Former “X Factor” judge Nicole Scherzinger broke her silence Thursday about the unexpected death of One Direction alum Liam Payne.
In a missive addressed to Payne, who died Oct. 16 after plunging from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Scherzinger wrote of their longstanding relationship, which dated back to her masterminding the creation of the “X Factor” supergroup that brought Payne and his bandmates global fame in 2010. Scherzinger and Payne reunited in August when they were tapped to star in the upcoming Netflix series “Building the Band” with Destiny’s Child alum Kelly Rowland and the Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean.
“Dear Liam, I will forever cherish and treasure the time we shared together, from fifteen years ago when One Direction was born, right up until just a few weeks ago,” the Pussycat Dolls frontwoman wrote Thursday on Instagram.
“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 added. “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.”
Scherzinger said Payne brought “so much joy, light, and laughter” to the lives of those who truly knew him and that she would miss him and carry him in her heart.
She and her “X Factor” co-star Simon Cowell helped mold One Direction into the famed boy band after each of the would-be members failed to advance as solo artists on the British talent show that Cowell produced. The judges felt that Payne — along with Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik — would thrive as a quintet, and the group competed as such in Season 7 of the series.
Although One Direction closed out the season in third place, Cowell signed the group to his Syco Entertainment record label and they released their debut album in 2011. The boy band became a global phenomenon, drawing comparisons to the Beatles, while releasing the hits “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Story of My Life.” They released four more albums and launched four headlining tours before disbanding in 2015 after Malik left the group, citing stress among the reasons for his departure. All five pursued solo careers to varying degrees of success.
Styles, Tomlinson, Horan and Malik remembered Payne fondly last week, paying tribute to their brother despite their internal ups and downs. Cowell and other members of the “X Factor” family, including Payne’s ex-girlfriend Cheryl Cole, also commemorated the 31-year-old artist in the days after his death.
Scherzinger did not say why she took more than a week to address Payne’s death. The singer is currently starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “Sunset Boulevard” on Broadway and getting rave reviews, including a six-minute standing ovation during Sunday’s opening night. The famed “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera” composer revealed in a Thursday interview with Billboard that Scherzinger had been texting Payne on the day he died.
“I suppose something that hasn’t been said, and I suppose I could say, is that of course she mentored Liam, from One Direction,” Webber told the outlet. “On the Wednesday when he died, she was still texting him that day, and [that evening] the reviewers came in [to ‘Sunset Boulevard’], she’d just heard that he died. And the fact that she even did the show at all is extraordinary. I mean she is an amazing, amazing woman. She is without any question one of the finest performers I’ve ever worked with.”
In a Friday appearance on “Good Morning America,” Scherzinger said that she and Payne had been “quite close,” especially with their recent work on “Building the Band.”
“I’m heartbroken. I’m heartbroken for Liam, I’m heartbroken for his family and his loved ones and his friends,” she said. “Liam always led with his heart and with kindness, and I really hope that’s how he’ll always be remembered.”
It’s unclear how Netflix will proceed with “Building the Band.” Representatives for Netflix declined to comment Friday when reached by The Times.
Series producers were shocked and saddened by news of Payne’s death, a person close to the series who was not authorized to publicly discuss it told The Times. The person also said it’s “too soon to make decisions” around the competition show, on which Payne served as a mentor.
Deadline reported last week, before Payne died, that filming had wrapped on the series but no premiere date had been announced.