AJ McLean recalled Liam Payne being “a light” as they worked together shortly before his death.
In a video obtained by TMZ on Monday, the Backstreet Boys star opened up about the One Direction alum’s shocking death while walking through LAX. AJ revealed he just finished working with Liam on the upcoming Netflix show Building the Band with Nicole Scherzinger and Kelly Rowland, making this death particularly tough for him, noting:
“Liam was a friend. We had just finished filming a TV show together. We spent 6 weeks together. It’s absolutely tragic. Still processing it, I’m sure as well as his family and friends and bandmates. It’s absolutely tragic and my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone.”
Related: Liam’s Sister Nicola Reveals Heartbreaking Way She Found Out About Death
Addressing the other members of 1D, he said bands become like “family,” expressing:
“I can’t even fathom [what it would be like to lose a member].”
AJ, who has his own history of addiction struggles, then took a moment to stress the seriousness of alcohol, drugs, and mental health challenges, urging:
“Addiction is a real thing. It really is. I’ve been through it. Fortunately, I came out the other end, but I’m one of few.”
Oof. How harrowing for him to lose a new friend to addiction — especially given their similarities!
While he and Liam got close on the show, they never talked about addiction and he did not personally see any warning signs at the time. He recalled:
“He was a light. He was an absolute light. He was a sweetheart.”
The singers often chatted about “life” with a “brother to brother aspect” to their conversations, he added:
“He was funny, light-hearted. We really got to know each other very, very quickly. We had a lot of similarities, we had a lot of stories to talk about.”
Whoa.
They had maybe more in common than they ever even realized if they never opened up about their addiction struggles. You can see him talk about Liam more (below):
As of now, no release date has been set for the duo’s Netflix show. It’s unclear if any changes will be made following Liam’s death. According to Deadline, the show follows 50 singers competing for a chance to be formed into a band. The production concluded after three live shows were filmed in late August. So, AJ and Liam had only just started getting to know each other. So sad.
As Perezcious readers know, the 31-year-old died after jumping from his fourth-story hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Wednesday. It’s unclear if the fall was intentional. According to ABC News sources, a partial autopsy report found several substances in the singer’s system at the time of his death, including cocaine, crack, benzodiazepine, and “pink cocaine,” a mix of methamphetamine, ketamine, MDMA, and other drugs. Hotel staff had reported he was acting erratically, going in and out of consciousness, and high on drugs and alcohol ahead of his death.
The father of one had a history of addiction issues and had previously gone to rehab, helping him get sober for a while. But, according to reports, he fell off the wagon months before his death and struggled to get back on track, sadly. Addiction is such a challenging thing to overcome. We’re still so heartbroken to see things end this way.
If you or someone you know is experiencing substance abuse, help is available. Consider checking out the resources SAMHSA provides at https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline or check out StartYourRecovery.org
[Image via Michael Wright/WENN/Avalon]
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