Louis Tomlinson’s sister Lottie pays emotional tribute to Liam Payne saying One Direction star was ‘so loved by so many’

ONE Direction star Louis Tomlinson’s sister Lottie has paid an emotional tribute to his old band mate Liam Payne who died last week.

The former One Direction star died after falling 45ft from his hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires at 5.04pm on Wednesday.

Now Lottie, a 26-year-old make-up artist and influencer has paid tribute to Liam, sharing a reel to her social media, arriving into London from the back of a car.

She said: “Home with a heavy heart. RIP Liam. You were loved by so many and will be so greatly missed. Sending so much love to everyone.”

The mother of one then shared a black and white of photo of Liam and her brother together at an awards bash from a few years ago.

Indeed Lottie, 25 who is currently expecting her second child with fiancé, Lewis Burton, 31 is well qualified to empathise, having endured her own journey with grief.

In 2016, she lost her and Louis’ mother Johannah Deakin to cancer aged just 43, leaving behind six children, then aged between 2 and 25.

Opening up to the last year about the trauma she said:

“When my mum died, there was never any conversations about getting any help. And looking back, that was quite shocking to me... especially the fact that she had cancer.

“It was a medical illness. We were surrounded by a lot of medical professionals, and there was young children involved, and there didn't seem to be any sit down conversations where it was like, 'Do we want to sort out getting some help'. So I never had anything when I lost my mum.”

Then, just three years on, her younger sister Fizzy, Felicite died of a drug overdose at the tender age of 18.

 Lottie explains how her sister Fizzy fell into depression and started abusing drugs – which dragged her into a downward spiral. 

Despite the family’s attempts, including sending her to rehab, Fizzy anciently overdosed on a lethal cocktail of Alapraxolam, Oxicodone and cocaine in 2019.

The horrendous tragedy was the trigger Lottie needed to get herself into therapy and address her grief. 

“It was only when I lost my sister that I thought, you know, she ended up losing her life, she might have been okay if she would have got the help she needed,” Lottie said.

“So that became very apparent to me in my head. And I was like right, I need to make sure, although I feel like I can cope with it on my own, why don't I just get some help, so that it will give me a head start.”

For years Lottie had been beating herself up for how she was handling her grief. She felt guilty if she felt cheerful, or if she struggled to get out of bed because she felt overwhelmed.

“I think as the years have passed, and I've got, you know, I've kind of dealt with the grief better, I've realised that allowing yourself that day to feel happy, you need to celebrate those times,” she said.

Meanwhile it has been reported that Louis Tomlinson made several ill fated attempts to reach out to his old bandmade but to no avail.

Die hard 1D fans have since pieced together several messages that Louis left on social media, urging Liam to get in touch.  In one message

Liam wrote: “Give me a ring lad.” In another he commented: “Wake up d*** and give me a ring. In another message he wrote: “Answer your phone then d******.” All are evidence of his concern for his old firend which has not gone unnoticed dby the fans.

"He never gave up on Liam," and another commenting: "I hope he knows he did nothing wrong and couldn’t have prevented this. He was a great friend and brother to Liam."

The dad-of-one’s struggles with fame and mental health have come to light, with many recalling his candid discussion on The Diary of a CEO podcast in 2021.

During the interview, Liam admitted to struggling to cope with the pressures of fame, saying: "I was worried how far my rock bottom was going to be. Where’s rock bottom for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it."

The  hitmaker also confessed: "I don’t even know if I’ve hit it yet. I can either make that choice now and pick my last moment as my rock bottom or I can make a whole new low."

As more details emerge about his final days, it has since been revealed that Liam’s friends were planning an intervention out of concern for his well-being.

According to reports, his hotel room was found trashed, with champagne bottles, prescription drugs, white powder, and foil wraps discovered in the room.

Further reports have emerged that hotel guests heard "violent noises and a scream" shortly before Liam fell, raising even more questions about his final moments.