Niall Horan has admitted he doesn’t think he has wrapped his head around the death of his former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne yet.

The Mullingar man opened up about the deep pain he still feels at losing his close friend on RTÉ’s The Tommy Tiernan Show at the weekend.

Liam died in October 2024, after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Speaking on Saturday, Niall revealed he had seen his former bandmate just a few weeks before, saying it was ‘great’ to catch up.

‘I was only home after a big, long stint on the road,’ Niall told presenter Tommy Tiernan.

‘End of the tour. I was just at home one night, I don’t know what day of the week it was. Can’t remember.

‘I looked down at my phone — I was just about to go to sleep, and the phone lights up, and you have one last look.. It was pure… shock.’

Niall said he was aware of Liam’s internal battles, but admitted he didn’t know the extent of them.

‘I grew up with this fella, and all of a sudden it’s no more,’ Niall said, ‘It’s such a strange thing.’

The Slow Hands singer said as the tragic news broke, he turned on the TV to starting flicking through the news channels.

Bizarrely, he remembers thinking it was ‘strange’ to see himself beside Liam on the TV.

‘I don’t think I’ve gotten my head around it at all, really,’ Niall confessed, ‘I shared a room with him in one of those stages on The X Factor.

‘I’ve known him since I was 16 years old, and all of a sudden he’s 32…’

@loversflicker Niall talks about Liam 🤍 (The Tommy Tiernan Show) #niallhoran #1d #liampayne ♬ original lyd – loversflicker | fan account

Niall told of how, after the first time of looking at the news, he decided not to do it anymore.

‘I can’t be worrying about what they’re going to say next because I’d my own grief to deal with,’ he told Tommy.

Niall reiterated that he didn’t think he had comprehended Liam’s death as of yet.

‘It’s a weird thing to be going through at thirty-something,’ he said, ‘Someone two weeks older than ya can just be… here today, gone tomorrow.’