Harry Styles fans have taken to throwing kiwis at him during his gigs – and not because they couldn't find any cutlery with which to eat the troublesome fruit, but because they love his song named after it.
They have even begun hurling kiwis at him multiple times throughout shows to encourage him to play it more than once – and it's starting to become quite dangerous. Styles recently had to style out (ahem) a minor kiwi-induced tumble during a gig at the Hammersmith Apollo in London.
He was performing the song when he swerved to the side to dance before slipping and expertly grabbing his microphone as if nothing had happened and continuing to bust out some moves. What a pro.
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only harry would slip on a literal kiwi during kiwi ???#HarryStylesLiveOnTour
— lucy ? //seeing n&h (@hearteyeslarryy) October 30, 2017
(I can’t believe i took this video) pic.twitter.com/RCQUtCZ0hf
To much kiwis on stage @Harry_Styles pic.twitter.com/lWRBu1TaBt
— Zoe ➕✖️ (@zoe_unknown) October 31, 2017
Goodnight @Harry_Styles, great show tonight, watch out for those kiwis. :D . Peace & love always, onwards & upwards & on the the next gig :) pic.twitter.com/JcA39OSEiT
— Willow Silverwind (@silverwind69) October 30, 2017
While he's been polite about the situation, Styles doesn't seem overly enamoured by the practice. "You may have seen me fall earlier during this song. It appeared to be a kiwi," he told the crowd. “That was the culprit, some green seedy mush. Look there's another – this could end up being a problem.” And who would be delighted by the prospect of tumbling and breaking their neck every night? Yeah, probably not the fans either.
Harry tonight before doing #Kiwi again #HarryStylesLiveOnTourLondon2 #ARIASHARRYSTYLES *politely saying to not throw kiwis on the stage pic.twitter.com/WVbfBV2sQ5
— One Direction WW (@1DBoysWW) October 31, 2017
But Styles' devotees aren't the only ones expressing their affinity for a song via the sophisticated medium of fruit. Pineapples were banned from Reading and Leeds festivals in August because Glass Animals fans had been bringing them as a nod to the band's lyric "pineapples are in my head" from the song "Pork Soda".
Styles has also got off lightly compared to many other artists who have had far stranger – and even more dangerous – objects thrown at them on stage. Throwing underwear at your idols is passé: Justin Bieber had an iPhone thrown at him during a performance in 2013, which he wasn't best pleased by, and a teenager (not a fan, we're assuming) was even charged in 2011 for throwing eggs at him. One Direction would often get tampons hurled at them, while Adam Lambert's fans would pelt sex toys at him.
Others have had far worse, though. Nineties favourites Daphne and Celeste (of "U.G.L.Y" fame) were forced off stage after just two songs because of the sheer number of bottles thrown at them at Reading in 2000. 50 Cent faced similar treatment at Reading and ended up leaving the stage after 20 minutes when the bottles and mud (and even a paddling pool and deckchair) being hurled at him became too much (and fair enough, to be honest).
Kanye West stopped a show in Dublin when someone threw a coin at him in 2012. "Don't throw no hard shit up here while I'm performing, seriously. You f--ked it up for everybody. I was having a perfect show, flawless victory," he told the crowd. Panic! At the Disco frontman Brendon Urie was even knocked to the ground when someone in the crowd threw a bottle at his head which, we hope you'll agree, is taking things a little too far.