Nicole Scherzinger said she was ‘heartbroken’ over Liam Payne‘s shock death in her first interview since he passed last week.
The 46-year-old performer appeared on Good Morning America in New York City on Friday morning to chat up her role as Norma Desmond in the musical Sunset Boulevard and her part in Moana 2.
It is also the first time she has been seen since revealing on social media that she was texting the One Direction singer on the day he died.
Nicole has a long history with Liam as she helped hire him for One Direction and she was also working on a new show called Building The Band with him.
The former Pussycat Doll wore a form-fitting sleeveless chocolate brown dress, pointy brown high heels and gold-rimmed sunglasses with her dark hair worn down.
Nicole Scherzinger said she was ‘heartbroken’ over Liam Payne’s shock death in her first interview since he passed
The singer appeared on Good Morning American in NYC on Friday
Nicole has a long history with Liam as she helped hire him for One Direction. She is seen in 2017 with Liam and Simon Cowell
While on GMA, she spoke about Liam.
‘Liam and I were quite close,’ Scherzinger said on the program.
‘And so, yeah, I’m heartbroken. I’m heartbroken for Liam. I’m heartbroken for his family and his loved ones and his fans,’ she continued.
‘Liam always led with his heart and with kindness, and I really hope that’s how he’ll always be remembered.’
She was integral in putting One Direction together when she appeared as a judge on the X Factor in 2010.
In her Instagram note, Nicole said she will ‘forever cherish and treasure’ the time they had together.
Liam, 31, died last week after falling 45ft from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, leaving fans of the band from all around the world distraught.
‘Liam and I were quite close,’ Scherzinger said Friday. ‘And so, yeah, I’m heartbroken. I’m heartbroken for Liam. I’m heartbroken for his family and his loved ones and his fans,’ she continued
The star added, ‘Liam always led with his heart and with kindness, and I really hope that’s how he’ll always be remembered’
The singer, 46, sat down with Good Morning America to chat up her role as Norma Desmond in the musical Sunset Boulevard
The former Pussycat Doll wore a form-fitting sleeveless chocolate brown dress, pointy brown high heels and gold-rimmed sunglasses with her dark hair worn down
And taking to Instagram with a beaming picture of herself, Liam and Kelly Rowland, Nicole penned: ‘Dear Liam, I will forever cherish and treasure the time we shared together, from fifteen years ago when One Direction was born, right up until just a few weeks ago.’
The three had wrapped filming for new Netflix show Building The Band just two months before his tragic death in Argentina.
She continued in her post: ‘It was such a blessing to get to work with you recently. We shared the same love and passion for music and I will forever remember the meaningful and joyful conversations we had.
‘It’s been so hard to process that you’re no longer here, but I am grateful to have known your kind heart, sweet soul and character.
‘You brought so much joy, light, and laughter to the lives of those that truly knew you. I will ‘miss you’ my friend and carry you in my heart. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.’
Meanwhile Nicole has been praised by theatre guru Andrew Lloyd Webber for retaining her composure and still making it on stage for the press night of Sunset Blvd on New York’s Broadway just hours after she heard Liam had fatally fallen from his hotel balcony.
Scherzinger revealed she was texting Payne on the day he died as she paid tribute to her X Factor mentee with sweet photos on Instagram on Friday
She wrote: ‘It’s been so hard to process that you’re no longer here, but I am grateful to have known your kind heart, sweet soul and character’
Andrew told Billboard magazine: ‘One thing about Nicole is that once she’s committed to something, she is the most incredible company member and leader of any performer I know.
‘And do you know what? I suppose something that hasn’t been said, and I suppose I could say, is that of course she mentored Liam, from One Direction.
‘On the Wednesday when he died, she was still texting him that day, and [that evening] the reviewers came in [to Sunset], she’d just heard that he died.
‘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.’
Netflix have still yet to confirm the future of Liam’s recent show following the tragedy, after reports that filming wrapped with three live shows shot in front of an audience at Aviva Studios in Manchester in late August.
The show finds talented singers from across the nation and places them in groups based solely on musical compatibility, connection, and merit.
The contestants have complete control every step of the way but the judges – Liam Nicole and Kelly – are eager to see how well each singer performs under the pressure of lights, cameras, choreographs and audiences.
Liam fell 45ft from a third-floor balcony into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in Argentina’s capital on Wednesday, before medics confirmed his death.
The star had arrived in South America with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy on September 30, staying in Argentina for two weeks after only planning to spend ‘five days’ there .
Police were called to the hotel following reports of an ‘aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol’.
The singer, 47, was integral in putting One Direction together when she appeared as a judge on the X Factor in 2010 (pictured)
Following a toxicology report on Monday it has now been revealed Liam had traces of a combination of drugs in his system – including ‘pink cocaine’ (pictured days before his death in Buenos Aires)
Shortly afterwards, workers heard a loud sound in the hotel’s courtyard before the Wolverhampton-born singer’s body was discovered just after 5pm local time.
Shocked fans gathered outside after police cordoned off the area with forensic investigators seen entering and exiting in white protective suits and blue gloves.
The star was said to have been ‘acting erratically in the hotel lobby and smashed his laptop’ before he ‘had to be carried back to his room’, according to local media.
Following a toxicology report on Monday it has now been revealed Liam had traces of a combination of drugs in his system – including ‘pink cocaine’.
Argentine police and prosecutors investigating the tragedy are treating it as an ‘inconclusive death’ – as they continue to hunt the drug dealer who supplied him that night.
Preliminary results from toxicology tests of Liam remains have found traces of cocaine, benzodiazepine, crack cocaine and ‘pink cocaine’ – which is a combination of methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA.
While tests on the substances – white powder, traces of chemical crystals and prescription medicines – found at his suite at the boutique hotel continue, results from a post mortem of his body have been completed.
It determined that the singer died instantly from multiple injuries after falling 45ft from the third floor.
