Simon Cowell recently opened up about how deeply the death of One Direction bandmate Liam Payne affected him, telling The Sunday Times that it was one of the worst moments of his life.
The 66-year-old was in the middle of filming his Netflix docuseries “The Next Act” when Payne passed away in October 2024 after falling off a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Page Six reports.
Cowell told The Sunday Times that the moment he was notified of the death of Payne, whom he scouted to join One Direction after auditioning on “X Factor UK,” he had to force himself to move forward.
‘It Hit Me So Hard’
“It hit me so hard,” Cowell shared. “Outside of my family, this affected me more than anything I’ve experienced. You’re just not prepared for it. It’s only when it happens that you realize how you feel about someone. And I was absolutely in bits.”
Since he was in the middle of filming and forming yet another boy band at the time, Cowell explained how the promise he made to his new band December 10, also known as D10, was the only reason he was able to cope at the time.
“I said, ‘I’m not sure I can carry on.’ I couldn’t make up my mind,” he told the outlet. “And then I remembered the promise I’d made to the boys, which was, ‘I’m taking you to America.’”
Cowell was blown away by Payne in 2010 when the singer covered Michael Bublé’s version of “Cry Me a River” on “X Factor UK” season 7. One Direction bandmates Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson also auditioned that same season, leading to their monumental success after Cowell signed them to his label, Syco Records.
Simon Cowell Leaned on D10 to Cope
Although Payne died at age 31, 15 years after Cowell helped launch his career, the beloved judge said that this time around, he plans to be more present for his band by sticking around D10 as they popularize.
“You can’t keep track of every single artist. You sign them on, and then sometimes you keep a relationship; sometimes the relationship drifts,” he explained. “With these boys, I’m going to try as much as I can — through them, their parents, my team — just to always, always know.”
Cowell emphasized that by adding more members to the group, it will help them keep each other more accountable and give them additional avenues of support. As the “AGT” judge put it, he is “trying to do things differently.”
