Nicole Scherzinger has opened up about her final text messages with Liam Payne on the day he died. The former One Direction star, 31, died on 16 October last year after falling from a third-storey balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires.
Scherzinger, 47, was a judge on The X Factor when One Direction formed on the show in 2010. She told The Times that she had exchanged light-hearted messages with Payne before his death. 'I'd known he was in Argentina. It was just chit-chat and pretty light,' she said.
Despite her shock, Scherzinger performed in Jamie Lloyd's revival of Sunset Boulevard that evening. 'The show must go on. From then on, I dedicated a little part of the show to Liam every night,' she said. She also called for more compassion in the world, adding: 'I wish we'd cancel cancel culture.'
Scherzinger also recalled Payne's appearance as a guest judge on her Netflix series Building The Band, describing him as 'in his element'. She said: 'He smiles with his eyes. It's like he's giving you a hug. Liam just had such a beautiful, beautiful heart.'
