Liam Payne’s final telly project, Building The Band, is airing on Netflix, and one admission from a contestant left the late singer feeling emotional on the set
Liam Payne was lost for words after a contestant on Building The Band revealed his link to the late singer. Former One Direction star Liam filmed the Netflix show last year, just weeks before he tragically died.
The Polaroid musician tragically died aged just 31 in October last year, having fallen from the balcony of his third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He sustained injuries that were not compatible with life and was pronounced dead at the scene.
But just weeks prior, Liam appeared in his element, working alongside his pal Nicole Scherzinger, who created his former band, and American chart-topper, Kelly Rowland, filming the show in Manchester, with his relatives even joining him for the process.
A clip of the show sees the late musician left speechless when Australian contestant Mason Watts, who is part of the band Midnight Til Morning, revealed his unexpected connection to the band that Liam found fame in. “I just wanna say, Liam, when I was about 11 years old, my family won tickets from Australia,” Mason said.
He added: “My sisters were obsessed with you; they won flights for my whole family to sit front row at Madison Square Garden when I was a little kid. Ever since that moment, I wanted to be in a group. It’s kind of a full-circle moment to be here with a group and be performing in front of you, so thank you, man.”
Shocked by the admission, Liam eventually said: “Thank you,” before looking at the camera and sending a message to Mason’s sisters. He said: “Hi sisters!” Mason went on to add: “Thank you man,” with Liam adding: “Amazing, thank you so much.”
Fans watching the clip were also left emotional with one writing on social media: “That’s so cool Mason, living your dream and performing for Liam Payne, what an amazing full circle moment!”
A second asked: “Is he tearing up?,” with one fan replying: “Yes he is, it means the world to him.” Another fan commented: “I can’t watch this. This breaks my heart into a million pieces. Life is so unfair. Liam is so kind. I met him back in the 1D days several times, and he was always one of the most appreciative and sweetest in the band. These promos for the show are making me so sad.”
“He was genuinely touched. I’m not into many celebs, but he was so clearly a salt of the earth kind of man, and it’s gutting that he is gone,” said another. Prior to the show airing last week, doubts had been raised about whether the show should move forward, but Nicole revealed that bosses had the blessing of Liam’s relatives.
She said: “Liam meant and means so much to all of us, and we were very obviously sensitive to the whole process. We ultimately left it in his family’s hands and wanted to respect how they felt about everything and how to move forward. And his parents were there during the filming. They were amazing. It was so wonderful.
“They were actually kind of sat right next to us through the whole process, and they’ve been with Liam and with us through this entire process. So to know that we had their blessing, to know that they were so proud of him on the show, they were like, ‘Oh, yes, this is how we want everyone to remember Liam.'”
Building The Band is available to stream on Netflix now.
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