Former One Direction singer Niall Horan admitted that he did not believe that his former bandmate Liam Payne's death was real when he was first told about it.
Payne, who burst onto the scene as a member of the band One Direction alongside Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayne Malik, and Harry Styles, died after falling from a balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2024. He was 31 years old.
In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, Horan revealed that he had met up with Payne a few days prior to his tragic death.
"I just remember getting a message, and I was just like, what? I just didn’t think it was real", Horan explained.
He continued: "Someone so young, you’re not expecting to hear that they’ve passed, especially someone that you’ve just seen. I just went back from shock to sadness to anger".
On the last time he met up with Payne, Horan added: "It was great, (he) seemed in good form and we had a good laugh, good reminisce".
"I heard Louis talking about this recently, it’s so true. It’s like you haven’t seen each other in ages and then you just fall back in like it was 10 years ago".
Horan then went onto say that he felt a sense "fear and sadness" following Payne's death and added that he "went into hiding a little bit" following the funeral.
Horan and the rest of the One Direction bandmates reunited for Payne's funeral in November 2024, alongside Simon Cowell, who signed the band to his label following their appearance on The X Factor in 2010.
Speaking of Horan, the singer also recently announced that his new album, 'Dinner Party', would be released in June.
The album, which serves as Horan's first record since 'The Show' in 2023, will featured a new collaboration with Myles Smith, 'Drive Safe'. More on this story here.
Niall Horan had previously shared the album's title track earlier this month. Check that out and our report on it here.
