Former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson has opened up about the tragic death of his bandmate Liam Payne, who fell from a balcony in Benous Aires, Argentina one year ago

Louis Tomlinson has tearfully admitted he will "never really accept" pal Liam Payne's death a year after the star tragically fell from a hotel balcony in Benous Aires, Argentina.

One Direction star Louis has spoken candidly about his late bandmate Liam's death, who was just 31 when he died, and the grief he feels around it.

Heartbreakingly, Liam's death isn't the only grief Louis has experienced - Louis' month Joanna Deakin died from leukaemia in 2016 and his sister Félicité died from an accidental overdose in 2019.

Now, in a candid interview Louis has admitted he felt his previous experiences with grief would almost equip him. "I naively thought that, at this point, I'd unfortunately be a little bit more well versed with grief than other people my age,' he told The Independent.

"I thought that might mean something, but it didn't at all," Louis added before he said of Liam's death, with his eyes watering with tears: "It's something I'll never really accept. I don't think."

Elsewhere in the interview, Louis gushed over his late friend, revealing how he and his fellow bandmates Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan would look up to Liam after Louis described him as a "vital" part of the band in a tribute to him. He added: "In between him playing that role and also doing a huge chunk of the songwriting... it's not even up for debate."

Louis also looked back on his fondest memories of Liam, revealed he would "always entertain me", while he would also always show up to support him, too - for example when Liam turned up to the premiere for his 2023 documentary, All of Those Voices, or appeared as Louis' guest on The X Factor during his judging stint.

Louis said Liam was "always, always there for me" whenever he had the chance to be - "even if he might have been struggling". And its how Liam would turn up for his friends which Louis thinks is a "testament to the truth of who he was as a person".

The singer's latest candid interview comes after he revealed he exact moment he found out about his pal's death.

Louis Tomlinson revealed Niall Horan informed him about the death of the pair's former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne, saying "we all looked up to him".

Speaking to host Steven Bartlett on The Diary Of A CEO podcast, Tomlinson said he was in Los Angeles when he first heard of Payne's death.

"In the car, in LA. I found out through Niall," he said, telling Bartlett the news evoked a similar reaction to when his sister Felicite died of an accidental drug overdose in 2019.

"I had the same feeling that I had with Felicite, and I think anyone has this when they're around someone who's struggling; my 150 per cent wasn't nearly enough.

"And that's when it's my own arrogance thinking that I could have helped really, because it was so much deeper than what I could have done for him. He was definitely struggling at that time in his life."

Louis Tomlinson tearfully admits he'll 'never accept' Liam Payne's death after anniversary - The Mirror