District3: We don’t mind when our ‘free spirited’ fans tweet us their boobs

Former X Factor boyband District3 have revealed that their legions of female fans have become rather over familiar when it comes to communicating over social media.

Dan Ferrari-Lane and Greg West – both 19 – joined Guilty Pleasures for a chat (fellow bandmate, 18-year-old Micky Parsons, was out of action with Flu) as they celebrate the release of their debut EP (simply titled EP – and performing surprisingly well on downloads), when they discussed their fanbase which regularly gets the band name trending worldwide on Twitter.

‘We have amazing fans. They’re all pretty nutty – but in a really great way,’ Greg told us.

‘They can be very, very, dirty on Twitter. We never have a clean time line. We’ve had boobs,’ he went on with Dan swiftly adding: ‘And that’s the soft stuff!’

‘They’re very free spirited,’ Greg continued, defending the honour of the group’s female admirers, but is glad the more persistent fans haven’t managed to stalk them just yet.

‘None of them have tracked us down to our doorstep… but they’re in the area. We’ve been quite lucky with that,’ he said.

As the only member of the band to be taken, Greg (who has dating a school friend named Heather for two years) is also glad not to suffer the abuse that fellow boyband One Direction endure whenever they go public with a squeeze.

‘The fans are really nice and respecting our privacy etcetera,’ he said of the fan response to his love life, adding: ‘We’ve had a very smooth run of things which has been very nice.’

Meanwhile singleton Dan says he is on the lookout for love, and even suggested he might be up for dating a fan.

‘I am single. I am not looking for love, but if love finds me I won’t be running away. In a girl I just look for someone who likes to go out and party and have fun,’ he said before adding with a knowing laugh: ‘Someone who is… free spirited!’

As Micky was not present to defend his choice in women, his bandmates decided to seize the opportunity to have a joke at his expense.

‘If it’s got a pulse, it’s Micky’s type!’ Greg laughed.

The debut EP by District3 is out now.

[Originally published Metro Guilty Pleasures 22 August 2013]