Louis Tomlinson appeared on the Diary of a CEO podcast to speak about his upcoming tour, new music, three-part docu-series with Zayn Malik, and more. He also addressed the passing of his mate Liam Payne last year and how Niall Horan reached out to him over a call to speak about it. The singer shared how tough it was to accept the demise and how it made him think back to the moment when he learned about his younger sister’s passing 5 years ago.
Louis Tomlinson gets real about learning of Liam Payne’s passing
Speaking about where he was when he heard the news, he was “in the car, in L.A.,” and as to who broke it to him, the singer revealed details of the tough moment. “I found out through Niall,” he said. Louis Tomlinson shared getting a strange feeling on finding out about it from a fellow One Direction member. “I had the same feeling that I had with Félicité,” he recalled, talking about his late sister who passed away at the age of 18.
“And I think anyone has this when they’re around someone who’s struggling — my 150% wasn’t nearly enough,” he spoke of Félicité and Liam Payne’s fight against substance usage. “And that’s when it’s my own arrogance thinking that I could have helped, really, because it was so much deeper than what I could have done for him.”
“He was definitely struggling at that time in his life,” confirmed the Back to You star. Reacting to his demise, the 33-year-old had shared a post recalling their time and finding it difficult to accept the truth. “When I put up my post about him, I really wanted him to be remembered the way that he should be remembered.”
“I could just go on and talk all day about how amazing he was, but I think we all looked up to him. I don’t think we would have been brave enough to say at that age when I was in the band, I think I would’ve had too much pride, but we all looked up to him massively,” shared Louis Tomlinson about his dear friend.
ALSO READ: Louis Tomlinson Says One Direction Bandmate Liam Payne Was ‘Misunderstood’, Claims His Passing Was ‘Incredibly Hard’