“I was worried how far my rock bottom was going to be,” he admitted. “Where’s rock bottom for me? And you would never have seen it... There is some stuff that I have definitely never, never spoken about. It was really, really, really severe. And it was a problem. And it was only until I saw myself after that, I was like, 'Right, I need to fix myself.'”
Additionally, in a 2019 interview with Men's Health Australia , Payne spoke about the pressures that came with One Direction's booming career.
“It’s difficult when you have the level of fame that we had in the band ,” he shared. “There have been a lot of people in trouble with mental health that aren’t really getting the help that they need ... You know what the traps are, and if you are lucky enough, like me, to be able to get out of that scenario and back into a sense of normality, then you know it’s a bit different.”
“I was [drunk] quite a lot of the time because there was no other way to get your head around what was going on,” he said. “I mean, it was fun . We had an absolute blast, but there were certain parts of it where it just got a little bit toxic.”
By 2023, Payne was working toward a healthier life , celebrating six months of sobriety and sharing his journey on YouTube.
“I was watching this beautiful symphony, I was having a drink, and I thought, 'You know what? This isn't really serving me at all,'” he recalled, referring to a moment he had while attending Hans Zimmer 's concert in January of that year. “I just kind of feel like I've got more of a grip on life and everything that was getting away from me. I just feel like I've got more of a handle on it.”
Payne’s time in rehab and his efforts to seek help earlier in 2023 signaled his intent to turn things around.
Reflecting on his progress, he told fans, “It's good to be in this position. I definitely don't need those things anymore. The party's over.”
Yet his passing underscores the depth of his challenges, casting a shadow over even the positive strides he had made.
“There was one time I was trying to get him help and he was not taking it. He would text my mom, ‘I’m not doing well, have Maya contact me,’” she shared on “The Internet Is Dead” podcast on October 15. “And it’s just always the same cycle.”
Henry described what she saw as manipulation during their relationship , noting that Payne frequently reached out with concerning thoughts. “He would always message me ever since we broke up , like ‘Oh, I’m not well.’ He would always play with death and be like, ‘Well, I’m gonna die. I’m not doing well,’” she said.
Her comments suggested that Payne's struggles with mental health persisted even after their breakup , with these interactions resurfacing around events like the release of her book in 2024.
“He called my mom, ‘I think I’m not going to be around much longer,’” Henry, who was engaged to the boy band member in 2020, added.
Unfortunately, it seems like Payne couldn't get to a good place. On October 16, Payne fell from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, leading to his death, local authorities confirmed.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0