Liam Payne’s buddies open up about his sudden loss of life
He was the joyful Brummie who couldn’t believe his luck when he found himself as one fifth of X Factor phenomenon One Direction.
But last night singer Liam Payne was found dead after falling from the third floor of a hotel in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires. It is not known if it was intentional or not.
He was found on Wednesday at the CasaSur Palermo hotel.
Friends of the 31-year-old star were shocked at the news which came just days after his former girlfriend Maya Henry called in lawyers as she begins legal action against Liam after accusing him of obsessive contact and ‘weaponising’ his fans against her.
His death came just hours after he posed for a picture with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy on Snapchat.
Last night singer Liam Payne was found dead after falling from the third floor of a hotel in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires
First responders arrive at the hotel where Liam was found dead
He was found on Wednesday at the CasaSur Palermo hotel
Dressed topless with just a white baseball cap backwards and a pair of black shorts he was seen smiling with the American beauty.
One friend told the Mail: ‘Liam had been struggling, he just wanted to be a good person.
‘This is a horrible, horrible tragedy. Nobody can believe it. He has the world at his feet, he worked so hard but he just couldn’t quite get over his pain.’
Witnesses say Liam was found shortly after 5pm in the Argentinian capital.
Witnesses said that he had been acting erraticly in the hotel lobby earlier. He was seen smashinghis laptop, and had to be carried back to his room.
Emergency services are believed to be present outside the hotel, where a red tent has been erected at the scene. Police investigations are understood to be ongoing into this death.
Liam is thought to have had a strained relationship with his former girlfriend Cheryl Tweedy, the mother of his five-year-old son Bear.
There has been fears for Liam for some time. Last September he was hospitalised in Italy with a serious illness that left him in agony.
Liam was in a ‘bad way’ as he was treated in Lake Como with his American girlfriend Kate, his friends, fans and even his own mother were left fearing for his health – and indeed his future.
Liam pictured here with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy at Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland in October 2022
Witnesses say Liam was found shortly after 5pm in the Argentinian capital
Liam (far right) pictured in August 2013 with his One Direction bandmates Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Harry Styles in London’s Leicester Square for the world premiere of the band’s This Is Us movie
To those who know Liam well, it wasn’t a huge surprise. For some years those close to him have worried for his welfare as he has struggled with the global fame and gruelling tour schedules.
It has been clear to those who know Liam that that all wasn’t well with him for some time.
In video he posted to his 26 million Instagram followers to say a was cancelling a series of concerts in South America after suffering a ‘bad’ kidney infection last September he appeared dishevelled.
Dressed in a beige hoodie he assured them it was something he was doing ‘with a heavy heart.’
Despite the news being out down to his kidneys, there have been wider fears for Liam for some years.
Indeed, he also appeared troubled when he arrived at an Oscars party last year, appearing to be gurning as he gave an interview to Good Morning Britain in a strange trans-Atlantic accent.
While it has been assumed that he has struggled with life after One Direction, friends say that he was a ‘sensitive soul’ before he even arrived for his X Factor audition.
One said: ‘There is perhaps a reason why some people go looking for fame, since childhood Liam was very inward looking, really in touch with his feelings. Then bang, you are singing in front of millions of people on the X Factor. And then you, pretty much overnight, are one of the most recognisable people in the world.’
