Liam Payne’s X Factor co-star slams Piers Morgan for ‘abhorrent’ interview

A former X Factor star has blasted Piers Morgan after appearing on his talk show to discuss the death of Liam Payne.

In a recent episode of Uncensored, Katie Waissel was invited to speak alongside America’s Got Talent judge Howie Mandel, writer Esther Krakue, and presenter James Barr. The panel debated whether industry-wide change was needed after Payne’s tragic death at age 31.

The late star died on October 16, after falling from his third-storey hotel room. Several sources have informed various outlets that a concoction of drugs was found in the singer’s system at the time of his death. The final results of the toxicology reports are not expected to be made public for some weeks.

Payne had been open about his struggles with suicidal ideation and substance abuse, largely rooted in his issues with fame. After signing up for X Factor, Payne became an overnight star aged 16 with his band One Direction (Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik were also in the group). The act eventually finished third in the competition.

Since his death, it has been called into question if there should be changes in the entertainment industry.

A new petition has called for legislation to safeguard artists’ mental health with nearly 60,000 people signing. Whether talent series should do more to protect contestants has also become a discussion point, which was tackled on Piers’ YouTube series.

Howie, 68, defended the genre that turns ordinary people into superstars. Part of his argument was claiming that show psychologists are available if needed. Piers agreed and said that having worked on talent shows, such as Britain’s Got Talent, they do take duty of care seriously. He added that his friendship with Simon Cowell, who owns the X Factor and Got Talent formats through his company Syco Entertainment, is not the reason for his standpoint.

‘What I would say about Liam, who I didn’t know very well, I know others much better – Niall is a good friend of mine. Clearly Niall, Harry Styles, and Louis have built incredibly successful solo careers,’ Piers, 59, said.

‘I’ve covered many boybands over the years, where some of them end up doing a lot better than others,’ he added, to which Katie shook her head. Katie then rolled her eyes when Piers began to discuss Payne’s alleged ‘erratic’ behaviour and the drugs found in his system. Undeterred, Piers questioned if a show like X Factor should feel they need to take responsibility for contestants after they’ve left.

A heated debate ensued on the programme’s ‘legal and moral duty’. Katie, 38, appeared visibly shocked at some of the comments, such as Howie’s point of view that rejected contestants have a ‘harder time’ than those who make it through.

She argued that there was ‘no duty of care’ during her X Factor stint in 2010, the same year as Payne’s band One Direction, also alleging that the welfare officer was ‘absolutely unqualified beyond measure’.

‘You came 10th on X Factor then you did another reality show, so clearly it couldn’t have been that awful…’ Piers fired at Katie, who also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother.

‘I don’t need to play into this. I am here to talk about the tragic loss of our dear friend, Liam. Thank you very much,’ she stated in the interview.

Taking to X, Katie commented on a clip of the interview: ‘This is factually incorrect as I placed 7th, and my placement on the show was of no relevance to the discussion of the tragic loss of a dear friend and negligence to duty of care for all of us on there during that time.

‘Please fact check and whilst doing so, repost with dignity and respect. Many Thanks – KW.’

She also called the exchange ‘abhorrent from start to finish…..’

Viewers also criticised the nature of the chat. ‘Do better.. you should know better than to blame the victim,’ said account asweetiecat on X.

Fictionist Books asked for the ’embarrassing’ clips to be removed from social media, adding: ‘Piers, what a ridiculous show where you just cut the guest all the time. She was there, she lived through the show where everything started and you didn’t want to hear her side?’

Crafty Crochet posted: ‘I just wish Piers would let people speak and not thrust his views so aggressively on his guests.’

Fellow guest James scathingly wrote: ‘It’s no surprise that Howie and @piersmorgan want to defend the people that pay them – but a boy is dead and this entire debate centred around victim blaming. What do we expect from a show that openly bullies Sam Smith, Dylan Mulvaney and Meghan Markle. I’m sorry Liam.’

‘What pathetic virtue-signalling drivel. You, like the rest of us, have no idea what really happened to Liam. And may I remind you that you have regularly accepted payment to appear on our show that you now want to publicly trash, you shameless hypocrite,’ responded Piers.