Liam Payne Says One Direction's Fame Drove Him to Alcohol Abuse
Liam Payne is opening up about his time with One Direction.
He says that he often turned to drinking to combat his loneliness and anxiety.
Payne added that he's doing much better now, and he goes on morning runs to clear his head.
While being in a world-famous band and traveling the globe to perform for your millions of fans might seem like a great thing, it can also be a bit lonely. Liam Payne joined One Direction in 2010 at the age of 17, after the group was put together by Simon Cowell on The X Factor. The group went on to sell 50 million records, and One Direction is the first band in US Billboard 200 history to have their first four albums debut at number one.
Payne spoke with Men's Health Australia, and he said that the group's sudden fame was jarring, and at times, lonely. He often turned to drinking to cope with his feelings, and he described the experience as "toxic."
"When you’re doing hundreds and hundreds of [concerts] and it’s the same 22 songs at the same time every single day, even if you’re not happy, you’ve got to go out there. It’s almost like putting the Disney costume on before you step up on stage and underneath the Disney costume I was pissed quite a lot of the time because there was no other way to get your head around what was going on. I mean it was fun. We had an absolute blast but there were certain parts of it where it just got a little bit toxic."
A post shared by One Direction (@onedirection) on Sep 16, 2014 at 9:56am PDT
When asked if he ever felt "in control" during those times, Payne said he never did. He explained, "I still struggle with it now. I really struggle to say no because I don’t like to let people down. It’s in my nature."
Payne has been open about his struggle with anxiety, and he told Esquire Middle East that he goes for a run at 5 am each morning to combat it, and he added that his style is so laid back now because "that’s kind of the way I am as well. I don’t feel the need to hide behind the clothes anymore. I feel I can finally be who I am and enjoy myself."
A post shared by Liam Payne (@liampayne) on Jun 3, 2019 at 6:01am PDT
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