X Factor star says she and Liam Payne were like ‘mammy and boy’

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Former X Factor star Mary Byrne has said her relationship with Liam Payne was like “the older mammy and the boy” during their time on the show.

Byrne, 64, who came fifth on series seven of the ITV show, behind Payne’s group One Direction in third, said she last spoke to him six years ago while they were appearing as guests on RTE’s The Late Late Show.

It comes after Payne tragically died at the age of 31 after falling from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in Argentina. Local police said he fell into the courtyard of the CasaSur Hotel in the Palermo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, before medics confirmed his death. READ MORE: Inside Liam Payne's hotel room as photos show white powder and smashed TV Speaking about the relationship she had with Payne, Byrne told the PA news agency: “I kind of became good friends with Liam. “As a 50-year-old lady going into the X Factor, I found it tough, like the young kids found it tough work as well, and I remember getting to meet Liam at boot camp, and we just got talking one day, and a kind of friendship, a little bond, came between us, the older mammy and the boy. “And it was lovely that went on into the house, and into the live shows and the whole lot, Liam was one of the guys who if anyone in the group felt a bit down, he was the one to give you the hug. “He was the one to come over and assure you that everything was going to be OK, just keep going.

And he got the rest of the lads doing the same thing.” Byrne remembered one time when she was “a little bit down” on the show, and then-contestant Storm Lee went out with One Direction to buy her “a big box of roses” along with a card.