One Direction

Simon Cowell is taking a brief step back from the spotlight following the tragic death of former protégé Liam Payne.

"Britain's Got Talent," the long-running competition series created by Simon, canceled its Thursday taping after the One Direction star's passing in Buenos Aires, Argentina Wednesday.

This isn't surprising given Simon's long history with Liam and his band, One Direction. Remember, Simon formed the popular boy band on "The X Factor (UK)" ... another singing competition show created by the music mogul.

Liam Payne's girlfriend left Argentina without the singer days before his death ... saying she didn't want to stay in one place too long -- and, bailed after a 5-day trip turned into 2 weeks.

Kate Cassidy -- a social media influencer based in Miami -- posted a video chronicling her journey back to the States from Buenos Aires on Monday ... 2 days before Liam fell to his death at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel.

Cassidy starts the clip by saying she's leaving the country because she doesn't like sticking around in one place too long ... saying she'd originally planned to stay 5 days, but she'd stuck around for about 2 weeks -- and, she just needed to go home.

Liam Payne's beloved professional soccer club is addressing the singer's tragic death ... sharing a heartfelt message in his honor.

The former One Direction member was a passionate soccer fan, specifically of West Bromwich Albion F.C. of the EFL Championship ... and attended numerous matches over the years.

Shortly after the news broke of Payne's passing ... WBA released a statement on social media.

3:33 PM PT -- Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... Liam Payne and his girlfriend Kate Cassidy arrived in Argentina on September 30, posting several social media posts together showing them having fun on vacation. We're told she left Argentina on the 14th. Liam stayed behind, and checked into the CasaSur Palermo Hotel.

We're told someone at the hotel called 911 to report an "aggressive" male at the hotel today ... which lines up with what witnesses told us about Liam's behavior in the lobby.

Liam Payne is dead after a fall from his hotel balcony in Argentina ... TMZ has learned.

Simon Cowell is ready to get back into the boy band game ... and is already on the hunt for his next One Direction-esque success story.

Almost 15 years after making magic by bringing together Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik as a group on "X Factor," the record executive is searching for "future megastars" who are ready to put in the work to achieve international fame.

Simon announced his new project Tuesday, dropping recruitment billboards across London, which read ... "Simon needs you! Future megastars wanted for new boyband. No timewasters."

Harry Styles is the latest of Taylor Swift's exes to get shaded in a new vault track ... this according to fans who are convinced he's the "lying traitor" she's singing about.

On "1989 (Taylor's Version)," which dropped Friday, there's a new song -- "Is It Over Now?" -- and Swifties are convinced it's about her brief relationship with the former One Direction star.

Taylor and Harry dated from 2012 to 2013, and the original "1989" album came out in 2014, so the timeline's already telling ... but the lyrics are even a bigger clue, according to fans -- talking about a time her ex "lost control," resulting in "red blood" and "white snow."

Fans have started to connect the dots ... saying Taylor claimed in 2014 she got into a snowmobile accident with an ex. At the time, Harry was spotted with a bandage on his chin.

She sang about the accident in the track "Out of the Woods," also from 2014 -- “Remember when you hit the brakes too soon/Twenty stitches in a hospital room/When you started crying, baby, I did too.”

That's not all ... the new song talks about Taylor wearing a "blue dress on a boat," and a pic from 2013 showed her wearing exactly that while taking a boat ride away from the Virgin Islands, where she was vacationing with Harry.

Harry Styles es el último de los ex de Taylor Swift que está siendo despreciado, esto, de acuerdo con los fans, quienes están convencidos de que él es el "traidor mentiroso" al que hace referencia la nueva pista de su álbum remasterizado

En la nueva versión de "1989 (Taylor's Version)", que salió el viernes, hay una nueva canción "Is It Over Now?", y los Swifties están convencidos de que se trata sobre su breve relación con la ex estrella de One Direction.

Taylor y Harry salieron de 2012 a 2013, y el álbum original "1989" salió en 2014, por lo que la línea de tiempo ya es reveladora. Pero la letra de esta nueva canción da aún más pistas, según los fans. En ella se refiere a un momento en que su ex "perdió el control", lo que terminó en "sangre roja" y "nieve blanca".

