Simon Cowell has cancelled auditions for Britain's Got Talent, following the news that One Direction star Liam Payne has died aged 31.
A spokesman for the programme’s producer, Freemantle UK, stated: “Due to the tragic passing of Liam Payne, we have decided to postpone the Britain’s Got Talent auditions. Our thoughts are with Liam’s friends, family and all who loved him." It is not known when auditions will resume.
On Wednesday 16 October, it was reported that Liam had tragically passed away after falling from the third floor of his hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Authorities responded to an emergency call at the Casa Sur Hotel, located in the leafy Palermo neighbourhood of the Argentine capital.
Buenos Aires police noted that Liam had sustained "extremely serious injuries" before medics confirmed his death in a statement to the Associated Press.
"At 17.04 through the 911 integrated public safety system, we were alerted of a person who was in an internal courtyard of the management of a south house hotel," Alberto Crescenti said.
"At 17.11 a SAME team arrived and verified the death of this man and later we found out that he was a singer in a musical group. Unfortunately, he had injuries that were incompatible with life, as a result of his fall, so we had to confirm his death, there was no possibility of resuscitation," he added.
Liam's representatives have yet to issue an official statement. HELLO! has reached out for comment.
Following the news of his passing, tributes have poured in across social media. Among them, Anne Twist, the mother of Liam's former bandmate Harry Styles, shared her sadness on social media. Alongside a broken heart emoji, she wrote: "Just a boy …"
Dan Richards, a guitarist and music director who worked with One Direction, wrote on Instagram: "This all feels so surreal...Still trying to wrap my head around it all. My thoughts go out to Liam's family at this time."
Liam – who shot to fame after teaming up with Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan on The X Factor in 2010 – had been relaxing at the Casa Sur Hotel with his girlfriend of two years, Kate Cassidy, priro to his death.
Hauntingly, Liam had posted a photo with his girlfriend to his Snapchat story just minutes before his fatal fall. Kate had departed the hotel for Florida two days prior, while the One Direction had stayed in Buenos Aires.
A father of one, Liam shared a seven-year-old son named Bear with his former partner, Cheryl, whom he crossed paths with on the X Factor in 2008. Years later, the pair began dating. They were together from 2016 to 2018 and remained on good terms following their split.