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'I knew Liam Payne from the beginning – he was different away from the spotlight and missed home'

EXCLUSIVE: Liam Payne was adored by millions before his tragic death – but whenever I met him, as Editor of a top teen pop mag – he was just like any other naive young boy

I was gathered with the band – comprising Liam, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson – in a lavish south east London mansion for their first-ever magazine photoshoot and they just couldn't contain themselves. Liam couldn't help winking at Cheryl Cole in his first audition, before returning two years later (Image: Ken McKay/Talkback Thames/REX/Shutterstock)As we chatted, the young singer – who was yet to experience the enormous chart success of One Direction's first huge hit, What Makes You Beautiful – confessed to me how much he missed being away from family life in Wolverhampton with his nurse mum, Karen, tradesman dad, Geoff, and two older sisters, Nicola and Ruth. I always worried that Harry, who has since surpassed even his One Direction level of fame with a stellar solo career, or Zayn, who quit the band in 2015 "because I want to be a normal 22 year old who is able to relax" might struggle with the unrelenting glare of the spotlight, but Liam's mental health clearly suffered and is well documented.

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