Liam Payne's last 24 hours amid new claims - Nicole Scherzinger texts and ex at hotel

One Direction singer Liam Payne tragically died after falling from his hotel room balcony on Wednesday, October 16.

The former X-Factor star suffered "serious injuries that were incompatible with life" after plunging from the third floor at the luxury Casa Sur Palermo hotel shortly after 5pm local time. In an official statement given to The Associated Press, Argentinian police disclosed that the father-of-one had "jumped from the balcony of his room", apparently dispelling any notions of an accidental fall or foul play.

Police have been putting together his last 24 hours, with new bombshell claims made today that his ex-girlfriend had been staying at the same hotel the week he died. Liam had been in Argentina for a holiday with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, which was scheduled for five days but ended up lasting two weeks.

The 25-year-old TikToker decided to then fly home, telling her followers: "I was so ready to leave. Love South America, but I hate staying in one place for too long and we were supposed to be there for five days, turned into two weeks and I was just like, 'I need to go home'."

It's been claimed that Liam then had checked into the deluxe Casa Sur Hotel suite alone three days before he died. According to local news reports, he was asked to leave his previous hotel. Here, the Mirror looks back at his final moments in Argentina before his sad death.

Nicole Scherzinger's text messages

In 2010, Nicole Scherzinger helped create the phenomenon that is One Direction - and kept in touch with Liam Payne until the day he died. Speaking of the fateful day, Andrew Lloyd Webber has now revealed how Nicole was still texting the star.

Andrew, who composed the music for the Broadway musical Sunset Blvd., which stars Nicole, said: "I suppose something that hasn’t been said, and I suppose I could say, is that of course she mentored Liam, from One Direction." Speaking to Billboard, he said: "On the Wednesday when he died, she was still texting him that day." Andrew revealed that even after hearing of Liam's death, she still turned out to perform as Norma Desmond in the Broadway production.

He praised: "The fact that she even did the show at all is extraordinary. I mean, she is an amazing, amazing woman. She is without any question one of the finest performers I’ve ever worked with."

Nicole has since paid tribute to Liam, sharing a snap of the pair alongside Kelly Rowland while filming for their latest show. “Dear Liam, I will forever cherish and treasure the time we shared together, from fifteen years ago when One Direction was born, right up until just a few weeks ago,” she began. “It was such a blessing to get to work with you recently. We shared the same love and passion for music and I will forever remember the meaningful and joyful conversations we had.”

Liam Payne's ex-girlfriend at the same hotel

The hotel manager who called emergency services before Liam fell to his death has claimed the singer's "ex-partner" was also staying there. Speaking to an Argentinian TV programme, Esteban Grassi said: "He was seen alone but his ex-partner was around."

When he was asked, "So she was staying at the hotel too?" on the El Trece show Telenoche, he replied "Yes" before adding: "A floor above, yes". A small clip of the programme featuring part of the interview has been shown online and also mentioned in other Argentinian media outlets.

It was not made clear who Mr Grassi was referring to in his claim. He is understood to have been among three hotel workers prosecutors revealed they had questioned.

Mystery hotel women

In the hours leading up to his heartbreaking death, he spent time with Aldana Serrano, 31, and Lucila Goitea, 27, at the Casa Sur Hotel. The group arrived at the swanky hotel around 11.30am local time on Wednesday and headed to Liam's suite at the hotel.

But they left five hours later at 4pm – just one hour before Liam tragically fell from his balcony. During Liam's final moments, he was said to be arguing with a mystery woman in the lobby of his hotel over money. He tragically fell 45ft, landing in the inner courtyard of the hotel.

Prosecutors confirmed they had questioned five people, including two women who had been with Liam in the hours before his death for a "reconstruction of his last hours", she added: "He was with two women in his room where there was access to drugs. I'm not going to say their surnames.

"[Woman A] gave a statement last night and [Woman B] has just finished hers." The women are said to have left the hotel before Liam plunged to his death and have been categorised as "key witnesses" in local media reports, rather than suspects in his death. Now, sources reportedly say Serrano and Goitea are "devastated". A pal told the Sunday Mirror: "They have been cooperative from the moment they found out Liam died. They have told police they did nothing wrong and left well before he fell. The two girls have vowed to continue help investigators and have said they will speak to police at any time."

