Pussycat Dolls alum Nicole Scherzinger was allegedly in contact with Liam Payne on the day he died.
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Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who is currently working with the songstress on a Broadway production, opened up about her relationship with the late One Direction alum.
According to the British musician, Scherzinger, 46, learned the tragic news of Payne’s death shortly before she took the stage to perform in her starring role.
“She’d just heard that he died,” Webber said. “And the fact that she even did the show at all is extraordinary. I mean she is an amazing, amazing woman.
“She is without any question one of the finest performers I’ve ever worked with.”
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“Of course she mentored Liam, from One Direction,” Webber told Billboard in a interview published Thursday.
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“On the Wednesday when he died, she was still texting him that day,” the British composer continued.
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Reps for Scherzinger did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Payne and Scherzinger’s relationship dates back to 2010 when the “Don’t Cha” singer was a judge on “The X Factor UK.”
At the time, Scherzinger teamed up with fellow judges Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh to connect Payne with his One Direction bandmates, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan.
Webber said that Scherzinger still showed up to perform hours after hearing the news of Payne’s death.
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“And the fact that she even did the show at all is extraordinary. I mean she is an amazing, amazing woman,” Webber added.Behind-the-scenes footage released in 2022 showed Scherzinger encouraging her fellow judges to put together “an imaginary boy group” consisting of the five teens rather than eliminating them from the show.
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“They’re just too talented to get rid of and they’ve got just the right look and the right charisma on stage,” she said at the time. “I think they’ll be really great in a boy band together.”
“They’re like little stars,” Scherzinger continued. “You can’t get rid of little stars. You put them all together.”
Scherzinger and Payne met on “The X Factor UK” in 2010.
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Scherzinger, who was a judge on the show, encouraged her fellow judges, Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh, to form the boy band now known as One Direction.
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From there, One Direction was formed. The group went to have incredible success, recording albums and performing together for five years until separating in 2015.
Payne and Scherzinger reportedly filmed the forthcoming Netflix series “Building the Band” together before he died.
The “Teardrops” singer acted as a judge and mentor on the unscripted show, which wrapped production in August, Deadline reported earlier this month.
Payne died on Oct. 16.
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