A close friend of Liam Payne has revealed to Sky News the final messages the singer sent her in the hours leading up to his death on Wednesday.

Jodie Richards, who taught the former One Direction star at her performing arts company Pink Productions in Wolverhampton, said she thought the news that he’d died after falling from a balcony in Buenos Aires was “fake” and she tried to call him on Wednesday night.

Liam, 31, had messaged Jodie on Monday to ask her what she was doing. She replied to say she was with her son, Jackson, at a gym, and Liam replied “nice”.

He later sent her a photo of himself sitting on his bed in his hotel room in the Argentinian capital, with his hand to his forehead. She replied: “Sorry just home x.”

Latest updates: New details of Payne’s death released

Jodie told Sky News: “I’m really close to Liam, we’ve been friends for years and he was away yesterday in Argentina and I think he just wanted to touch base and check I was okay, see how everyone was back at home.

“We speak near enough every day and have done for years. Obviously he’s always been there at times I’ve needed him even though he’s not local.”

On Wednesday, Liam messaged Jodie in the early hours of the morning UK time to ask if she was awake – she later replied that she was at 8.20am.

She asked if he was okay, he replied “yeah” and she told him she’d just got to work. He told her he was “chilling” in Argentina.

“He was looking forward to his day, he said he was having a chill, nothing seemed out of the ordinary”, the 41-year-old, from the West Midlands, said.

“He’s always somewhere more glamorous than we are so LA, Argentina, I have to look at the time difference to see where he is, he usually texts me and it’s the middle of our night.

“He seemed fine, he looked happy, he looked healthy – no reason for any kind of concern and then obviously I heard it on the news.”

‘Tell me this isn’t true’

Jodie said she “couldn’t believe” what was happening.

“I thought it was fake news, I tried to phone him. Obviously he wasn’t answering. I tried to text him, it wasn’t going to a ‘read’ message – normally it does quite quickly, then as I turned the telly on it was getting more and more apparent it wasn’t fake.”

Jodie texted Liam, saying: “Please tell me this isn’t true!”

“It’s a wicked waste of a life, he had a future ahead of him,” she said, adding that “family, friends, everyone loved him. It’s a real tragedy not only for us as friends and family but the whole world who know him as a celebrity and a pop singer.

“Obviously he’s got a very supportive mum and dad, his two sisters, I know he speaks very highly of Cheryl [Tweedy], he’s got a girlfriend… he’s got enough people to reach out to and he would have.

“He’s always got help if he needed it but as far as I’m concerned he was in a good place with everything going on in his personal life and his career as well, he had new things on the horizon on the telly and he seemed happy.”

Read more:
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‘Heartbroken’ family pay tribute to singer

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Jodie said she would remember him as a “cheeky chappy” who would “make everyone laugh”.

“I just want people to look at Liam, look at everything, the legacy he’s left through X Factor, all his charity work and just remember him for the absolute idol he is.”

:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.

When Simon Cowell and his fellow X Factor judges were choosing the young singers to form One Direction, it was Liam Payne he was certain of.

“He was the stand-out audition,” the music mogul said, confidently, as a Polaroid of the then 16-year-old was placed on top of the smiling, fresh faces of Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson. Zayn Malik soon followed. The judges agreed Payne could be the “leader”.

From footage of the process, the creation of a pop phenomenon seemingly took just a few minutes.

“I’m in a boy band,” Payne excitedly told his dad in a text message after discovering he had been selected. He had no idea then how his life was going to change.

One Direction did not win the X Factor in 2010. That title went to Matt Cardle, with Rebecca Ferguson named runner-up. Beyond the hype around the series, only a few contestants, winners or otherwise, found lasting success. Leona Lewis, Little Mix, Olly Murs and Alexandra Burke were among a handful who shed the reality TV label and had sustained careers.

But Cowell‘s group went on to eclipse every other act that appeared on the show, before or after. The heady days of boy band mania in the 1990s and early 2000s involving Take That, Boyzone, Backstreet Boys and NSync had ended, and One Direction more than filled the gap.

They might have been “the cutest boyband ever”, as X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger described them during the selection process, but they were also five talented young singers who sang well-crafted, catchy pop songs.

From the release of their debut single, What Makes You Beautiful in 2011, their rise seemed inevitable. Payne co-wrote songs on all their albums.

One Direction became one of the biggest pop groups in the world, releasing five albums, embarking on four world tours and starring in a film. But just five years after their formation in 2010, Malik left the group, and the band announced their indefinite hiatus the following year.

Payne, who was born in Wolverhampton, had wanted to be a singer from a young age. His first audition for the X Factor had actually been in 2008 when he was 14, two years before he was placed in One Direction.

