1 week Ago By [email protected] (Lauren Haughey)
Today's auditions for the latest season of Britain's Got Talent (BGT) have been postponed following Liam Payne's sudden death. The ex-One Direction star tragically fell from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last night. Blackpool, scheduled to host the ITV talent show auditions this Thursday, has now shelved its plans in response to the devastating news.
Reports suggest that BGT and X Factor creator Simon Cowell, who formed Liam's boyband in 2010, played a part in this decision. Ticket distributors, ApplauseStore, issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter , this morning. It read: "Due to the tragic passing of Liam Payne, BGT has decided to postpone today's auditions in Blackpool.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause." The third day of BGT auditions were initially due to occur at the town's Winter Gardens, with judges Simon, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, and YouTuber KSI set to scope out fresh talent. Liam first auditioned for X Factor when he was just 14 years old.
Although he was initially turned away by the judges, he eventually found mega stardom in One Direction after re-auditioning at 16. X Factor presenter, Dermot O'Leary, has paid tribute to the former One Direction member, describing him as a 'both wise and sort of a young soul at the exactly same time'. In ITV's This Morning tribute today, he said: "I just thought of his family, I thought of his son and then I thought of his parents.
I mean no parent should have to bury their son or their daughter. "Obviously our thoughts and our prayers, our candles are half-lit for his family. That goes without saying.
" Reflecting on his time on X-Factor, Dermot added: "You get to know the families so well in such a short period of time. His mum and dad were just adorable. They were never pushy, this was very much his dream.
He loved, he just loved to sing." While Dermot shared that he last saw Liam at Soccer Aid a few years ago, he had nothing but kind words for the late singer, according to the Mirror . He added: "He was both wise and sort of a young soul at the exactly same time.
He had this old bones about him, like his musical taste. "Yet, he was always quite beautifully wide-eyed about the world and his place in it. It's such a huge amount of pressure to be put on young shoulders.
" Reach has approached Simon Cowell's team for comment..
