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Robbie Williams shares heartbreaking messages with Liam Payne – years after mentoring 1D on The X Factor
Robbie Williams has taken to social media to share a heartwrenching conversation with the late One Direction star Liam Payne who was tragically found dead after falling from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires. The Angels hitmaker posted his email correspondence with Liam in which he told the 31-year-old how proud he was of him.
In one message written by Liam to Robbie in 2022, the former boyband member penned: “Thanks man, that means the world. I’m nervous as hell about it but I won’t back out. You have my word. Wish me luck, Liam.” Robbie responded: “F**k yeah… Go get it…Very proud of you. Massive x.”
To accompany the screengrab of the words the pair shared with each other, Robbie wrote a lengthy statement addressing his “sadness and confusion” surrounding Liam’s death.
Robbie, 50, who once mentored Liam during One Direction’s early days, began: “How to make sense of the Liam Payne tragedy? Obviously, my first feelings towards his passing were like everyone else. Shock, sadness and confusion. And to be honest as I write these words that’s where I still am.
“I met the boys on The X Factor and ‘’mentored’’ them. I use the word mentored in inverted brackets cos I hardly did anything to be honest. I just hung out with them. They were all cheeky and lovely. I enjoyed the light-hearted p**s-takery and thought about all the times I was that cheeky p**staker with the popstars that had gone before me when I was in Take That.
“Our paths have crossed ever since that day, and I’m fond of them all. Liam’s trials and tribulations were very similar to mine, so it made sense to reach out and offer what I could. So I did.”
He continued: “I still had my demons at 31. I relapsed. I was in pain. I was in pain because I relapsed. I relapsed because of a multitude of painful reasons. I remember Heath Ledger passing and thinking, ‘I’m next.’ By the grace of god or dumb luck, I’m still here.
“The internet will unfortunately carry on being the internet. The media will, unfortunately, carry on being the media, and fame will carry on being fame. As individuals, though, we have the power to change ourselves. We can be kinder. We can be more empathic. We can at least try to be more compassionate towards ourselves, our family, our friends, strangers in life and strangers on the internet. Even famous strangers need your compassion.”
The star concluded: “What a handsome, talented boy. What a tragic, painful loss for his friends, family, and fans, and by the looks of the energy this moment has created – The World. Be Kind.”
Tributes are continuing to pour in for Liam from his One Direction bandmates, other celebrities such as Sharon Osbourne and Dermot O’Leary, as well as singers like Ed Sheeran and Rita Ora.
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