Lorraine Kelly couldn’t hide her emotions as she spoke candidly about Liam Payne’s tragic death. The former One Direction member, who died at 31 after falling from a Buenos Aires hotel balcony, is survived by his son.
The incident happened days after he and his partner, Kate Cassidy, saw his former bandmate Niall Horan performing in the country.
Prior to the singer’s sudden death, he and his ex-partner Cheryl reunited for the sake of their young son Bear. On Thursday’s episode of her show, the Scottish host, aged 64, paused to honour Liam, voicing: “I was generally shocked when I saw this, it’s absolutely tragic. I can’t stop thinking about that poor wee boy because Cheryl is going to have to break the news to him.”
She continued: “He is only seven years old and Liam was always talking about his son, he was a really devoted dad. He might not have been with him all the time but he was a very devoted dad. We’ve seen lots of photographs with his son and he spoke about him a lot too,” reports the Mirror.
Reflecting on the past, Lorraine showed an archive clip of her initial conversation with Liam and his One Direction bandmates when he was just 15.
Closing her tribute, the presenter remarked: “He was just adorable. The news is just unbelievably heartbreaking. I remember that time speaking to him, he was just so fun. When you spoke to the band he was always the grown up of the group.”
An emotional Lorraine shared: “My thoughts are with his family and friends but especially with his little boy. It’s very sad. He was taken away far too soon, only 31 years old.”
Liam became a father to Bear in 2017 with Cheryl when he was just 23 but they split the following year after two and a half years together.
Since their split, Cheryl, now 40, and Liam have been co-parenting, although Liam has been largely absent from Bear’s life for the past seven years.
As reported by OK! magazine, an industry insider previously revealed that after separating from Cheryl and overcoming personal challenges, including rehab stints and mental health issues, Liam was eager to move on. “We don’t see a lot of Bear on Liam’s social media but I think he wants to prove to Cheryl that he’s getting his life together,” the source added.
“He really wants to be a good dad and with Cheryl about to resume touring with Girls Aloud, she’ll be busier than ever and not around as much.”
Lorraine airs weekdays on ITV1 at 9am