Louis Tomlinson’s ex-girlfriend Eleanor Calder is remembering the late Liam Payne and how he personally touched her with emotional outreach.
Calder, 30, took to her Instagram Stories on Friday, October 18, and wrote, “I wasn’t sure whether to post anything on here as I usually navigate loss and grief privately, but it feels strange not to. [Liam’s] passing has hit me really hard.”
She continued, “Over the past couple of years, Liam has been a huge support for me and I’d like to think I was for him too. He would regularly check in to ask how I was feeling and if I was okay. When I first moved into my flat, he drew paintings of my dogs and I to put on the walls — he said he hoped it would help with making it feel like home.”
Calder cited the personal artwork he made her as “one of the many examples of his kindness and creativity.”
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She added: “I can only hope that he is at peace now and will forever wish that his story ended differently. … My heart goes out to those that knew and loved him for the person he was.”
Us Weekly confirmed that Payne died at age 31 on Wednesday, October 16, after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The singer sustained a cranial fracture and other serious injuries that were too severe for emergency treatment. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Payne’s One Direction bandmate Tomlinson, 32, previously dated Calder, a stylist, from 2011 to 2015. The two reconciled in 2017 but split again in 2022. Tomlinson briefly dated Briana Jungwirth following his initial split from Calder, and the two welcomed son Freddie in January 2016.
On Friday, October 18, Tomlinson shared a screenshot of his Apple Music playlist to his Instagram Story. Per the pic, Tomlinson was in the middle of listening to Payne’s “Teardrops.”
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Payne released “Teardrops,” a breakup ballad cowritten with JC Chasez and Jamie Scott, in March to jumpstart a new musical era. It was the last original song Payne released ahead of his passing.
Payne rose to fame in 2010 as a member of boy band One Direction, alongside Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik. While the group went on an indefinite hiatus in 2015, the remaining singers came together to mourn Payne’s death.
They shared a joint statement on Thursday, October 18, and posted to their respective social media accounts.
“I am beyond devastated to be writing this but yesterday I lost a brother. Liam was somebody I looked up to every day, such a positive, funny, and kind soul,” Tomlinson wrote in his message. “I first met Liam when he was 16 and I was 18, I was instantly amazed by his voice but more importantly as time went on I got a chance to see the kind brother I’d longed all my life for.”
Payne is survived by his parents, two older sisters and 7-year-old son Bear Grey, whom he shared with ex Cheryl Cole, who broke her silence on his death via Instagram Friday.
“As I try to navigate this earth-shattering event and work through my own grief at this indescribably painful time, I’d like to kindly remind everyone that we have lost a human being,” wrote Cole, 41, who shared a photo of Payne holding a then-infant Bear. “Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our 7-year-old son. A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again.”
