Liam Payne was a guest on “Jessie Ware’s Table Manners” podcast and had a good one-hour share-all about his time with One Direction. If the band hadn’t split in 2015, he surmises, it “would have killed him” because he was just so “overworked.”
Payne rose to stardom when he appeared on “X Factor UK” in 2010. Instead of making it through the competition as a solo act, he was put with four other teenagers aged 16 to 19. The boy band One Direction, consisting of Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, and Payne, came third in the talent competition, but nevertheless achieved international fame.
RELATED: Direction Bandmates Used To Play A Prank Involving Niall Horan
During One Direction’s run from 2010 to 2015, Payne “just lived so long as this reclusive pop star who was afraid of people, who just stayed inside all the time. I needed to stop, definitely. It would have killed me.”
Liam added that the fame of the pop group put a lot of pressure on his relationship with singer Cheryl, who gave birth to their child Bear in 2017.
“I think we kind of rubbed off on each other a little bit in that way. In a bad way, actually. All of that stuff puts so much pressure on a relationship… For her, if you were going out somewhere, it would take so long to get out of the door because you’re just so worried.”
RELATED: Liam Payne Debuts New Song And Teases One Direction Reunion
The couple ended their relationship in 2018 but remain amicable co-parents.
Now Liam is dating Maya Henry, and he appreciates how calm she is: “If someone is going to take a picture, someone is going to do something. The difference is with her, she’s so relaxed that it helps me relax in a situation.”