Liam Payne, a former member of the successful boy band, One Direction, is feeling “really, really good” now that he has accomplished a milestone that he wasn’t sure he’d ever reach.
That goal? He is celebrating 100+ days of being sober. In a recent interview with iFL TV, Payne, 29, appeared energetic and full of life as he discussed overcoming his recent battle with alcoholism and addiction.
“Things are really, really good. [I’ve been] sober now [for] over 100 days. I feel amazing,” Liam Payne beamed while standing ringside at London’s Wembley Arena, which was featuring a wrestling match between KSI and Joe Fournier. “I feel really, really good, and support from the fans and everything has been really, really good. So, I’m super happy.”
This isn’t the first time that Payne has opened up about his struggles with excessive drinking and mental illness.
In a previous sit-down on The Diary of a CEO Podcast, the “Strip That Down” singer got candid about the dark and troubled areas of his past, which started when One Direction, which included members Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, and Zayn Malik, was at the height of their success.
“When we were in the band, the best way to secure us, because of how big it got, was to just lock us in a room,” Payne explained. “And, of course, what is in the room? A minibar. So, at a certain point, I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to have a party for one.’ That just seemed to carry on throughout many years of my life. I don’t blame anybody for this. I don’t want to seem like I’m whining or moaning, ‘Oh my God…look at my life’ whatever.”
“I Was Worried How Far My Rock Bottom Was Going To Be”
Liam Payne shared that he wasn’t sure how low things would get before anyone noticed.
“I was worried how far my rock bottom was going to be. Where’s rock bottom for me?” Payne told podcast host Stephen Bartlett. “And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it. No one would ever have seen it.”
“There is some stuff that I have definitely, never, never spoken about. It was really, really, really severe. It was a problem,” he added of those fragile and low moments. “And it was only until I saw myself after that I was like ‘Right, I need to fix myself.’”
He Barely Recognized Himself
Payne also noted that one of the reasons he made a firm decision to quit alcohol was because he barely recognized himself when he looked at photographs that showed his face and body size.
“There were a few pictures of me on a boat, and I was all bloated out,” Payne said. “I call it my pills-and-booze face. My face was just like 10 times more than it is now. I just didn’t like myself very much, and then I made a change.”
During the brief chat with iFL TV, Payne also opened up about the projects he was working on saying, “I’ve been making an album for a change, which is quite fun, and it’s been good, so I’m excited to bring it out, and I definitely want to tour this time. It’s just unusual because I wasn’t sure I was going to tour for a long time. I was kind of over it.”
Payne didn’t share the title or release date of his forthcoming album, which will be the follow-up to his 2019 debut full-length solo album, LP1, But he did add, “I’m really excited to get back out on the road and see all the fans. It’s going to be fun.”
