Ant Middleton reacted to the news of his friend Liam Payne’s death during a live interview on Thursday morning.
The former One Direction member, 31, reportedly fell from the third floor of the CasaSur Palmero hotel in Buenos Aires shortly after 5pm on Wednesday.
Ant, 44, fought back tears as he shared some of his most memorable moments with the singer on The Morning Show.
The SAS star said Liam, who joined him to film the documentary Ant Middleton & Liam Payne: Straight Talking in 2019, was like a little brother to him.
They spent three days in Namibia filming the series and forged a strong bond running from lions, surfing on freight trains, rappelling and sleeping under the stars.
‘We came together. He was my brother. He was like a little brother to me. He trusted me,’ said an excited ant while holding back tears.
“I would go see him. You know, there were some problems there, but nothing that a young celebrity of her caliber wouldn’t suffer from.
“So I’m in shock right now, really. I really don’t know what to say.’
Ant Middleton fought back tears as he reacted to the news of his friend Liam Payne’s death during a live interview on Thursday morning.
Ant and Liam met for the first time at the opening of Mark Wahlberg’s Wahlburgers restaurant in Covent Garden, London.
Ant previously told The StandardThey met regularly for coffee and chat about each other’s children.
He explained that he could identify with Liam’s isolation and struggle to re-enter the civilian world after being part of the biggest boy band of the century.
Liam also revealed at the time how he would trust Ant, admitting: “I’ve pretty much told Ant everything.”
“I think the situation we were in was, in a way, a release for both of us. And there were things I had never talked about before.
The SAS star said Liam, who joined him to film the documentary Ant Middleton & Liam Payne: Straight Talking in 2019, was like a little brother to him.
They spent three days in Namibia filming the series and forged a strong bond running from lions, surfing on freight trains, rappelling and sleeping under the stars.
The documentary forced long, candid discussions about fatherhood, drinking, and relationships between the two famous men.
The couple had no camera, cell service or fans.
During their time together, Liam admitted to Ant that becoming a father at the age of 23 “ruined him.”
“Cheryl (Cole) is still the most important person in my life,” he said in the documentary, referring to his ex-partner and mother of his son Bear.
“They say the age you enter fame is the age you leave it,” Liam added in now disturbing comments as he reflected on the lasting impacts of One Direction.
“I’m very lucky to still be here.”
The documentary sparked long, candid discussions about fatherhood, drinking, and relationships between the two famous men.
Liam reportedly fell from a hotel in Buenos, Argentina, on Wednesday around 5 pm (ART).
Buenos Aires police said last night that they were initially responding to a 911 call “from an aggressive man who may have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol.”
Authorities heard a loud sound in the yard before discovering his body shortly after 5 p.m., the BBC reported.
According to TMZ, Liam “had been acting erratically in the hotel lobby and smashed his laptop” before he “had to be taken back to his room.”
Police had received a call from a hotel worker requesting urgent help for a drunk guest, according to audio related to the case obtained from the Buenos Aires Ministry of Security.
“When he’s conscious, he’s destroying the entire room and we need someone to be sent,” the worker said.
The director of emergency medical services, Alberto Crescenti, said Liam had suffered “very serious injuries after falling from a third floor into an interior courtyard.”
“We verified his identity using the passport he had,” he said.
Crescenti told Argentine newspaper Clarín that “the team saw that he apparently had a fracture at the base of his skull.”
His body was taken to the local morgue where an autopsy will be performed.
Unverified images claiming to be Liam’s hotel room completely trashed have since emerged online, with one image showing a smashed TV screen.
Last night, tearful fans hugged each other as they gathered and lit candles outside the hotel where Liam’s body was found.
A woman could be seen sitting on the sidewalk with her head between her knees.
The Night Changes singer had been spotted attending his former bandmate Niall Horan’s concert in the country earlier this month.
Ant previously told The Standard that they met regularly for coffee and a chat about each other’s children.
In 2008, Liam launched his music career after auditioning on The X Factor when he was just 14 in front of judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl, Louis Walsh and Dannii Minogue.
He was eliminated from the competition series, but returned in 2010 and joined Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson to form the boy band One Direction.
The group won third place on The X Factor and became a global sensation, with hits such as What Makes You Beautiful and Live While We’re Young.
The band released five studio albums, including Up All Night (2011), Midnight Memories (2013) and Made In The AM (2015), following Malik’s departure from the group.
In 2016, One Direction went on an infinite hiatus.
Liam allegedly fell from a hotel in Buenos, Argentina, on Wednesday around 5 pm (ART)
Over the years, Liam has also battled health issues, as well as alcoholism and suicidal thoughts.
In 2021, while in the Diary of a CEO On the podcast, he spoke about suffering from depression and substance abuse during his time with One Direction.
“I was worried about how far my fund was going to go. Where is the bottom for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it. Nobody would have ever seen it.
When the host asked if Liam’s dark thoughts included “suicidal ideations,” the singer said “Yes.”
‘Yeah. There are some things I’ve definitely never talked about. It was really, very, very serious. It was a problem. And it was only until I saw myself that I thought, “Okay, I need to get myself together.”
Payne recalled seeing photos of himself looking “bloated,” which he labeled his “pills and alcohol face.”
‘My face was like 10 times bigger than it is now. I just didn’t like it very much and then I made a change.’
Over the years, Liam has also battled health issues, as well as alcoholism and suicidal thoughts; seen in 2021 in London
In August last year, Payne was hospitalized with a serious kidney infection during a trip to Lake Como in Italy.
The illness led him to cancel his South American tour to give him time to recover and he shared the news on social media at the time.
“It is with great regret that I have to tell you that we have no choice but to postpone my upcoming tour of South America.”
He added: “For the past week I was in hospital with a serious kidney infection, it’s something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and the doctors’ orders are that I now need to rest and recover.”
‘I was beyond excited to come play for you. To all of you who bought tickets: I’m so sorry.’
After hospitalization, his worried friends told him the sun which Payne had ‘struggled’ to cope with after his years with One Direction.
After hospitalization, concerned friends told The Sun that Payne had “struggled” to cope with his years with One Direction; seen in 2010 in London
“It’s not a big surprise: His lifestyle has been on a downward spiral for a while,” a friend told the outlet.
“Liam struggled a lot in the band because of the heavy workload and being the center of attention.”
“He was just a normal guy before One Direction, so living life in this bubble seemed strange to him and the restrictions really took a toll on him,” the source continued.
“His partying since the band broke up could well be a reaction to this.”