Liam Payne was struggling with 'parts of identity he wasn't ready to fully face', his ex-fiancée Maya Henry claims. The former One Direction singer fatally fell from a third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October last year and tragically died at the age of 31. He was in a two-year relationship with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, at the time. Liam was previously engaged to influencer-turned-author Maya, and the couple had a turbulent romance between 2018 and 2022.
Following their split, Maya wrote a fictionalised account of her time with Liam in her novel, Looking Forward. Just days before he died, she posted a TikTok where she claimed Liam had been harassing her from various iCloud accounts. Now, she has spoken out for the first time since his death in a bombshell interview and claimed the star struggled with "identity issues" when they were together, but insists she doesn't "fault" him for his struggles.
In a lengthy written statement to Rolling Stone, Maya touched on Liam's dark personal struggles. She admitted Liam's drug use was what "tore them apart" and claimed he "did things to hurt me in ways I'll never fully understand". Maya stated: "And through it all, I knew there were parts of himself he was struggling with — parts of his identity he wasn't ready to fully face, even within our relationship.
"I saw the signs; I felt the distance. In the end, it wasn't just the betrayals or the addictions that broke us — it was the realisation that I had spent years in something that was never what I thought it was. I don't fault him for his struggles.". Maya claimed Liam "became someone unrecognisable" when he was using drugs and she tried hard to be there for him. A source close to Maya claimed to the publication that Liam's drinking, drug use and mental health struggles were "such a burden" that the singer "couldn't work properly". The source claimed that Maya was "kind of held captive" by the star's struggles as she couldn't "do anything".
Maya said that she is left with the "aftermath of his actions" after his death. She claimed: "As I've uncovered the extent of his non-consensual image sharing — images he acquired during our engagement and shared without my knowledge or consent — I'm faced with the complexity of grieving for someone I cared so deeply about despite the pain they have caused me.". A handful of sources told Rolling Stone that Liam "wrestled with his identity". Another source alleged that Maya ended their relationship in 2022 due to several reasons, including Liam "revealing sexting conversations with strangers to her by accidentally broadcasting them to their TV.".
The claims come after Argentine waiter Braian Nahuel Paiz, who has been charged with selling the singer cocaine, which he denies, alleged that he had an "intimate" moment with Liam. Paiz met Liam in the weeks before his death and he allegedly spent two separate nights with the star. He told local TV of their second meet on October 13: "We spent the night together; we consumed drugs because the truth is that something intimate happened.".
The waiter, 24, did not elaborate on the 'intimate' encounter, however, as Mail Online reports, he claimed in a since-deleted Instagram post: "I never said I had sex with anyone.". It's also been claimed that Liam's dad, Geoff, tried to do all he could to safeguard his son months before he died. In April 2024, the X Factor star was reportedly hospitalised in a 'serious condition' and according to Rolling Stone, Liam had been admitted to rehab in the same month. But, he is said to have left before he was able to complete the program.
Geoff reportedly tried to intervene in the weeks that followed. However, it's claimed the star refused his father's wishes to go to the treatment centre. It's also claimed the singer's team had 'baulked' at the idea of him touring South America. They are said to have thought he was 'in no shape to be on the road'. The publication goes on to allege Liam missed several key promo opportunities for his single, which are thought to have included interviews, performances and events. A month before his death, Universal Republic allegedly dropped him over these factors and concerns, including for the star's health. A source told the publication: "It was decided by the label, given these factors combined with concerns for his health, to terminate the working relationship rather than further release music.".
Before his death, Liam candidly shared his struggles with fame, after shooting into the spotlight alongside Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan on The X Factor. In a Sky series with SAS man Ant Middleton in 2019, Liam said that he'd had difficulties with life in the public eye. "For some certain circumstances I'm quite lucky to be here still," he told Ant. "There are times when that level of loneliness and people getting into you every day, it's like, 'When will this end?' That's almost nearly killed me a couple of times." When asked if he'd contemplated taking his own life, Liam said: "Yeah, when I've been in a bad place. It's one hundred per cent, you know? There's no point denying it - it's definitely been on the menu a couple of times in my life.".
