Liam Payne’s first X Factor audition before One Direction resurfaces after he died in fall from hotel balcony

Footage of Liam Payne’s first X Factor audition has resurfaced following his death in Argentina aged 31.

The One Direction member fell from his third floor hotel room in Buenos Aires yesterday (October 16).

A spokesman for the City ambulance service provider, Alberto Crescenti said Payne had fallen around 40 metres and that “the injuries that he had suffered as a result of the fall proved to be fatal”.

Video from the scene at the hotel shows fans gathered to pay tribute to the singer, lighting candles, laying flowers and singing One Direction songs.

Liam first auditioned for X Factor in 2008. Aged just 14 at the time, he sang ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ by Frank Sinatra, receiving three “yes” votes from the judges - despite some initial uncertainty from Simon Cowell.

Liam’s second performance in the competition also impressed the judges and he was again put through to the next round. Simon opted to send the singer home, after he reached the judges houses round. He advised Liam to come back in two years time.

His 2008 X Factor audition also marked the first time he met future partner Cheryl Tweedy for the first time. In 2017, the couple had a son, Bear, now aged seven.

He auditioned again on the show, aged 16, and was placed in the hugely-successful boy band One Direction - alongside Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan.