AJ McLean called his sponsor after news of Liam Payne’s death (except)

Aj mclean remembers exactly where he was hearing the news of Build the band costume Liam payneDeath.

“I was literally on a zoom call with my team,” McLean, 47, told Weekly US Only in promoting their upcoming Netflix show. “My manager told me what had happened, and I was, ‘guys, I had to get off the call. I’m sorry. I’ll catch up with you later.’ I just, sitting there. ”

McLean said he “first called (his) sponsor” before trying Build the band costtar Kelly Rowland and Nicole Scherzinger.

“The three of us were a kind of banding together and a kind of talking to each other,” he continued. “We were kind of being supported by each other.”

Payne died in October 2024 At the age of 31 in Buenos Aires after falling from a third -floor hotel balcony. Is about to appear alongside McLean, Rowland, 44, and Scherzinger, 47, as a Build the band Judge. The upcoming competition series will show for the first time via Netflix later this month.

McLean told us that the show will allow fans of the recent One direction A singer to “really remember him the way he was actually.”

Related: Aj McLean Liam Payne texted the day before his death

AJ McLean felt anxious about his friend Liam Payne a day before his tragic death. The Backstreet Boys singer, 46, texted Payne, “Hey man, are you good?” According to McLean’s recent interview with the Los Angeles Times announced on Friday, November 1. McLean told the announcement that he decided to reach out to Payne (…)

The Backstreet Boys The singer also remembered Payne as “absolute love,” noting that they had crossed paths professionally before Build the band.

“I had seen Liam passing on different things, but this was, as I said, the biggest quality time spent together. We’re doing 12 to 14 hours for five weeks straight, and it was just an absolute dream,” said McLean. “We had a very similar wits. He had the (drier) British humor, I had the American humor.”

The singer said she was “inspiring” to hear how Payne spoke to “all these different groups” on the show. (Payne was also a musical start as part of a musical group Formed on reality competition series.)

“He was so well read, loud and very supportive and positive,” McLean continued from Payne. “He would obviously find a way to be – I don’t want to say Stern – but convey his point in a very constructive way.”

At a more personal level, McLean said he and Payne bonded over their “highs and lows” with sobriety. (McLean has been sober for more than two years.)

“I felt that we had almost separated at birth in a sense as artists. It was just a complete dream of working with her,” Gushed McLean. “I still have the last conversation we’ve ever had. I haven’t deleted it. I won’t.”

Build the band’s premières via Netflix on Wednesday, July 9.