Simon Cowell has canceled Britain’s Got Talent auditions in the wake of Liam Payne, and former One Direction Star’s death aged 31.
Liam Payne tragically died on Wednesday after falling from his room at the Casa Sur Palmero Hotel in Buenos Aires.
In light of the devastating news, producers haven’t yet decided when auditions will resume.
A spokesman for the programme’s producer, Freemantle UK, said: ‘Due to the tragic passing of Liam Payne, we have decided to postpone the Britain’s Got Talent auditions. Our thoughts are with Liam’s friends, family and all who loved him.’
Simon Cowell – who famously formed Liam’s band One Direction – decided last minute to call off the auditions in Blackpool as he discovered the shocking news.
Simon, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and KSI were due to continue filming for BGT after auditions kicked off on Tuesday at the winter Gardens in Blackpool.
Amanda shared a touching tribute on her social media alongside an old photo with Liam.
She wrote: ‘Such an awful tragedy. Sending love to his family and all those who loved him.’
Liam Payne died instantly from multiple injuries after plunging to his death from a third-floor hotel balcony in Argentina.
The star fractured his skull, with emergency services unable to save him at the scene.
Payne’s identity was confirmed by emergency services by checking his passport, but police do not yet have conclusive evidence regarding the circumstances of his fall.
Buenos Aires emergency services chief Alberto Crescenti told The Sun: ‘Our role was to head there quickly, give medical attention, and try to resuscitate him, but his injuries were incompatible with life.
‘Based on what the team saw, there was apparently a cranial fracture and extremely serious injuries that led to his immediate death.’
Liam Payne had arrived in Argentina earlier this month for his ex-bandmate Niall Horan’s concert with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy. She left two days ago, but he stayed on.
Around the same time, his ex-fiancée Maya Henry instructed lawyers to issue Payne with a cease and desist letter after accusing him of repeatedly contacting her.
City ambulance service provider spokesman Alberto Crescenti said he had fallen around 40 metres and suffered ‘severe injuries which were incompatible with life.’
He said: ‘The alarm was raised at 5.04pm local time saying a person was lying in an internal patio at Casa Sur.
‘At 5.11pm an ambulance arrived and the man was certified dead.
‘Afterwards we found out he had been a famous singer. Unfortunately the injuries he had suffered as a result of the fall proved to be fatal. There was no possibility of resuscitating him.’
A statement from local police said they arrived to the hotel after they were ‘informed of an aggressive man who may have been under the effects of drugs and alcohol’.
Officials heard a loud sound in the courtyard before discovering his body just after 5pm, reported the BBC.
According to TMZ, Liam ‘had been acting erratic in the hotel lobby and smashed his laptop’ before he ‘had to be carried back to his room’.
Police had received a call from a worker at the hotel requesting urgent help with an intoxicated guest, according to audio related to the case obtained from the Buenos Aires security ministry.
‘When he is conscious he is destroying the entire room and we need you to send someone,’ the worker said.
Liam’s final Snapchat post showed him happily posing with his bikini-clad partner Kate Cassidy as they looked into a mirror – with the throwback photo previously shared by Kate to mark his 30th birthday last year.
Payne Liam had his first audition for the fifth series of The X Factor in 2008, when he was just 14 years old.
The audition was held in front of judges Simon, Cheryl Cole, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh.
He advanced past the first round of X Factor after impressing the judges with his rendition of Frank Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me to the Moon.’
Though he was initially eliminated at the Boot Camp stage, Simon brought Liam back for the judges’ houses stage.
He was cut again during judges’ houses but was encouraged by Simon to return in two years.
The singer returned to the show in 2010, auditioning in front of Simon, Cheryl, Louie and guest judge Natalie Imbruglia.
Following a suggestion from former judge Nicole Scherzinger, he was put together with Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson to form a boy band.