Los fans han comenzado a conectar los puntos, diciendo que Taylor afirmó en 2014 que se metió en un accidente de moto de nieve con un ex. En ese momento, Harry fue visto con un vendaje en la barbilla.

Ella cantó sobre el accidente en la pista "Out of the Woods", también de 2014. La letra dice: "Recuerda cuando pisaste los frenos demasiado pronto/Veinte puntos de sutura en una habitación de hospital/Cuando empezaste a llorar, baby, yo también lo hice".

Eso no es todo, la nueva canción habla de Taylor usando un "vestido azul en un barco", y una foto de 2013 la mostró usando exactamente el mismo atuendo mientras daba un paseo en barco lejos de las Islas Vírgenes, donde estaba de vacaciones con Harry.

Before this blonde boy playing with his wheelbarrow turned into a singer and songwriter, he was just teaching himself how to play guitar -- by watching YouTube tutorials -- and hanging with his older bro Greg in their hometown of Mullingar, Ireland.

This ex-boy-bander was part of an iconic group (the only one not from England) but eventually parted ways and made hit songs on his own like "Slow Hands" and "This Town." Today, you can watch him sit in a red chair on "The Voice."

Need one more hint? Today's his 30th birthday!

Liam Payne's been battling a serious health issue, one he says he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy, and it's causing him to have to cancel his upcoming tour.

The One Direction singer posted the message to fans Friday, saying, "It’s with a heavy heart I have to tell you that we have no other choice but to postpone my upcoming tour of South America."

He continues, "Over the past week I’ve been in hospital with a serious kidney infection, it’s something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and doctors orders are that I now need to rest and recover."

Liam says he's so sorry to fans who have purchased tickets, and he and his team are working to figure out a time to reschedule the dates ... but for now, they're issuing refunds.

Zayn Malik is finally opening up about his infamous confrontation with Yolanda Hadid a couple of years ago ... and firmly believes he handled the aftermath nearly perfectly.

The singer chatted with Alex Cooper on Wednesday's episode of the "Call Her Daddy" podcast -- saying he usually keeps quiet when folks online go after him, and he'd decided to take the same approach when he was charged with harassment for the 2021 altercation.

He admits the last thing he wanted was to have an explosive back-and-forth publicly between Yolanda and him, because he wouldn't want his 2-year-old daughter, Khai -- whom he shares with Yolanda's daughter, Gigi -- to see that later in life.

Zayn said he recognizes every family has issues, but believes it should stay within the family ... of course, being a celeb almost always throws that possibility out the window.

TMZ broke the story, sources told us Zayn struck Yolanda in the Pennsylvania home he shared back then with Gigi, and he was charged with 4 criminal offenses of harassment. He eventually pled no contest.

During the altercation, Zayn allegedly called Yolanda a "f***ing Dutch slut," told her to "stay away from [my] f***ing daughter" ... and shoved her into a dresser. He denies it got physical.

Harry Styles makes it almost impossible for folks to keep their appendages in check ... and if you don't believe it, check out this security guard who was dancing up a storm during Harry's concert.

It appears this is the concert at the Toyota Center in Houston earlier this week. The guard is all about Harry, dancing to One Direction's "That's What Makes You Beautiful." It's one of 1-D's biggest hits, and given the group is no more it had to be a big surprise Harry sang it, which may be why everyone was going crazy.

Now the video is a little jarring ... given what happened at the Astroworld Festival in the same city earlier this month. You'll recall, cops and security seemed oblivious to the tragedy that was unfolding behind them. They didn't seem to have a clue a full 25 minutes after fire dept. officials declared it a "mass casualty event."

This concert is clearly different. There's assigned seating, and Harry's concerts are way tamer than Travis Scott's ... Travis has, in the past, encouraged and egged on the crowd to do crazy things ... Harry has not.

Liam Payne says he was going through an addiction hell while he was a member of One Direction, and he's also opening up about suicidal thoughts.

