Liam Payne’s Final Days Will Be Covered in New Special
One Direction singer Liam Payne‘s final days will be explored in an ABC News special following the 31-year-old tragically died after falling from his hotel balcony in Argentina last week.
Streaming on Hulu on Thursday, Oct. 24, the IMPACT x Nightline episode will feature new interviews with those close to Payne, including singer Mary Byrne, who competed on X-Factor alongside One Direction in 2010, as well as fans of the boy band and a social psychologist.
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“Drugs, a trashed hotel room, and a deadly fall: How One Direction’s Liam Payne tragically died,” the special’s logline reads. “The boy band singer’s sudden death sparked renewed questions about the dark side of fame. How did the 31-year-old’s brilliant star fade so dramatically?”
The circumstances surrounding Payne’s death are still under investigation in Buenos Aires, as officials await further toxicology reports, according to CNN. The singer had been staying in the city with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, with Payne spotted at concerts for Paul McCartney and former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan.
In the moments leading up to Payne’s death, an alarmed hotel worker had called 911 to make a report about a “guest who was under the influence of drugs and alcohol and who had destroyed some objects in the room.” But by the time police arrived to the hotel, Payne had fallen from his third-floor room’s balcony and died due to the “gravity of his injuries.”
As hundreds of fans gathered in cities across the world to hold vigils for Payne over the weekend, many of Payne’s family members and loved ones paid tribute to him.
On Thursday, the four surviving members of One Direction — Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson — issued both individual and a group a statement in wake of Payne’s death. “We’re completely devastated by the news of Liam’s passing,” they wrote. “In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say. But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly.”
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