The Backstreet Boy opens up about his reference to the late One Path singer, how the Netflix sequence will present him “at his greatest,” and the second he and co-stars Nicole Scherzinger and Kelly Rowland realized of his loss of life.
Constructing the Band co-stars AJ McLean and the late Liam Payne constructed a real friendship whereas working collectively on the Netflix competitors sequence.
Hosted by McLean and that includes Nicole Scherzinger, Kelly Rowland and Payne as mentor/judges, the present follows aspiring singers who type teams — with out ever having seen one another in particular person. And whereas AJ had years of historical past with each Scherzinger and Rowland — whose group Future’s Little one even as soon as opened for his Backstreet Boys — it was fellow boy bander Payne he actually made a robust reference to whereas filming the sequence.
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“Liam, I knew as soon as the band shaped. As soon as 1D was shaped, we might see one another at award reveals or festivals,” McLean instructed TooFab earlier than the sequence premiere, saying it was at all times “tremendous candy” for the group to quote BSB as one among their inspirations in interviews. Whereas he initially bonded strongest with Niall Horan, simply by seeing him probably the most usually, he and Payne actually clicked after they began to work collectively.
“Once you put Liam and I collectively in the identical room, it was type of outstanding to me how a lot our lives had been parallel, despite the fact that there’s such an age hole,” stated McLean. “We have type of lived very related paths. That basically type of linked us from bounce avenue.”
“Each had the identical type of witty humor, dry humor and simply speaking about music, sobriety, speaking about life,” continued AJ, who, like Payne earlier than his loss of life, has been very open about his points with habit and restoration.
“We had been type of in one another’s face for 14 hours a day, for like 5 weeks and also you’re gonna study any person, in the event that they’re open. And he is very open,” McLean recalled of Payne. “He lit up any room that he walked into and he was simply an absolute dream to get to know on a way more private degree.”
Payne unexpectedly handed away after fatally falling from his resort balcony throughout a visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 16, 2024. The One Path member was 31, forsaking younger son Bear, whom he shared with ex Cheryl Cole. He had a number of substances, together with “pink cocaine,” in his system on the time of his loss of life.
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“[The Backstreet Boys] had been on a convention name with our group speaking about [our upcoming residency at The Sphere] and this and that and the opposite, and my supervisor messaged me whereas we had been on the Zoom, the information [of Payne’s death],” McLean revealed. “And I used to be like, ‘Guys, I am sorry. I gotta log out for a minute.’ I took a while after which I referred to as Nicole and I referred to as Kelly and all of us type of cried collectively and talked and simply type of obtained it out. It is unhappy, it is horrible.”
“Hopefully … I am assuming he is not in ache, as a result of it’s a day by day wrestle,” McLean stated of sobriety. “I am developing on 4 years sober. Am I there but? No. And I will not ever put the cart earlier than the horse once more. I’ve executed that too a few years the place I’ve gotten complacent.”
“For me, I attempted to include it and simply deal with daily,” he stated of how he offers together with his personal habit journey. “What can I do to be higher in the present day and what can I do to be a greater father, a greater bandmate, and only a higher particular person to others round me? I do not suppose that was a difficulty with [Liam]. He was so form to everybody. You’ve got seen divas earlier than. I’ve seen divas earlier than. There was nothing diva about Liam, in any respect.”
The Netflix reveals opens with a dedication from McLean to Payne, who seems within the later episodes of the season. Whereas the sequence would not drop till later this month, the One Path singer’s household has already screened the present — and spoke about how watching it again over the previous few months has allowed them to “nonetheless really feel shut” to their brother and see him at his “greatest.”
That is a sentiment shared by McLean.
“I am eager for all of the 1D followers and for his household and for anybody that knew him, that they get to see him the best way he actually was, at his greatest and simply the person who all people actually knew him for,” stated AJ, noting that each of them had their “struggles” in very completely different instances, with a few of Payne’s taking part in out on social media.
“However we know the true Liam,” McLean concluded, “and he was a freaking legend.”
The primary 4 episodes of Constructing the Band premiere July 9 on Netflix, adopted by episodes 5-7 on July 16 and the ultimate two episodes on July 23.
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