Dermot O’Leary recalls ‘wise and young soul’ Liam Payne following tragic passing

OHMYGOSSIP — Dermot O’Leary says Liam Payne was “both wise and a young soul at exactly the same time”, and had a “huge amount of pressure” on him after finding fame on ‘The X Factor’.
The 51-year-old star, who hosted the ITV talent show from 2007 to 2018 – with the exception of 2015 – has paid tribute to the late One Direction star after he fell to his death on Wednesday (16.10.24), aged 31, in Buenos Aires.
Dermot was hosting ‘X Factor’ when Liam first auditioned for the show as a 14 year old in 2008, and again in 2010 when Liam returned to the programme and became part of 1D.
Speaking on ‘This Morning’, he said: “I haven’t seen him for a while, but he was both wise and a young soul at exactly the same time.
“He had these old bones about him, like his musical tastes and so forth, and yet he was always beautifully wide-eyed about the world and his place in it and fame.”
Dermot admitted the One Direction members – who also included Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik, who later quit the band in 2015 – were under “huge amounts of pressure”, due to the group’s worldwide fame, but insisted they didn’t ever feel like a “manufactured boy band”.
He added: “It’s such a huge amount of pressure to be put on young shoulders.
“He’s been not just famous, but he’s had worldwide fame for, basically, half of his life.
“It’s an incredible amount of time for that level of pressure.
“The most amazing thing about One Direction is they were the least manufactured manufactured boy band you could ever imagine.
“They got chucked together and they went away and worked really hard before Judges’ Houses.
“But from the get-go, they were, ‘We can’t dance, we’re not going to wear the same clothes, we have similar taste in music.’
“I went to see them live in concert a couple of times and you realise that’s their beauty.
“They kind of just ambled around the stage, but they knew each other so well.
“They were such a brilliant band and they evolved so well together, and they meant so much to so many people. And Liam was central to that.
“He did have and always had this unbelievable, soulful voice that belied his age group.”
Dermot admitted many who worked on ‘The X Factor’ felt a “real sense of protectiveness” over the 1D band members.
He added: “The amount of people I’ve spoken to or text over the last 12 hours who worked on the show and felt a real sense of protectiveness over that band … in many ways we grew up with them.
“Sending all our love to Liam’s friends and family.”
Liam had seven-year-old son Bear with former ‘X Factor’ judge Cheryl.

Source: VacationHunter.Online