“I think about singing all the time,” he told the cameras following the hopefuls, before singing Fly Me To The Moon in front of the judges. Cowell liked him and put him through the first round, but ultimately decided he was too young.

As a solo star, he signed a deal with Capitol Records, had hits including Strip That Down and Get Low, and worked with a range of high-profile artists. But as his former bandmates found varying degrees of solo success – Styles hitting similar heights to One Direction as an artist in his own right – Payne seemingly struggled to find his place.

After achieving his childhood dream, his path followed that of so many stars who find stratospheric fame at a young age. In interviews, he spoke candidly about his struggles with mental health and addiction to alcohol.

“For some certain circumstances – I’m quite lucky to be here still, which is something I’ve never really shared with anyone,” he told former soldier and TV personality Ant Middleton on his Straight Talking show in 2019.

“I can’t go too deep into it because I don’t know how I feel myself. I still haven’t made my peace with it, to be honest.”

He continued: “There’s times where that level of loneliness and people getting into you every day. Just every so often, you’re like, when will this end? That’s almost nearly killed me a couple of times.”

In an interview with Diary Of A CEO podcast host Steven Bartlett, he described struggling with alcoholism at the peak of his success with One Direction, and hitting “rock bottom”. His problems with drinking continued during the pandemic, but in 2023 he shared a YouTube video telling fans he was six months sober, after spending nearly 100 days in rehab in the US.

In his personal life, he had a relationship with Girls Aloud star Cheryl, having first met her as a teenager during that first X Factor audition when she was a judge in 2008. “I like you, I think you’re really cute,” she famously told him back then, saying he had charisma and a “cheeky” style when he winked at her. In March 2017, they announced the birth of their son, Bear, but split the following year.

At the time of his death, he was in a relationship with US model and influencer Kate Cassidy, who had been with him in Argentina to see a concert by his former bandmate Horan. He had faced some criticism on social media over his behaviour at the show, leading to fans circulating old clips of him. However, footage he posted just hours before he died seemed to suggest he was enjoying his trip.

Read more:
Stars pay tribute to Liam Payne
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Payne’s death aged 31 is a devastating end to a young life, and while the full circumstances are not yet known, some musicians in their tributes have called for more support behind the scenes. As documentaries on huge stars such as Taylor Swift, Lewis Capaldi and Selena Gomez have shown in recent years, behind the glamour and fortune, the reality of fame can often be harsh and often lonely.

In 2020, marking One Direction’s 10th anniversary, Payne shared a screenshot of that text message he had sent to his dad, telling him he was in a boyband, all those years earlier. “What a journey,” he wrote. “Thanks to everyone that’s supported us over the years and thanks to the boys for sharing this with me.”

Speculation about a reunion had grown over the years. Now, if it does happen in the future, it tragically will be without Payne. The young star who always wanted to sing.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK

Former One Direction star Liam Payne was posting on Snapchat just hours before his death in Buenos Aires.

The 31-year-old singer died outside a hotel in Argentina’s capital, after falling from the third floor of a hotel, police said.

On Snapchat, he spoke to his followers about his plans for one of his days on holiday, saying it was a “lovely day in Argentina” and he planned to play polo.

The videos appear to be posted days after they were filmed, as they feature Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy, who uploaded videos of her return to Florida on social media earlier in the week.

“Today, we ride. We’re going to ride some horses,” he said, in one of the videos.

“Think I’m going to play polo again, which is going to put me out of action for about six weeks.

“It’s so hard to do, number one, my back and my neck from swinging that hammer around… or mallet, I think it’s called if you’re in the know.

“It hurts a lot, it’s very tough to do.”

Read more:
What we know so far

He also gave his followers a tour of the room he was staying in with Cassidy, who he has been dating since October 2022.

Latest updates: Former One Direction star found dead at hotel

“Haha, loser, weirdo,” he joked with her about the fact she was leaving Argentina.

“Obviously, we’re going to go home and see our dog,” he said.

The pair recently fostered a dog called Nala who they’ve nicknamed Noonie, Chooch, Narls and Choochie, according to the videos.

Payne and Cassidy said they’d been having lie-ins every morning, and the singer told his followers they were enjoying coffee and breakfast, “even though it’s like 1pm”.

“We literally sleep in every day until like 12,” Cassidy said in the background.

“We’re such losers,” she said.

The singer finished his update on Snapchat by sharing some of the “amazing” art in their room.

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“On occasion I do paint and I like doing art,” he said, but admitted he’d not found more art he was “in love with” except for a picture hanging on the wall.

“They’ve got the most amazing art in this house,” he said.