Nicole Scherzinger, Who Helped Put One Direction Together, Was Texting Liam Payne Hours Before His Death

Nicole Scherzinger never gave up on Liam Payne, despite his private struggles. The Pussycat Dolls alum was a host on X-Factor, a reality competition series that Payne competed on. Though he started as a solo act, it was the “Buttons” singer’s idea to put him in a boy band alongside Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik 

Payne and  Scherzinger remained in contact until his death. Andrew Lloyd Webber, who composed the music for the Broadway musical Sunset Blvd., which she stars in, recently opened up about her relationship with the late star.

“I suppose something that hasn’t been said, and I suppose I could say, is that of course she mentored Liam, from One Direction,” Webber said in a Billboard interview. “On the Wednesday when he died, she was still texting him that day.”

And after learning of the 31-year-old’s passing on the evening of Oct. 16, Scherzinger did not cancel her performance as Norma Desmond in the Broadway production. “She’d just heard that he died,” Webber explained, adding, “and the fact that she even did the show at all is extraordinary. I mean, she is an amazing, amazing woman. She is without any question one of the finest performers I’ve ever worked with. One thing about Nicole is that once she’s committed to something, she is the most incredible company member and leader of any performer I know.”

Payne died of “multiple traumas” and “internal and external hemorrhage” following a fatal three-story fall from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, according to his autopsy. 

Ahead of his death, hotel staffers reported their concerns, claiming he was acting erratically and seemed to be severely under the influence. Initial toxicology reports reveal Payne has pink cocaine in his system, a synthetic drug that consists of meth, ketamine, ecstasy, and crack, as in Payne’s case. The drug is known to be highly dangerous and cause users to hallucinate. 

In the months leading up to his death, the One Direction member claimed to have been Sober. He’d traveled to Argentina with his girlfriend in September. She left a few days before his death.