TV presenter Dermot O’Leary has recalled Liam Payne auditioning for The X Factor as a 14-year-old boy, as he paid tribute to the singer following his death.
Payne died after falling from the third floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
He rose to stardom aged 16 after forming boy band One Direction on The X Factor in 2010 alongside Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles, having returned to the ITV show two years after his first audition.
According to Alberto Crescenti, the head of the state emergency medical system in an interview on Argentinian television, he said that 31-year-old Payne fell into a courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires.
Mr Crescenti declined to answer further questions about the incident, including whether Payne jumped from the balcony or fell by accident.
Argentinian media also reported that Payne was in Buenos Aires to attend the concert of his former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan.
The singer had posted on Snapchat in the last few hours, saying it was a “lovely day here in Argentina”.
“Just enjoying coffee and breakfast, even though it’s like 1pm,” he said. “Literally sleep in every day until like 12. We’re such losers.”
Born in Wolverhampton, Payne rocketed to fame after he was placed in boyband One Direction during the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010.
The boyband became one of the highest selling musical acts of the 21st century, with millions of albums sold worldwide.
Liam Payne (centre) during a performance with One Direction
The group separated in 2016, with Payne going onto a solo career. In 2016 he began dating pop star Cheryl, with whom he shares a son. The pair split in 2018.
Payne went on to release an album titled LP1 in 2019.
Styles’ mother Anne Twist posted a broken-hearted emoji on Instagram, captioning it: “Just a boy.”
O’Leary, who hosted The X Factor during both of Payne’s appearances, shared a photograph of the pair on stage, captioning the Instagram post: “The worst news”.
“I remember him as a 14-year-old turning up to audition on The X Factor, and blowing us away singing Sinatra. He just loved to sing,” he wrote.
“He was always a joy, had time for everyone, polite, grateful, and was always humble.”
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Singer Olly Murs, who starred on The X Factor a year before One Direction, said he was “lost for words”, describing Payne’s death as “devastating” on Instagram.
“We always had a good laugh when we saw each other, sometimes the catch ups were only short and sweet but when we did it was mostly about how annoyingly good his hair always looked, or our love for Becks, the old XF (X Factor) days and the tour we shared together,” Murs wrote beside a picture of the pair.
“Liam shared the same passions as me, the same dreams so to see his life now end so young hits hard, I’m truly gutted and devastated for his family and of course his son Bear losing a dad.”
Former X-Factor contestants and Irish duo Jedward also shared a tribute to the singer on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “RIP Liam Payne. Condolences to friends and family.”
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Television presenter Rylan also shared a tribute on social media writing: “Extremely sad news. V tragic and so young. RIP Liam x”
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Payne and Girls Aloud singer Cheryl share a son Bear, born in 2017, having been in a high-profile relationship between 2016 and 2018.
Fellow boy band the Backstreet Boys also paid tribute, saying their hearts go out to “Directioners around the world”.
A statement on X added: “Words can not express the emotions we are collectively feeling right now, and it seems like the rest of the world is in the same boat.”
A number of industry bodies joined those paying tribute, including streaming giant Spotify, MTV and the Brit Awards who all said in separate statements that they are “deeply saddened” by Payne’s death.
News Catch Up – Wednesday 16 October