Liam Payne has opened up about old beef with his former One Direction bandmates, and claims he and Louis Tomlinson ‘hated’ each other, as well as his ‘dislike’ for Zayn Malik.

The former boy band star, 28, spoke in his most candid interview yet about finding fame at an early age through the five-piece, who were put together on X Factor.

And while the overnight international fame was a lot to handle, Liam also found getting to know his new bandmates difficult.

In an interview with Logan Paul on the Impaulsive podcast, Liam admitted he wasn’t used to ‘rowdy guys’ and didn’t have many friends, preferring to spend time with his dad.

When asked who in the band was ‘rowdy,’ Liam said: ‘Louis was wild. He wanted to be wild. He’s got this spirit.’

He added that Louis is his ‘best mate now’, but claimed: ‘But in the band we hated each other.

‘Like, to come to blows hate each other, it was close.’

Later in the interview, Liam spoke further about life in One Direction and was asked pointedly if he and the other members had ever ‘actually come to blows.’

‘We came very close at points,’ Liam admitted.

‘There was one moment where there was an argument backstage and one member in particular threw me up a wall,’ he claimed.

‘So I said to him “If you don’t remove those hands there’s a high likelihood you’ll never use them again.”’

He added that the unnamed member then ‘took his hands off.’

Liam also discussed his previous rivalry with Zayn Malik, who left 1D in 2015, and recalled a Twitter spat between the Pillowtalk singer and his then-girlfriend Gigi Hadid, and Logan’s brother Jake Paul.

Jake had called out the singer on Twitter for allegedly being rude to him when he met him at a hotel, to which Gigi responded that Zayn was a ‘respectful king’.

Recalling the incident, Liam said: ‘That didn’t age well.’

In 2021, Gigi’s mother Yolanda Hadid considered pressing charges against the singer as she claimed he had struck her; Zayn vehemently denied the allegations and pleaded no contest to harassing the former reality star.

After the jab at Zayn, Liam went on to say there were ‘many reasons’ he didn’t like Zayn but that he would ‘always’ be on his side.

‘There’s many reasons why I dislike Zayn and there’s many reasons why I’ll always, always be on his side, ‘Liam explained.

‘You can always look at the man for where he is and say “Whatever, that guy’s a dick.”

‘But at the end of the day once you understand what he’s been through to get to that point and also if he even wanted to be there. I’m so misunderstood by myself more than anyone… I can’t sit here and dick on him… I can’t commend some of the things he’s done, I can’t be on his side for that.

‘What I can say is I understand…. You hope at some point the person on the other side of the phone wants to receive the help you’re willing to give them.’

The shock interview comes as Liam faces rumours that he cheated on former fiance Maya Henry with new girlfriend Aliana Mawla, which Aliana has vehemently denied.

Liam and Maya, 21, had been together for three years, becoming engaged in 2020.

The singer went public with Aliana Mawla last week just days after it was confirmed his engagement to Maya was over. 

A spokesperson for Aliana said she was ‘very taken back by the accusations that have been made regarding a relationship with Liam while he was still engaged or involved with his ex-fiancée.’

They added that ‘under no circumstances’ would she have involved herself in a public relationship ‘if there was any truth to the comments.’

Maya and Liam went public with their relationship in 2019, a year after he ended his relationship with ex-girlfriend, Cheryl, who he shares son Bear with. 

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 Styles enjoying massive chart success and recently headlining BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend festival.

Metro.co.uk has approached reps for Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan for comment.

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