At 26-years-old he already boasts a highly successful music career with former band, One Direction.
But Liam Payne has revealed the secret torment he endured when failing to make it through to the live shows on the X Factor in 2008.
The star, who eventually made it through two years later, described the rejection as ‘humiliating.’
Embarrassed: Liam Payne has revealed the secret torment he endured when failing to make it through to the live shows on the X Factor in 2008
He told The Sun: ‘From the age of 14 I’d been living a semi-famous lifestyle. Just at that moment I didn’t have any of the things that came with it for those two years.’
He continued: ‘People would ridicule me in the street and all sorts when I was, like, 15 or 16. I once went in McDonald’s when I was turning 16 and I went up to order my thing, went to sit down with the girl I was with at the time and a group of lads at the top of the stairs were like, ‘X Factor reject!’
‘Then the whole restaurant was looking at me. It was a really hollow moment, that was like, “Oh right, now I know what it’s like to lose fame”.’
Sad times: The star, who eventually made it through two years later, described the rejection as ‘humiliating’ (pictured in 2010 )
However, no doubt the teasing and tormenting did not last long as in 2010 he formed One Direction on the show along with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson.
Before officially going on hiatus in 2016, the band picked up countless awards and sold out many stadiums on their world tours.
On Jordan Stephens’ Spotify exclusive podcast Killing It, which was out on Monday, Liam touched on the band breaking up and why he believes it was down to sleep.
He shared: ‘People would ridicule me in the street and all sorts when I was, like, 15 or 16. I once went in McDonald’s when I was turning 16 and I went up to order my thing, went to sit down with the girl I was with at the time and a group of lads at the top of the stairs were like, ‘X Factor reject!’ (pictured in 2008)
He shared: ‘We all just got on with it, you know, it was just a case of this is your job and this is what you do and then you just slowly spiralled into this thing. I mean, more than anything for us, I think the danger zone is in the band.
‘And actually what probably caused the demise of it, towards the end, was just the tiredness more than anything. Everyone makes stupid decisions when they’re tired.’
Earlier in the week, #OneDirectionReunion began trending on Twitter, sparking speculation the group is planning something special to mark their formation on July 23.
In a surprise turn of events, all members of the band followed ex-member Zayn Malik – as has the official One Direction Twitter account.
Legends: However, no doubt the teasing and tormenting did not last long as in 2010 he formed One Direction on the show along with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson (pictured in 2015)
Fans began receiving Twitter notifications that the boys had followed Zayn again, after his departure from the band in March 2015 and severing ties with his former friends.
However, Zayn – who has become more private since embarking on a solo career – has yet to follow them back.
Furthermore, the Pillowtalk singer has gone from being listed as ‘ex-member’ to ‘vocals’ on Google search.
In addition, all five of the boys’ albums are now back on Apple Music – with the banner image changed to an old picture featuring Zayn – and their official website has been reactivated.
Success: Before officially going on hiatus in 2016, the band picked up countless awards and sold out many stadiums on their world tours (pictured in 2013)