'I'll remember him as a beautiful young man'

Journalist Tony Cowell, brother of Simon, opens up to OK! about meeting Liam Payne as a teenager and watching his journey to stardom

- KAREN CROSS

Liam always gave the best hugs. He was a huge hugger. The last time I saw him, he came bounding up to me and my wife Emma, “Hey, how are you guys?” full of big, warm cuddles. It had been a little while since we’d last seen him, but it was as if it was just 10 minutes ago. Or when we were back in the studio at Wembley about to watch him perform on TV.

He was always exactly the same, no matter how long it had been. I knew Liam for 15 years and he hadn’t changed at all from the sweet 16-year-old we all first met at The X Factor. He was an angel.

It’s all so surreal he’s no longer with us, a terrible nightmare. As a family, we are completely devastated.

When I first met Liam and the One Direction boys, they were babies, just teenagers. I was reporting on the show for Heart Radio, so Emma and I were backstage every Saturday and Sunday night. Most of the boys in the band would love to be in Louis [Walsh]’s dressing room, which is where we all hung out, then they would run through the corridors to Simon’s dressing room.

The X Factor was at its zenith, 20 million people watching it every weekend. Liam was nervous about the live shows, yet he was really determined. He was always very quiet, but polite, asking me for advice — because everybody wanted to please Simon. And that’s the thing about him, he always wanted to be better.

After one of Liam’s first auditions, Simon had said he wanted to see a bit more from him and I think that set him on some sort of mission. So after each performance, he wanted to know what I thought or what Emma thought.

As the weeks went on and their star began to rise, Liam didn’t change. He spoke to every fan who approached him, because he was so grateful to be in the position he was. It was what he always wanted. It was a dream coming true for him.