The singer was on Steven Bartlett's "Diary of a CEO" podcast when he said there was a time while the band was on tour that he was heavy into alcohol and prescription drugs.

He points to pictures of himself on a boat where he looks bloated ... calling it his "pills and booze phase." Liam added, "My face was 10 times bigger than it is now. The problem was, the best way to secure us was to lock us in a room, and what is in the room? A minibar."

Liam said that environment quickly lent itself to throwing a huge party for 1 "that seemed to carry on for years." When asked if the drinking and drugging led to suicidal ideation, Liam admitted ... "Yeah. There is definitely some stuff I have never spoken about to do with it. It was really, really severe."

Liam was 16 when he joined One Direction ... which became the biggest boyband in the world after their 2010 launch on "The X Factor." They split up in 2015.

Halsey is the new owner of a zen paradise, after scooping up Liam Payne's oasis in Calabasas.

The "You should be sad" singer certainly has reason to be happy after dropping $10,161,150 for the former 1D singer's 5-bedroom, 6-bathroom crib tucked away in the hills above Malibu.

The 9,659 square-foot home is perfect for entertaining, with a home theater, beautiful backyard and wine cellar. It's also got a giant library for quiet nights at home.

The pool looks like it was plucked right out of a 5-star resort, with a koi pond, waterfalls and tons of surrounding gardens.

There's also a massage/meditation house, recording studio, pool house with a full gym and guest room. And, this is on TOP of an additional private guest house.

Harry Styles and Liam Payne may not be together professionally anymore, but on a personal level Liam clearly has Harry's back, applauding him for his fashion choice that triggered some really unfair criticism.

Harry was getting dragged for wearing a dress for a Vogue photoshoot. Candace Owens and some others went after him for his fashion choice ... Owens saying he wasn't manly enough to grace the cover. Yeah, she said that.

Liam says people need to get off Harry's back, saying, "I thought it was great. I think he's enjoying himself and he's free to do as he wishes."

Payne told Capital FM's Roman Kemp ... 2020 certainly isn't the year for people to get upset over what celebs are wearing -- as he says, there are much bigger things happening. Payne also painted Harry as an authentic guy whose success hasn't changed him.

Gigi Hadid just posted some new pregnancy pics ... and she's definitely got angel vibes.

The model took to Instagram Wednesday morning and posted several pics of her growing belly. The black and white photos look pretty glamorous and she looks pretty damn proud ... and it's easy to see why.

In one of her posts Gigi simply captioned it, "Growing an angel :)"  She also posted a series of photos with the date July 26 ... probably the date she shot those pics. In another post, she cradled her belly and captioned it, "Cherishing this time. Appreciate all the love & well wishes. Will never forget creating these special images with my friends @luigiandiango @gabriellak_j @erinparsonsmakeup thank you. I love you!"

TMZ broke the story ... Gigi and her on-again, off-again, on-again BF, Zayn Malik were pregnant with a baby girl. At the time, Gigi was around 20 weeks pregnant and in the days that followed they kept dropping hints about the big baby news without outright saying so.

It's hard to hide this bundle of joy now.

Harry Styles admirers have gone wicky, wicky wild for a Target candle that supposedly smells like the singer ... and now it's harder to get your hands on than toilet paper.

Here's the deal ... die-hard Harry fans know the One Direction star wears Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille fragrance to enhance his natural aroma.

Well, somehow these fans also discovered the Cashmere Vanilla candle made by Target's Threshold brand smells almost exactly like the Tom Ford cologne ... and they want it more than a watermelon sugar high.

So, there's been a mad dash by Stylers to buy up the candle ... and now it's totally sold out online and is almost impossible to find on shelves in the physical stores too.

We're told Threshold is working to produce more of the candle with the Harry-esque scent, but there's no timetable for when they'll be back in stock.

Tough break for fans struggling financially right now, because the Target candle is much cheaper than the Tom Ford fragrance. A 6-oz candle goes for just $6.99 ... whereas a 1.7-oz bottle of Tobacco Vanille is $240.