Simon Cowell makes his first public appearance since One Direction star Liam Payne’s death – days after he shared his devastation over the loss and cancelled BGT auditions

Simon Cowell has made his first public appearance since the death of Liam Payne.

The music mogul, 65, stepped out at the Pride of Britain awards on Monday night at London’s The Grosvenor House Hotel.

But while hordes of celebrities dazzled for the cameras, Simon opted to skip the red carpet and headed straight into the ceremony instead, reports The Sun.

Simon, who has attended many Pride Of Britain events in the past, later took to the stage where he paid tribute to friend and journalist Peter Willis, who passed away aged 54 and was the mastermind behind the much-loved awards.

His appearance comes days after he shared his devastated over Liam’s death and cancelled a day of Britain’s Got Talent auditions in the wake of the tragedy. 

Last week, Simon paid tribute to the late One Direction star who passed away aged 31 after falling 45ft to his death from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palmero Hotel in Argentina

A spokesman for the programme’s producer, Freemantle UK, said: ‘Due to the tragic passing of Liam Payne, we have decided to postpone the Britain’s Got Talent auditions. Our thoughts are with Liam’s friends, family and all who loved him.’ 

Simon paid tribute to the late One Direction star who passed away aged 31 after falling 45ft to his death from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palmero Hotel in Argentina.

Simon first met Liam when he auditioned for X Factor for the very first time at the age of 14.  

The mourning music mogul released a touching tribute to the ‘kind, funny and talented’, pop star, who ‘never forgot the fans’. 

He wrote: ‘You never really know how you feel about someone until a moment like this happens.

‘Liam, I am truly devastated. Heartbroken. And I feel empty.

‘And I want you to know how much love and respect I have for you. Every tear I have shed is a memory of you.

‘This is so difficult to put in words right now. I went outside today, and I thought about so many times we had together. 

Simon, who has attended many Pride Of Britain events in the past, later took to the stage where he paid tribute to friend and journalist Peter Willis, who passed away aged 54 and was the mastermind behind the much-loved awards [pictured at the awards in 2019]

Simon first met Liam when he auditioned for X Factor for the very first time at the age of 14 (Pictured: Simon Cowell and Liam Payne)

‘I wanted to let you know what I would always say to the thousands of people who would always ask me. 

‘What is Liam like? And I would tell them you were kind, funny, sweet, thoughtful, talented, humble, focused. 

‘And how much you loved music. And how much love you genuinely had for the fans.

‘I had to tell you when you were 14 that this wasn’t your time. And we both made a promise that we would meet again. 

‘A lot of people would have given up. You didn’t. You came back and within months the whole world knew Liam. 

His appearance comes days after he shared his devastated over Liam’s death and cancelled a day of Britain’s Got Talent auditions in the wake of the tragedy (judges pictured at Wednesday’s audition)

Last week Simon released a touching tribute to Liam on Instagram describing him as ‘kind, funny and talented

‘And you never forgot the fans. I watched you spending so much time with people who had wanted to meet you. You really cared.

‘You came to see me last year. Not for a meeting. Just to sit and talk. And we reminisced about all of the fun times we had together. 

‘And how proud you were to be a Dad. After you left, I was reminded that you were still the sweet, kind boy I met all of those years ago.

He continued: ‘I have met your son, Bear. He has your smile and that twinkle in his eyes you have.

‘And he will be so proud of everything you achieved. And how you achieved it.

‘I always thought of the 5 of you in the band as brothers. And reading their messages today I believe you were.

‘And now Liam, I can see the effect you had on so many people. Because you left us too soon.

‘Rest in peace my friend. And I am sending my love, thoughts and prayers to your family.

‘Simon X’

Before his sudden death at around 5pm (ART) , the pop star had been attending his former bandmate Niall Horan’s tour in the Latin American country. 

A heartbreaking video shows Liam Payne singing and dancing at the concert with his partner Kate Cassidy. 

A selfie of Liam Payne in Argentina before his sudden death at the age of 31

A heartbreaking video shows Liam Payne singing and dancing at his former bandmate Niall Horan’s, where he later posted a picture with Niall to Snapchat captioned: ‘Reunited.’ 

His girlfriend Kate Cassidy posted a picture of the pair on her Instagram last August

Following the gig, he posted a tragic picture with Niall to Snapchat captioned: ‘Reunited.’ 

Separate posts  from the final moments of the star’s life showed him enjoying lunch in his hotel room, where he revealed the pair had been ‘waking up at 1pm every day’ and deciding on Forest Gump as a Halloween costume.

A further tragic selfie was captioned: ‘Lovely day in Argentina’ before the star shared a photo of his hotel, writing: ‘Happy I got some time away’ followed by a heart emoji.

He shared a further photo with Kate captioned: ‘Quality time.’

Liam began his pursuit to stardom when he initially auditioned for X Factor in 2008.

At only 14-years-old Liam impressed judges with his own version of Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra – but was later eliminated from the show. 

However Payne gave his singing career another go auditioning for the competition again in 2010, where he quickly shot to fame as part of One Direction.