Building The Band was one of the last projects ex-One Direction star Liam Payne worked on. He fell to his death from the balcony of a hotel in Argentina in October.

Liam Payne performing in 2018. Pic: PA
Image:Liam Payne. Pic: PA

Liam Payne will star in a new Netflix talent competition series, months after his death in Argentina.

The former One Direction member will appear as a guest judge on Building The Band alongside former Destiny’s Child star Kelly Rowland.

The show brings together singers to form bands in “booths” without seeing each other beforehand.

It was announced in September – weeks before Payne died following a fall from a hotel balcony at the age of 31.

Now Netflix have confirmed the show will be released this year, at an event sharing their 2025 slate across TV and film.

Backstreet Boys star AJ Mclean will host the series and Pussycat Dolls star Nicole Scherzinger will take on a mentor and judge role.

Scherzinger was a judge on The X Factor when Payne auditioned in 2010 and helped to form boy band One Direction on the show.

Building The Band was one of the last projects from the former One Direction star, along with the track Do No Wrong with North Carolina singer Sam Pounds.

Pounds later delayed the release of the new music, saying he wanted Payne’s family “to mourn in peace and in prayer”.

Tributes to Payne in Madrid on Sunday. Pic: AP
Image:Tributes to Payne in Madrid. Pic: AP

In November, Payne’s funeral in Buckinghamshire was attended by singer Cheryl, the mother to his son Bear, as well as fellow One Direction stars Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Argentina is continuing to investigate the circumstances around Payne’s death at the Casa Sur Hotel.

Five people have been charged over his death, including the singer’s friend Roger Nores, the hotel manager, and a receptionist – who were all accused of manslaughter.

Two others, a hotel employee and a waiter, have been charged with supplying cocaine, Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office previously said in a statement.

 

A hearing was held by Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court in December to ascertain how Payne died.

It has been adjourned until a pre-inquest review on 6 November.

The streaming date of Building The Band is yet to be confirmed.