DERMOT O’LEARY has paid tribute to former One Direction singer Liam Payne who has died aged 31.
Payne died last night after falling from the third-floor balcony at a hotel in the Palermo area of Buenos Aires in Argentina.
The singer rose to fame on The X Factor as a member of One Direction alongside Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles.
The quintet placed third in the competition and were signed up to Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment, marking she start of a partnership that would launch them as one of the highest-selling boy bands of all time.
Just days before his death, Payne had sang alongside former bandmate Horan at his concert in Buenos Aires.
Westmeath-born Horan has just completed a world tour and his South American dates marked the last of his concerts.
O’Leary, who was a presenter on The X Factor at the time of Payne’s appearance, paid tribute to the Wolverhampton-born star today.
“The worst news,” he wrote in a statement on social media, before reminiscing about Payne.
“I remember him as a 14-year-old turning up to audition on The X Factor, and blowing us away singing Sinatra,” the second generation Irishman said.
“He just loved to sing.”
O’Leary added: “He was always a joy, had time for everyone, polite, grateful, and was always humble.
“Sending love and prayers to his family.”
Fellow stars have also shared their sadness over Payne’s shock death this week.
Olly Murs, who also found fame on The X Factor, said the news was “devastating”.
“I am lost for words, we always had a good laugh when we saw each other, sometimes the catch ups were only short and sweet but when we did it was mostly about how annoyingly good his hair always looked, or our love for Becks, the old XF days and the tour we shared together,” he said.
“Liam shared the same passions as me, the same dreams so to see his life now end so young hits hard, I’m truly gutted and devastated for his family and of course his son Bear losing a dad, am thinking of them.
Payne’s son Bear, with former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Tweedy, was born in 2017.