Paddy McGuinness has shared a heartbreaking text message from Liam Payne as One Direction star discussed his sobriety before his tragic death aged just 31.
The singer plunged 45ft from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in Argentina’s capital on Wednesday, before medics confirmed his death.
Paying tribute Paddy praised him for his ‘open and honest’ approach to conversation as he remembered the time they spent together.
The comedian uploaded a screenshot of a message from Liam to Instagram and wrote: ‘I really enjoyed the small amount of time I got to hang out with Liam. His messages were always open and honest.
‘I could never comprehend that level of fame and attention? Let alone the effect it has on someone so young? Rest in peace young un.’
Paddy McGuinness has shared a heartbreaking text message from Liam Payne as One Direction star discussed his sobriety before his tragic death aged just 31
The singer plunged 45ft from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in Argentina’s capital on Wednesday, before medics confirmed his death
Liam’s message read: ‘Course mate. I don’t have many mates I can trust who know how I feel and since being sober I’m wanting to branch out more instead of hiding away.’
The former One Direction star had reportedly arrived in the Latin American country earlier this month to attend his ex bandmate Niall Horan‘s concert.
A statement from local police said they arrived to the hotel after they were ‘informed of an aggressive man who may have been under the effects of drugs and alcohol’. They have since launched an investigation.
Officials heard a loud sound in the courtyard before discovering his body just after 5pm, reported the BBC.
According to TMZ, Liam ‘had been acting erratic in the hotel lobby and smashed his laptop’ before he ‘had to be carried back to his room’.
Police had received a call from a worker at the hotel requesting urgent help with an intoxicated guest, according to audio related to the case obtained from the Buenos Aires security ministry.
‘When he is conscious he is destroying the entire room and we need you to send someone,’ the worker said.
Liam has been open in the past about his struggles with addiction, revealing that he experienced ‘severe’ suicidal thoughts and a wild ‘pills and booze phase’ during his One Direction days.
Paying tribute Paddy praised him for his ‘open and honest’ approach to conversation as he remembered the time they spent together
Liam was outspoken about how the global fame of One Direction changed his life and affected his relationship with alcohol , once admitting: ‘I don’t know if I’ve hit rock bottom yet’
Liam recalled how his dad told him during the build up to the December X Factor final ‘don’t come home until Christmas the day that I left for the show and I never came home’ (pictured on the show aged 16)
He celebrated the milestone of 100 days sober in May last year, and the singer said he felt ‘amazing’ and ‘super happy’.
Richard Madeley also said that Liam was ‘always very open about the demons who pursued him’ during Thursday’s Good Morning Britain.
He went on to reveal that Liam was ‘proud of the fact recently that he was celebrating being 100 days clean’.
Richard said on the programme: ‘He was always very open about the demons who pursued him.
‘It is so common that these young people who are extraordinarily famous at such a young age are thrust into this churning mill.
‘He was very very frank with his issues with drugs and he was very proud of the fact recently that he was celebrating being 100 days clean. He was 100 days clean and he was very proud, it was a real achievement.
‘Unlike some stars, he was very good with his public, open with people, happy to stand and chat.’
Liam was outspoken about how the global fame of One Direction changed his life and affected his relationship with drugs and alcohol, once admitting: ‘I don’t know if I’ve hit rock bottom yet.’
Speaking to Stephen Bartlett on the Diary Of The CEO Podcast in 2021, Liam, admitted: ‘I was worried how far my rock bottom was going to be. Where’s rock bottom for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it’.
‘I don’t even know if I have hit it yet. I can either make that choice now and pick my last moment as my rock bottom or I can make a whole new low.’
He admitted he had suffered for years with ‘social anxiety’ and ‘stress’ from being famous, and discussed the pressure his mental health was under while not having the freedom to go anywhere as a boyband member.
The Wolverhampton teenager first auditioned for the X Factor aged 14 before returning two years later when One Direction was formed.
They became one of the biggest pop groups in the world but six years after they were formed, with more than 20 million albums sold, the band were placed on indefinite hiatus.
The band have revealed how they went straight from The X Factor to stardom, with Liam recalling how his dad told him during the build up to the December X Factor final ‘don’t come home until Christmas the day that I left for the show and I never came home.’
