Louis Tomlinson has opened up about the moment he found out his former One Direction bandmate, Liam Payne, had passed away.

The world was left in shock on October 16, 2024, when it was announced that Liam had died while holidaying in Argentina. He was 31.

Speaking on ‘The Diary of a CEO’ podcast, Louis revealed it was Niall Horan who broke the devastating news to him during school drop-off.

"I was in the car in LA, I just dropped my son Freddie off for school, and I was just pulling up back home,” Louis began.

“He said something like, 'Lads, have you seen the news?', and I knew as soon as he said that, I kinda knew what it might have meant.”

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

He admitted Liam had been “definitely struggling” at the time and said he still finds himself thinking he could’ve done more.

"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."

Louis also reflected on the similarities between losing Liam and his 18-year-old sister Félicité six years ago.

“Nothing in life prepares you for those kind of situations,” Louis said.

“To lose my sister in the manner that we did. Even though I knew that it wasn’t fair on myself, I felt utterly guilty, I felt powerless.”

Félicité sadly passed away at just 18, after an accidental overdose on March 13, 2019.

Elsewhere in the podcast episode, Louis was asked about the idea of a One Direction reunion, but he said it just wouldn’t feel right.

"Never say never, right,” he said. “But I'm just not sure it would be right to him [Liam]."

He continued: "Say for the sake of argument, 25 year's time, it's like a f***ing Oasis thing, they offer us an arm and a leg, and they're like, 'Come back and do this many shows'... I don't know. It's just completely put a pin in all of that.”

"The irony is, there was no one campaigning for One Direction to get back more than Liam. I would say I came in a close second.”

Louis’ full ‘Diary of a CEO’ interview is available to listen to here on rova now.