Liam Payne has reflected on the break-up of One Direction, admitting that things got “a little dark and twisted towards the end.”
The group went on an “indefinite hiatus” in 2016 and Payne, 26, is about to become the final band member to release a solo album.
His debut, LP1, will be out on Friday and speaking ahead of its release, Payne revealed how tough things got while 1D were on their final tour, On The Road Again, in 2015.
The mammoth trip around the world saw the band perform 80 concerts, most of them as a four piece after Zayn Malik quit the group just over a month in.
Payne has now told the Guardian: “It was a point where every day, you didn’t know whether it was going to be the end.
“It was so touch and go, at every single show. I was slowly losing the plot.”
Adding that “it was a little bit dark and twisted towards the end of it,” Payne admitted the mood did improve in the final few days.
“The last few shows were really beautiful moments because the pressure cooker had been let off,” he said. “It was almost like counting down to holiday – we were going to wake up that Monday morning with no schedule.”
The paper adds that after the tour finished, Payne had therapy for two years and took six months off.
While One Direction are officially “on hiatus,” it seems unlikely we’ll ever see the group back on stage as a five-piece again.
Addressing the possibility of a reunion, Payne previously said during an appearance on the Jonathan Ross Show: “All I can say is, through album cycles and single cycles, I see everybody putting songs out at the moment, I don’t think for at least the next two years it’s going to happen.”
When asked if Malik would come back, he replied: “No, I don’t think that’ll ever happen.”
“When he left, it wasn’t on great terms so I don’t feel like it’s a thing,” he continued. “If he didn’t want to be here, he shouldn’t be here. Which is fine.”
