Everybody has that one thing that they were obsessed with growing up and for me, like a lot of others my age, it was One Direction.
I would sit up watching them on X Factor stealing my mum’s phone to vote for them to win over and over again (the enormous phone bill turned out to be for nothing as they didn’t win, I still insist they were robbed.)
Despite them not winning the show, the power of teenage fangirls was not to be underestimated and soon they were everywhere, surpassing a level of fame even I didn’t see coming. I would buy absolutely anything with One Direction branding, at one point my school pencil case was filled with gel pens with their faces on.
READ MORE: Liam Payne ‘carried back to room’ after ‘erratic behaviour’ before One Direction star’s death
I remember seeing them live for the first time at Wembley Stadium and just crying the entire time because I couldn’t believe that they were real in front of me in the flesh. When the band announced their break up I was devastated, it felt like the official end of my childhood.
Liam was the one who fans saw as the ‘father’ of the band. His bandmates referred to him as the ‘Gary Barlow’ of the band – something he seemed quite keen to ditch when he launched his solo career. Telling The Face back in 2019: “I was Mr. Vanilla in the band! Mr Boring, I think I got called.”
I, for one, loved the ‘Vanilla’ Liam Payne, and I feel sad for him, the young man who felt like he needed to change who he was in order to be successful.
He was very open about his mental health struggles and it felt uncomfortable to see someone so clearly suffering in the public eye.
It would be irresponsible to speak about Liam’s death without acknowledging recent headlines.
His ex-fiancee Maya Henry has spoken at length recently about his behaviour while they were together and it was revealed that she had instructed a legal team to send a cease and desist letter to Liam days before his death – after alleging that he was repeatedly contacting her and her loved ones.
As someone who grew up as a ‘Directioner’, I have such complicated feelings about his death. Whilst I’m incredibly sad to hear the news, he wasn’t a perfect person and we can’t pretend that he was. We can mourn him whilst still acknowledging his faults.
Accusations made against him don’t make his death any less shocking and tragic, you can still mourn someone losing their life at 31 but not condone things they said or did.
I truly hope Liam is finally at peace.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
