Louis Tomlinson reveals Liam Payne wanted One Direction reunion before his death - plus the bandmate who broke the tragic news to him
Louis Tomlinson has revealed that Liam Payne had been pushing for a One Direction reunion before his death.
The former boyband member opened up about the death of his close friend and former bandmate with Steven Bartlett on the Diary Of A CEO podcast. Payne died at the age of 31 when he felt from a third-floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires last October.
Louis, 33, revealed that fellow One Direction member Niall Horan broke the news to the star, who was in Los Angeles at the time of his death. He said the news evoked the same reaction he had when he was told that his sister Felicite died of an accidental drug overdose in 2019.
Louis said: “I found out through Niall. I had the same feeling that I had with Felicite, and I think anyone has this when they’re around someone who’s struggling; my 150% wasn’t nearly enough.
“And that’s when it’s my own arrogance thinking that I could have helped really, because it was so much deeper than what I could have done for him. He was definitely struggling at that time in his life.”
The singer, who is set to release his third studio album How Did I Get Here? in the coming months, added that Liam had been one of the biggest voices pushing for the band to get back together.
Speaking about the possibility of a One Direction reunion, Louis told the podcast: “Never say never, right, but I’m just not sure it would be right to him [Payne]. Say for the sake of argument, 25 year’s time, it’s like a f*cking Oasis thing, they offer us an arm and a leg, and they’re like, ‘Come back and do this many shows’, I don’t know. [Payne’s death] just completely put a pin in all of that.
“And the irony is, there was no one campaigning for One Direction to get back more than Liam. I would say I came in a close second.”
Both Louis and Liam were members of One Direction from 2010 until the band’s indefinite hiatus in 2016, alongside Niall and Harry Styles. Zayn Malik was also a founding member but left the band to pursue other opportunities in 2015.
Meanwhile, Louis is set to reunite on screen with Zayn in an upcoming Netflix road trip show, which will reportedly see the pair travel across the US. A source told The Sun about the new untitled show: “This will be an absolutely huge show for Netflix and is guaranteed to whip 1D’s global army of fans into a frenzy.
“Although the idea of British boyband members doing a show about travelling across America sounds random, most of them now have strong links Stateside. And it’s likely to be a chance for some serious soul-searching and deep discussions about the incredible journey the group have already been on since they were formed on The X Factor 15 years ago.”