Louis Tomlinson will “never accept” Liam Payne’s death.
A year after Liam tragically passed away in Buenos Aires, Argentina, his One Direction bandmate is reflecting on the difficulty of his loss. During an interview with The Independent published on Saturday, Louis reflected on the loss he’d experienced prior to Liam’s death:
“I naively thought that, at this point, I’d unfortunately be a little bit more well-versed with grief than other people my age. I thought that might mean something, but it didn’t at all.”
For those who don’t know, Louis’ mother Joanna Deakin tragically died of Leukemia at just 43 years old in 2016. And three years after that, Louis’ little sister Félicité Tomlinson died of an accidental overdose at just 18 years old. What an unimaginably difficult few years for the Kill My Mind singer, only to be followed up by the death of one of his best friends.
Related: Did Liam Payne’s Sister Ruth Just Shade His Girlfriend Kate Cassidy??
On Liam’s death, he told the outlet through watery eyes:
“It’s something I’ll never really accept, I don’t think.”
Our hearts are completely broken for Louis. He’s been through so much!
On a lighter note, the 33-year-old went on to reminisce on some “real fun moments” he shared with Liam:
“Liam would always entertain me. If I was bored and wanted to have a laugh, he would play that role.”
The We Made It singer praised his former bandmate for always showing up for him beyond the heyday of One Direction… whether it be when he landed a judging gig on The X Factor, where the boy band started, or at the premiere of his 2023 documentary, All of Those Voices — Liam was always there. Louis reflected:
“This is in no way a comment aimed at the other boys — but I know if it was me, I would have struggled with that idea. There [would have been] a feeling of inferiority there, because you’re the guest. But any opportunity Liam got like that, he was always, always there for me. Even if he might have been struggling, he put himself second and still turned up. Those moments are really a testament to the truth of who he was as a person.”
The Two of Us singer did, however, note one silver lining to the tragedy of Liam’s passing: it “definitely” brought him, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, and Niall Horan closer together:
“The best kind of friends are the ones where, when you eventually do meet up, it’s like no time has passed. It’s also just amazing to see everyone doing so well in their own right.”
He also shared that while it’s easy to “point the finger” to explain the moments leading up to Liam’s death, Louis doubled down on previous statements that he and the rest of the One Direction boys were well taken care of by adults during the height of their fame:
“Look, in any situation similar to this, hindsight is a really powerful thing. I don’t blame anyone for my experience in One Direction. Was it really hard work? Yes. Did we not have enough days off? Yes. But what was really challenging, more than any of those things, was being young and really famous and having people outside the hotels. If you wanted to just go and get a coffee… even wanting to go for a s**t and having to walk [there] with your security. It’s dehumanizing, those kinds of things.”
We send nothing but love to Louis and the rest of Liam’s loved ones as they mourn him on the one-year anniversary of his death!