Liam Payne has opened up about the decision to pull the plug on One Direction in 2016.
The singer described it as “really scary at first” but admitted he “needed to stop” or “it would’ve killed me.”
Appearing on the Table Manners podcast, Payne reflected on the chaotic days of being in the world’s most popular boy band. He described how upon finishing a concert he would get "horrendously drunk" and then "get up at 5 o clock in the afternoon and do it all over again."
Payne said: "There’s no stop button. You’ve got no control over your life. That’s why I lost complete control of everything."
The singer said it was difficult to come of age in the public eye. "You’re already so self-conscious at that age anyway, you know you’re changing and you don’t really understand why, and you’re trying to figure out life," he said. "The different sacrifices you have to make, relationships… that’s been the most difficult part of it."
Payne said he hasn’t stayed in touch with the other former members of One Direction, who he compared to ex-coworkers with little in common.
When One Direction called it quits, Payne said he needed therapy and time alone to become a person again and to break free of bad habits.
He said he was worried about ending up like other former pop idols. “You’re either going to end up a crazy child star who dies at whatever age,” Payne said he told himself, “or you’re going to live life and actually get on with it.”