I saw Liam go from warm ‘dad’ of 1D to consummate pro solo star…but demons took him from highest highs to lowest lows

LIAM was warm, a little bit goofy and the dad - figuratively, not literally - in One Direction, who always kept everyone in check and gave the people what they wanted.

He was the spokesperson of the group, speaking up while the others fooled around or shrunk into the background.

I interviewed him lots of times over the years, first of all back in December 2014 when I was a fledgling reporter and he was still one fifth of the world’s most famous boyband.

On that night at the BBC Music Awards in West London, they squeezed onto a sofa and Liam spoke animatedly while his bandmate Zayn Malik barely said a word.

He was friendly and the most professional of the group because he knew his role was to hold things together.

You could tell he was eager to please, even then.

But I would hear whispers from behind the scenes that all was not well.

He was abusing alcohol and his love life was a rollercoaster.

Things came to a head in the final year of One Direction and those working around him made it clear that it was a relief he would finally have some time off to be a normal guy in his early twenties - after years spent pin-balling across the globe in a haze of screams from fans.

It was shocking to me that at 22 he had been in the industry for years and years, while I, just a year older, was only just starting my career.

I still felt like a kid, but he was one of the most talked-about people in the world.

A few years later, in May 2017, we spoke again as he went solo.

He lit up while talking about his newborn son Bear and his girlfriend at the time, Cheryl.

It seemed like he was finally in a good place.

He spoke with passion about entering this new chapter of his life, both personally and professionally, and promised that One Direction would be “back very soon.”

Weeks later our paths crossed again at the Capital Summertime Ball where he threw himself into promo - chatting to everyone on the red carpet.

He was invigorated and excited.

I remember him telling me his son Bear had giggled for the first time ever the night before, and he was overjoyed.

It comes as:

• Liam's cause of death was released by medics
• A heartbreaking 911 call from worried hotel staff was revealed
• Cops are reportedly set to hunt for a drug dealer
• The star's ex says she "predicted his early death"
• Liam's girlfriend revealed why she left Argentina
• Simon Cowell cancelled BGT auditions after Liam's death

He was a mile a minute, gushing about wanting to perform as much as possible and singing the praises of Cheryl.

Strip That Down became a massive hit - the most streamed song, at the time, by any of the One Direction lads.

That autumn, he paid a visit to Sun HQ where he still seemed upbeat while promoting his third solo single, Bedroom Floor.

But things soon took a turn.

He split from Cheryl and released his debut album LP1, which had a mixed reaction...

I can remember meeting someone who had worked with One Direction on the week it was released who said: “What on Earth is he doing?”

Liam struggled to find his lane and spoke about it at length.

And I could tell during our various meetings that he constantly compared himself to his former bandmates.

It was extremely disheartening for him to go on social media and see such strong opinions as people dissected what he was doing better or worse than the other lads.

I can’t imagine how hard it must be to have been to have that level of fame and scrutiny and feel like you’re not as good as the people you grew up on stage with.

But like many people who get famous young, it was like Liam had been frozen in time at the age he hit the big time on The X Factor.

Liam auditioned for the show aged 16, was put into the five-piece group, and life was never the same.

By 2014 he was performing in stadiums around the globe.

But by 2016 he was on his own again and left to figure out what he should do with his life and how he should do it.

It’s tough for anybody to do that - let alone someone who had spent the best part of a decade in a whirlwind of popularity with a packed diary, before being popped out the other side.

And heartbreakingly, people he was close to told me they could see he was going down a difficult path.

For Liam, you could tell that he still loved 1D and would rather be back together with them than go it alone.

He might not have always got on with them, but he loved the camaraderie, the support, and the idea of belonging to something bigger than him.

In recent years, Liam did less and less press, with little music to promote.

The last time I spoke to him directly was in the early weeks of lockdown in 2020, when he released a song called Midnight with Swedish DJ and producer Alesso.

He spoke about his near naked, absolutely ripped photoshoot for Hugo Boss, in which he had model Stella Maxwell draped over him.

Joking about his mum catching a glimpse of the raunchy shoot, he chuckled: “She was like, ‘What’s that?’ and saw Stella draped across me in this picture and then she hit me around the earhole.”

He said he was holed up at home, like the rest of us, but that he was embracing the down time after years spent following a relentless schedule.

Alesso had nothing but warm words about Liam and said he was keen to work with him again.

That’s the thing about Liam - I only ever saw him as a consummate professional.

Alesso and everyone else who worked with him only had nice things to say about him.

In the last few years, I heard troubling updates about drink and drugs.

He had periods of sobriety but I knew things were not well behind the scenes.

Liam had an extraordinary life with the highest highs and lowest lows.

I know countless people who tried to help him and they are devastated about what has happened.

When I saw the news late on Wednesday night, I was shocked.

It didn’t feel real that this man, who was just a year younger than me and felt like such a continued presence in my life, was gone.

And that’s the thing. Whether you knew him or not, this news is such a huge horror for millions because he was only 31 and an entire generation felt like they grew up with him.

I hope this is a wake up call for everyone, that in the internet age, stars need and deserve more protection and help than ever.