Liam Payne has reflected on the ‘dark time’ when he felt the fanbase had ‘turned against’ him (Picture: Getty Images)
Liam Payne appears to have addressed the backlash to his controversial claims about his time in One Direction.
The former teen icon made history alongside 1D bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson as the boyband became a global phenomenon after being formed on the X Factor.
And while the group went on hiatus in 2016, it was believed the former members were – generally – on good terms.
However Liam caused upset among the fanbase earlier this year when he appeared on Logan Paul’s Impausible podcast and made a series of headline-grabbing comments.
These included claims he and Louis hated each other while in the band, claims a band member threw him against a wall, claims One Direction was built around his face, and admitting there were ‘many things’ he ‘dislikes’ about Zayn.
Directioners were massively upset by the comments, and began dragging the former member online and starting joke trends about blocking his social media accounts.
Now Liam appears to have spoken out about that ‘dark’ time, and says he had a ‘chip on [his] shoulder.’
Liam opened up as he prepared for England to take on France in the World Cup (Picture: Liam Payne/ Instagram)
Taking to his Instagram stories on Saturday, Liam responded to a joke about blocking his account and said he thought it was funny, but ‘It got quite dark for me for one point when you guys turned on me.
‘I didn’t leave the house for 3 months.’
He went on: ‘You guys know I’m sorry about all that stuff I love my boys not sure what was going on with me other than I had a problem with me and I took it out on everyone else (sic).
The musician said he was ‘sorry for all that stuff,’ apparently addressing his comments on Logan Paul’s podcast this year (Picture: Liam Payne/ Instagram)
‘Never had a bigger chip on my shoulder and I’m really glad to lose it.
‘I’m hoping that you guys can forgive me in time because we’ve been through far [too] much but the jokes are funny keep em coming.’
In another short clip posted to his story, he said he was ‘waiting for the blame’ if England lost the World Cup quarter-finals match against France on Saturday night.
Liam said he still has ‘love’ for his former 1D bandmates, after the band was formed on X Factor when they were teenagers (Picture: WireImage)
He added: ‘If England win I hope I also get the blame then I give you full license to block me… I’m joking please don’t block me.’
Unfortunately, England did crash out of the World Cup with a 2-1 loss to France – but so far nobody seems to be blaming Liam.
Liam’s time in One Direction came to an end in 2016, when the phenomenal group took an extended hiatus after six years together.
All five former members have broken out into solo careers, with Harry enjoying massive chart success in the charts, as well as landing leading roles in major films.
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Former bandmate Louis, whose new album Faith In The Future recently clinched UK number one, admitted in a recent interview he thought the hiatus would only last ‘a year or two.’
He added to Metro.co.uk that it would be ‘criminal’ if the group never got back together.
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The musician opened up on his ‘dark time.’
