Liam Payne calls 'One Direction' fame 'toxic' in throwback podcast

Late singer Liam Payne, in a throwback podcast, termed his former band, One Direction’s popularity as 'toxic' and 'difficult'.

According to him, the fame that he received through the band, took him to the point where he almost felt lost.

"My life's been so controlled to a point, day sheets, security guards, you know, anything. And it's all everybody else is dictating, puppet master over the top of your life. Then you just get to a point where it's like, you have to take some control by yourself”, added the 31-year-old English singer.

While talking exclusively on Steven Barlett’s Diary of a CEO Podcast, the pop star further stated: "And until I started to do that with my life, then I was living for everybody else. And I'm a complete people-pleaser anyway.”

Payne recalled that until he was 17, he believed that the security guard was his in charge.

"And I'm like, what the hell am I doing here with these people? So it's like, you know, when we were 17, I thought the security guard was like in charge of me. Like I was like, oh, can we leave the room? No. Okay, then not to worry. I'll just stay here.”

Former One Direction vocalist continued: “So I'm like in the room, like, what, are we allowed to leave? And then eventually that becomes like an angry person. And I was, because there were points where it was toxic and it was difficult."

On October 16, Liam Payne died tragically after falling from the balcony of a Buenos Aires hotel in Argentina.