Simon Cowell Recalls Moment He Found Out Liam Payne Had Died: ‘Total Shock’

Simon Cowell is opening up about Liam Payne’s tragic death. During a conversation for the Nov. 29 podcast episode of New York Times’ ‘The Interview,’ the former X Factor judge reflected on the moment he found out Payne had passed last year, comparing the feeling to when he lost his own family member. “Somebody who works with me very close, came into my, room. I was up in the north of England, and I could tell on the look of her face that she was upset. And, you know, she said ‘sit down.’ And she told me, and it was like, well, it’s a bit like I felt when I heard the news about when my dad passed away, you know, that you can’t really- it’s very difficult to put into words how you feel, other than it’s just a shock. Total shock and a surprise,” he recalled in part. The 66-year-old went on to reveal what he did next. “And at that point your kind of – you’re not really thinking clearly, other than I just remember saying, ‘I really need to speak to his mum and dad. Can you get them on the phone as soon as possible, please?’ Because I know – as a parent, what that must have felt like – and I knew his mum and dad.” The former One Direction star died at 31 on Oct. 16, 2024, after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires.