Nicole Scherzinger exchanged messages with Liam Payne on the day of his death: ‘He had such a good heart’

Payne fell from a third-storey hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last year

Nicole Scherzinger has revealed that she was messaging her friend Liam Payne just hours before he died – and that she learnt of his death moments before she was due to go on stage.

The 47-year-old singer spoke about her friendship with the One Direction star and solo artist – who died last year after falling from a third-storey hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina – in a new interview.

“I’d known he was in Argentina. It was just chit-chat and pretty light,” she told The Sunday Times about the messages.

Scherzinger, who met Payne in 2010 on The X Factor, learnt about his death shortly before taking the stage for her Broadway show, Sunset Blvd, which ended in July.

“The show must go on,” she said, about still performing that night. “From then on, I dedicated a little part of the show to Liam every night. Just a little moment that always made me think of him.”

Nicole Scherzinger says she and Liam Payne had small ‘chit-chat’ hours before his death (Getty)

Following her friend’s death, Scherzinger made a realisation about life in the public eye.

“We need more compassion in the world,” she said. “Our phones are our enemies as much as they help us. I wish we’d cancel cancel culture.”

While she was a judge on The X Factor, Scherzinger had the idea to bring Payne and his iconic band, One Direction, together. After mentoring Payne on the British show, they later worked together on the Netflix program Building the Band, which finished filming months before Payne’s death.

During the interview with The Times, the former Pussycat Dolls member recalled how her and Payne’s friendship grew over the years.

“I just adored Liam. He had such a good heart,” she said. “I barely knew him when I put One Direction together. I just saw these talented boys and was like, ‘I’m coming out of a girl group – I know the power of a group.’”

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Last year, the composer of Sunset Blvd, Andrew Lloyd Webber, spoke of how Scherzinger was 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,” he told Billboard in October 2024. “On the Wednesday when he died, she was still texting him that day.”

He also applauded her for her Broadway performance after receiving the news of Payne’s death, and called her “extraordinary.”

“I mean, she is an amazing, amazing woman. She is without any question one of the finest performers I’ve ever worked with,” Lloyd Webber added.

Scherzinger also paid tribute to Payne on Instagram in October 2024, reflecting on the wonderful memories they had together.

“We shared the same love and passion for music and I will forever remember the meaningful and joyful conversations we had,” she wrote in the caption at the time. “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. You brought so much joy, light, and laughter to the lives of those that truly knew you. I will ‘miss you’ my friend and carry you in my heart.”