Liam Payne’s death devastated the world, including former manager Simon Cowell who ‘sobbed’ uncontrollably to Sinitta.
The music mogul, 65, had been One Direction’s manager after their run on The X Factor and was spotted tearing up at his funeral.
Payne died aged 31 on October 16, 2024, after he fell from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with an investigation into his death is currently ongoing.
A friend claimed that Payne, who had been open about his mental health struggles, was previously sectioned following a serious drug overdose in May.
Sinitta, 61, shared that Cowell was inconsolable before sharing his own tribute to the late singer, as did the surviving One Direction bandmates.
‘He was absolutely devastated,’ she confirmed on the Nicky Byrne HQ podcast. ‘I spoke to Simon, obviously, it was a private conversation, but he usually contains his emotions, he’s quite stoic isn’t he? But he was absolutely gone.
She continued: ‘Just holding the phone, he was just sobbing. It’s the first time in my life I thought, “Well we normally come to you when we don’t know what to do”. But he was absolutely devastated.’
The So Macho hitmaker and Cowell have remained close since dating briefly in the 80s and are godparents to each other’s children.
‘They were like his babies,’ Sinitta added of his bond with the 1D members. ‘He went on this journey with them, he was part of it – he was almost the sixth member.’
An insider previously told Daily Mail the five boys were ‘like sons’ to Cowell who was going through ‘so many emotions’.
Sinitta addressed the anger fans directed at Cowell and the X Factor machine after Payne’s death.
Concerns were raised about the handling of his and other stars’ mental health after the sudden skyrocket to fame that the ITV show provided.
Payne was just 14 years old when he first auditioned for the competition then returned two years later and joined 1D along with Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson.
Their meteoric rise to fame was compared to Beatlesmania at the time, with the group quickly becoming one of the most well-known boybands of all time.
Sinitta called the criticisms levied at Cowell for not protecting Payne from falling into substance abuse ‘a bit unfair’.
‘Some people were blaming him,’ she added. ‘Saying he should have done something but even though he was very young, he was still a grown man and in charge of his own life. You can’t bubble-wrap everyone.
‘It was just the saddest, most awful thing. His poor parents and family. It’s the worst phone call, you never want to get.’
Girlfriend Kate Cassidy recently revealed Payne was keen to reunite with his ‘brothers’ after the band split in 2015.
She told The Sun: ‘I think everybody had hopes for a reunion at some point. Liam would have been more than happy in the future to do that.
‘He was so proud of the boys. He loved them so much he looked at them as brothers.’
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