Eoghan Quigg opens up about his friendship with Liam Payne and his standout memory of him
The late Liam Payne was on The X Factor with Eoghan Quigg before being knocked out at the Judge's Houses section - he went back on the show two years later and shot to fame with One Direction
by Erica Carter · RSVP LiveFormer X Factor star Eoghan Quigg has opened up on his friendship with Liam Payne as they appeared on the show together.
The news of Liam's passing on Wednesday has left his family, friends and fans devastated.
Liam and Eoghan were both on the show in 2008, making it to the Judge's Houses section of the competition before Liam was eliminated.
Read more:Liam Payne's relationships, from romance with childhood friend to family life with Cheryl and son
Liam went on to compete in the show two years later and formed part of boyband One Direction, but Eoghan said the pair formed a friendship during their time on The X Factor together.
Speaking to Andrea Gilligan on Newstalk's Lunchtime Live, Eoghan said: "I was fortunate enough to know Liam, Liam was in The X Factor on my year and we both went to Barbados together to Simon Cowell's house in the Judge's Houses. I managed to get through and Liam didn't, but we always stayed in touch afterward and he would have come down to the live shows.
"I met him about a year after that, I was doing a Christmas light switch on in his hometown and he came down to say hello. He said to me that he was going to go back onto The X Factor. That was the last I ever spoke to him, and sure enough he was in One Direction and the rest is history."
Eoghan recalled how Liam's mum had been so kind to him during their trip to Barbados, as Eoghan was over 16 at the time and wasn't permitted to bring a family member.
"I was lucky enough to meet his parents," he said. "His mother was a lovely woman, her name was Karen. She was so nice at the time we went to Barbados - I was 16 so I wasn't allowed a parent and Liam was 14 so he was, so Karen kind of took me under her wing and made sure I was okay as well. I've always been so grateful to them for that. It's just a lovely family."
When asked about what his lasting memory of Liam would be, Eoghan said: "Him telling me a year later when I was turning on the Christmas lights in his home town, he's going to give another crack at The X Factor now. He was ready for it now and that he was kind of glad he didn't get through at the time. He was going to go for it and by God, he went for it. He got into One Direction and that was a great thing for him. He was a great fella and I haven't got a bad word to say about him."
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