Liam Payne returned to his YouTube channel on July 10 with a video titled “I’m Back…,” having been absent from the platform for more than a year. Specifically, following that infamous appearance on the “Impaulsive With Logan Paul” podcast back in May 2022. Heading back in front of the camera, the former One Direction star addressed fans with a personal eight-minute message.
In the video, he reflects on the aftermath of the podcast interview and the backlash he received, as well as shares updates about his son, Bear, and how he’s growing up. Also woven into his video is a candid report of his experience in a rehab facility in Louisiana, where he went for almost three months to “get my head straight.” “I was in bad shape until that point, and I was really happy more than anything, when I arrived, to kind of put a stopper on life and work,” he divulges.
While there, he reveals, he didn’t have his phone for nearly 100 days so had no way of connecting with the outside world. “Upon leaving, actually, it was the hardest point was turning the phone back on, if I’m honest with you, because it was a little bit scary. But it was a nice world to come back out to,” he adds.
Payne also opens up about his journey to sobriety and how that started. He had previously revealed he had quit alcohol during a ringside interview with iFL TV at an influencer boxing match at Wembley Arena on May 13. Now, he has reached six months sober, detailing that his last alcoholic drink was with his friend Umar Kamani, CEO of PrettyLittleThing, during a Hans Zimmer concert.
“I was having a drink, and then I was like, ‘You know what? This just isn’t serving me at all; I don’t really need this right now,’ and it’s the first time I’ve ever put a drink down without telling someone I’m finished, I don’t need it,” he says. “And I haven’t picked one up since, which has almost been six months, which I’m excited about. It’s good to be in this position, and I definitely don’t need those things anymore. The party’s over.”
The news of his sobriety came at the same time as the singer said he’s been recording an album and a tour might be in the cards. “I definitely want to tour this time which is unusual because I wasn’t sure I was going to tour for a long time. I was kind of over it for a little bit, but I’m really excited to get back out on the road and go and see all the fans and get about a bit. It’s going to be fun.” And these weren’t the only revelations of the night. Payne spoke to a separate ringside interviewer and hinted at a One Direction reunion. “We’ve just made a new group chat. That’s something,” he said.
Payne has previously opened up about issues with alcohol and substance abuse while in the band, telling “The Diary of a CEO” podcast host Stephen Bartlett in 2021: “I was worried how far my rock bottom was going to be. Where’s rock bottom for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it.”
He also addressed his past in a candidly emotional Instagram post, which has since been deleted, after watching bandmate Louis Tomlinson’s film “All of Those Voices.” “I know you know this but you were part of a small group of people that literally saved my life, you dragged me out of something so dark I’ve never shared it but your approach is something I admire and aspire to so I can one day do the same,” he wrote.
Now, the dad of one appears to have turned over a new leaf. He is taking part in this year’s Soccer Aid, is back recording, his health has taken priority, and he might just be in the right headspace for reconnecting with Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik musically. Either way, Payne’s future is looking bright.