Liam Payne's History with One Direction: Everything He's Said as They Pay Tribute After His Death

Liam Payne's journey with One Direction had many highs and lows -- with the late star having spoken out multiple times over the years about his experience with the beloved boy band before his tragic death. The five members of the juggernaut group -- Payne, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik -- were put together on the 2010 edition of The X Factor in the UK, going on to a third-place finish before getting signed by Simon Cowell and catapulting to superstardom. The band went on to take the world by storm, amassing one of the largest and most passionate fan bases, and releasing five albums. And despite Malik leaving the band in 2015, and One Direction going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016, Directioners forever held out hope that they would one day see a reunion. Instead, they mourned alongside Payne's bandmates after the singer passed away at the age of 31 on October 16 after falling from his third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Following the heartbreaking news, Styles, Horan, Tomlinson, and Malik released a joint statement on social media. "We're completely devastated by the news of Liam's passing. In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say," the statement read. "But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly. The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever. For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the fans who loved him alongside us. We will miss him terribly. We love you Liam. Louis, Zayn, Niall and Harry." Tomlinson and Malik also shared individual tributes. Read them here. In the wake of his devastating passing, TooFab is taking a look back at Payne's history with One Direction, including what he's said about his experience with the boy band and his former bandmates, and the hope's he'd had to reconnect with one member before his death. During an appearance on the Bizarre Life with Dan Wootton in May 2017, Payne shared that he didn't understand why Malik talked poorly about his time in One Direction following his exit. "It is very sad because One Direction was a wonderful, wonderful time in all of our lives. It was like uni, but on steroids," he said at the time. "It was mad. It was madness. It was so much fun. I don't understand how you can come out of that experience and say the things that he says sometimes. It doesn't make any sense to me, but there you go." Payne had opened up about struggles he faced while a member of One Direction. In an interview with Men's Health Australia for their July 2019 cover story, the singer recalled dark days during the height of the band's fame, saying he drank to cope. "When you're doing hundreds and hundreds of [concerts] and it's the same 22 songs at the same time every single day, even if you're not happy, you've got to go out there," Payne said. "It's almost like putting the Disney costume on before you step up on stage and underneath the Disney costume I was pissed quite a lot of the time because there was no other way to get your head around what was going on," he continued. "I mean it was fun. We had an absolute blast but there were certain parts of it where it just got a little bit toxic." Payne also looked back at competing on The X Factor. He was only 14 when he auditioned the first time. Two years later, he was put into One Direction. "It literally was the perfect storm. There were so many scenarios that had to fall into line for that to happen. It's not something that can easily be recreated or probably ever will be because of the way the Internet was kicking off, the way The X Factor kicked off. I just think it was just dumb luck." The "Strip That Down" singer also spoke about how being in the band impacted his mental health. "It's difficult when you have the level of fame that we had in the band," Payne said. "There have been a lot of people in trouble with mental health that aren't really getting the help that they need, and I think that's a bit of a problem in our industry." "It's the same s--t that happens to everyone, that's been happening since the '70s," he added. "You know what the traps are and if you are lucky enough, like me, to be able to get out of that scenario and back into a sense of normality, then you know it's a bit different." See more about Payne's past struggles with mental health in the link, below. Payne's most infamous comments about One Direction came during an interview with Logan Paul, in which he appeared on his Impaulsive podcast. The pop star trashed the boy band, and even claimed that it was built around him, which later prompted The X Factor to debunk his claim with video proof. During the interview, Payne also blasted his former bandmate, Zayn Malik, sharing his thoughts on the "Pillowtalk"