Final photo

A heartbreaking final photo shows Liam entering the Casa Sur Hotel in the upmarket Palermo district, where mere hours later, he would fall to his death from the third floor.

'Out of place' behaviour

A woman, only known as Rebecca, who had a half-hour chat with Liam in the hotel lobby described him as "desperate" to be recognised. She claimed he announced himself, unprompted, shouting "I'm Liam", to a queue of guests waiting for the lift, who weren't "bothered" about who he was. She said that Liam returned to the lobby with his laptop.

Surmising that he'd spotted an email that "upset" him, Rebecca said: "Suddenly he took the computer, shouted 'f**k this s**t mate!' and started bashing the computer on the ground." The singer's "out of place" behaviour "shocked" onlookers in the "high-end" hotel, but concerned, Rebecca said she asked him if he was OK.

She explained: "But he just kind of grunted. Then he said 'I used to be in a boyband. That's why I'm so f**ked up'." Shocked at his admission, she saw him get back in the lift, before a "British guy" apologised to the group on "his behalf", saying Liam "gets so high" sometimes. She added that he fell over when he returned to the lobby, with staff helping him in to the lift.

Just hours before his death, he told his close friend, Jodie Richards - who was his former performing arts teacher at Pink Productions - that he was having a "chilled-out morning" and showed "no cause for concern". She spoke to the "one-of-a-kind" star on Wednesday and initially thought news reports of his death were "fake".

The 41-year-old had been exchanging text messages with Liam hours earlier and said she then desperately tried to call and message him. She said: "He was looking forward to his day, he said he was having a chill, nothing seemed out of the ordinary", Jodie explained. "He's always somewhere more glamorous than we are so LA, Argentina, I have to look at the time difference to see where he is, he usually texts me and it's the middle of our night. He seemed fine, he looked happy, he looked healthy - no reason for any kind of concern and then obviously I heard it on the news." Speaking to Sky News, she added: "I thought it was fake news, I tried to phone him. Obviously he wasn't answering. I tried to text him, it wasn't going to a 'read' message - normally it does quite quickly, then as I turned the telly on it was getting more and more apparent it wasn't fake."

Desperate 911 call

It's believed the 31-year-old had been under the influence of drink or drugs, local media reports. In a desperate call made to emergency services, hotel staff requested 'urgent' support, with a receptionist telling the phone operator: "We have a guest who's off his head on drugs and is destroying everything in his room. We need someone to come."

After the line disconnected, the receptionist continued: "I don't know if the guest's life is in danger. The room has a balcony and we are afraid he might do something." Then just seconds later, the receptionist made the following heartbreaking clarification: "Just send an ambulance. Only an ambulance."

Witnesses close to the hotel have claimed that Liam had endured a "psychotic episode" in the moments leading up to his death. An office worker who was close to the Casa Sur hotel claimed that the on-site masseuse said Liam was acting erratically.

Josefina, a One Direction fan told América TV: "I was working in an office next to the hotel when we started hearing lots of sirens and lots of noise. A colleague went down to see what was happening and was able to speak to the hotel masseuse who said there was a man being aggressive who was breaking things and was having what appeared to be a psychotic episode and looked like he was out of it on drugs."

'Violent' noises

Residents staying in the hotel have described hearing "loud" and "violent" noises coming from Liam's room in the hour before his death. Speaking to the BBC shortly after the shocking incident, fellow hotel guest Doug Jones said: "I thought they were working on the room. There was a lot of noise, like heavy lifting, like banging, a lot of loud, violent noises, I thought."

Doug then saw hotel staff going into the suite where Liam Payne is believed to have been staying. He added: "I saw hotel people going in and out of that room, so I thought they were doing work on the room." However the loud noises returned, "So about 4pm, 4.30pm, I started hearing some more noise, I was still doing work," he said. "I heard a really loud, violent scream around 4.45pm, 5pm."

The police arrived just before 5pm, but reported hearing a loud bang from the courtyard as they arrive, at 5.04pm. A short while later, the tourist saw the "road full of cops," as the full tragedy on Wednesday evening began to unfold.

A search of Liam's hotel room uncovered "what appeared to be narcotics, alcohol, destroyed objects and furniture", according to detectives. Photos purporting to show inside the room where Liam spent his final hours have been confirmed by news outlets including La Nacion and Clarin.

The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter.