Nicole Scherzinger spoke with Liam Payne hours before his tragic death at 31.
“I’d known he was in Argentina,” Scherzinger, 47, told The Times of London in a profile published on Friday, October 3. “It was just chit-chat and pretty light.”
Payne, best known as one of the members of British boy band One Direction, suffered a fatal fall from a hotel balcony in October 2024. (Payne is survived by his parents, his sisters and his 8-year-old son with ex Cheryl Cole.)
Scherzinger initially met Payne in 2010, when she watched his The X Factor UK audition and helped put One Direction together as a band. They later bonded as mentors on Netflix’s Building the Band competition, which aired earlier this year.
“I just adored Liam. He had such a good heart,” the former Pussycat Dolls singer added to the outlet. “I barely knew him when I put One Direction together. I just saw these talented boys and was like, ‘I’m coming out of a girl group — I know the power of a group.”
Scherzinger found out that Payne died shortly before one of her performances in Broadway’s Sunset Blvd.
“The show must go on,” Scherzinger said. “From then on, I dedicated a little part of the show to Liam every night. Just a little moment that always made me think of him.”
The Tony-winning actress, who played Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. before it closed this summer, also started reexamining her priorities in the wake of Payne’s untimely death.
“We need more compassion in the world,” Scherzinger added to the British newspaper.“Our phones are our enemies as much as they help us. I wish we’d cancel ‘cancel culture.’”
Scherzinger previously addressed Payne’s death in an emotional Instagram statement weeks after his death.
“Dear Liam, I will forever cherish and treasure the time we shared together, from 15 years ago when One Direction was born, right up until just a few weeks ago,” she wrote on October 25, 2024. “It was such a blessing to get to work with you recently. We shared the same love and passion for music and I will forever remember the meaningful and joyful conversations we had.”
She concluded, “It’s been so hard to process that you’re no longer here, but I am grateful to have known your kind heart, sweet soul and character. You brought so much joy, light, and laughter to the lives of those that truly knew you. I will ‘miss you’ my friend and carry you in my heart. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.”
Scherzinger later found it difficult to rewatch Building the Band when it premiered with a dedication to Payne.
“We’re so proud of him. He had such an amazing time. We had so much fun doing the show together, and he’s such a beautiful, kind soul and heart,” she said on Late Night With Seth Meyers in July. “We would have never continued, you know, shared the show unless we had his family’s blessings. We’re just really proud of him, and I’m excited for everyone to see Liam shine.”
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