US singer Nicole Scherzinger has said the recent opportunity to work alongside former One Direction member Liam Payne was a “blessing”.
Payne died at the age of 31 falling from a third-floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, last week.
TV personality Scherzinger, 46, was a judge on The X Factor when Payne auditioned in 2010 and helped to form boy band One Direction on the show.
On Friday, the Pussycat Dolls star paid tribute to Payne on Instagram and posted a photo of the pair with former Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland, who were all announced in August as judges for a new Netflix show called Building The Band.
The post said: “Dear Liam, I will forever cherish and treasure the time we shared together, from 15 years ago when One Direction was born, right up until just a few weeks ago.
“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.
“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. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.”
Tributes have flooded in for Payne since the news of his death, including from his former partner, Cheryl, his One Direction bandmates and music mogul Simon Cowell.
Payne’s bandmates: Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Harry Styles; said in a joint statement that they were “completely devastated” and will miss the singer “terribly”, adding the “memories we shared with him will be treasured forever”.
Malik, who left One Direction in 2015 before the group went on indefinite hiatus in 2016, rescheduled his US tour for 2025 following Payne’s death.
At the weekend, thousands of Payne fans tearfully remembered the late singer at memorial events in the UK and many other parts of the world.
The Casa Sur Hotel has become a place for Payne’s fans to pay their respects with people leaving flowers, candles and photos of the singer in a makeshift shrine around a tree at the hotel’s entrance.
Payne first auditioned for The X Factor in 2008 when he was 14, singing Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me To The Moon, with judge Cowell telling him to return to the talent show two years later.
Payne previously said he struggled with alcoholism at the peak of his success with One Direction, describing hitting “rock bottom” to The Diary Of A CEO podcast host, Steven Bartlett.