Liam Payne’s fellow X Factor contestant reacts to One Direction star’s death

A former The X Factor contestant who competed on the same series as Liam Payne has shared her reaction to the One Direction star’s death aged 31.

Mary Byrne was a finalist in the seventh series alongside the boy band in 2010, finishing fifth.

Speaking to Sky News on Thursday, 17 October, Byrne expressed her shock at Payne’s death following a fall from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires.

Describing the singer as “the wise one” of One Direction, Byrne said Payne “used to try and keep the group together.”