Liam Payne’s cousin says singer ‘didn’t feel very loved’ before he died

By Carla Feric, Press Association Entertainment Reporter

Liam Payne’s cousin Ross Harris said he thinks the late singer “didn’t feel very loved” prior to his death.

The former One Direction star died aged 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina in October 2024.

Harris, who has followed in Payne’s footsteps as a musician, said “it’s difficult when you’re in a world of fame” as he discussed the circumstances around his cousin’s death in an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Thursday.

He said: “He didn’t feel very loved, which is ironic for a superstar because he has a million people plus who love him – but they love Liam Payne.

“He needs someone to love Liam, if that makes sense.”

Harris explained how, prior to Payne’s death, he “was going to send a couple of messages” to people to encourage them to “hang out” with him and “make sure he knows he’s loved”.

“It’s like a dream isn’t it, to go on a TV show and become a superstar?

“But that dream can end in the worst possible way, which we’ve unfortunately experienced here.”

Payne rocketed to fame in One Direction alongside Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson after the group was formed on ITV singing competition The X Factor in 2010.

The singer was open about his struggles with alcohol addiction and substance use throughout his career, and often discussed how intense it was to experience global fame as a teenager.

Reflecting on the fact that Payne was “so sentimental” about their childhood memories together, Harris said: “It sort of shows the disconnect between becoming a child star, effectively, to being an adult.

“There’s a real gap that maybe I’d forgotten about.

“He’d bring up things from our childhood that I’d sort of forgotten about because I’ve had this ‘normal’ life.

“Whereas for him, he still had those core memories because it’s sort of two different lives he lived.”

Harris also recounted receiving a phone call from the Strip That Down singer hours before his death, and told the morning news programme: “I was in a writing session.

“And I think my phone was just down, so I missed it. We were recording, so I saw it a few hours later, ‘I’ll call him back’.

“We finished and I called him and I think it was already too late.”

He described the incident as “a strange thing I keep trying to process”, adding: “It’s going to be a regret that lives with me forever.”

Harris has since written a charity single in memory of his cousin which has been launched alongside The Bones Fund, an initiative which aims to donate the profits from the track to causes close to Payne’s heart.

Payne soared to success in One Direction with hits such as What Makes You Beautiful, One Thing and Drag Me Down.

The group went on hiatus in 2016, almost a year after Malik left, and Payne launched a solo career which saw him achieve six Top 40 singles with tracks such as For You, Get Low and Bedroom Floor.

In February 2025, a court in Argentina dropped charges of criminal negligence against three out of the five people who had been charged in connection with the performer’s death.

The full interview with Harris is available on Thursday’s episode of ITV’s Good Morning Britain, which airs weekdays from 6am.