay and then very shortly after that the letter came through, so I basically said to him okay I’ve got you this audition, but it’s totally up to you if you don’t wanna do it, that’s fine but I just got in just in case,” she recalled, adding, “And I think he ummed and ahhed for a little bit but not for a great amount of time and then we went for it.”