Netflix’s Constructing the Band has develop into an much more particular mission for Nicole Scherzinger following the passing of her fellow choose and private pal, Liam Payne.
The Pussycat Dolls singer will sit down with Willie Geist for a particular dialog on the Sunday, July 27, episode of Sunday In the present day. In a sneak peek of the interview, Scherzinger bought emotional whereas reflecting on working with Payne on his final main mission earlier than his tragic October 2024 loss of life on the age of 31.
“What did he deliver to that set and to that present, as you bought to know him higher, personally?” Geist requested, to which Scherzinger replied, “Nicely, you recognize, I put One Route collectively, so it’s come full circle for us. After which, it’s full circle for Liam as a result of he had the success with One Route. And what did he deliver? He introduced the non-public expertise. He’s lived it.”
Scherzinger later stopped mid-sentence after getting choked up. “He’s very joyful within the present, watching the present,” Geist mentioned of Payne as she composed herself.
Scherzinger went on to share, “I’m so excited for folks to see this present as a result of Liam simply shines within the present. He’s only a pure, lovely, brilliant gentle. Anybody who is aware of him, he’s a really variety, giving coronary heart, and he will get to provide again. He’s been there with One Route, he’s completed all of it, and he’s in a position to give actually good recommendation from a really private place, and he’s nice at it. He simply shines on the present, and he brings a pleasure to the present and a sweetness.”
The actress — who not too long ago received this 12 months’s Finest Main Actress in a Musical Tony Award for Sundown Boulevard — mentioned she was “blown away” by Payne on the competitors present, stating, “I used to be like, ‘Wow, he actually is aware of what he’s speaking about.’”
Now, Scherzinger is “pleased that folks get to recollect him on this lovely gentle the place he’s shining” by way of the Netflix competitors sequence. Geist agreed, noting that Constructing the Band “might be lovely for his followers” to observe.
“Everybody’s sophisticated. It’s referred to as people, it’s the human spirit and soul,” Scherzinger continued. “And I simply want, I might solely simply pray for folks to be extra compassionate and understanding as a result of all people sooner or later of their life, if not proper now, goes by way of one thing, and also you simply by no means know.”
Payne died late final 12 months after falling from his third-floor resort balcony in Buenos Aires. A number of experiences confirmed that he had alcohol and medicines in his system on the time of his loss of life, which was dominated as an accident.
Payne rose to fame as a member of One Route on The X Issue UK in 2010, together with fellow members Harry Types, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson. Scherzinger was a choose on the sequence on the time and is credited with pairing the 5 boys collectively. The group went on to launch a complete of studio albums, the final of which didn’t function Malik after his 2015 departure from the band.
Payne appeared as a choose on Season 1 of Netflix’s Constructing the Band — which premiered earlier this month — together with Scherzinger, Kelly Rowland, and host AJ McLean. “Once we got here collectively to movie Constructing the Band, we by no means imagined we’d quickly be saying goodbye to our pal Liam Payne,” McLean says in a message performed initially of the present’s first episode.
He added, “Liam is a visitor choose in later episodes, and thru his presence, we see his deep love for music and his unwavering dedication to serving to others discover their voice. It’s by way of that spirit that we dedicate this sequence to Liam and his household.”
Earlier this week, Netflix launched a behind-the-scenes clip of Payne singing and dancing together with followers to One Route’s What Makes You Lovely throughout filming.
Sunday In the present day With Willie Geist, Sundays, 8 a.m./7c, NBC