Liam Payne has opened up about struggles with his mental health when he was in One Direction.
In an interview with the Sun, Liam opened up about the hectic touring schedule and the effect it had.
He says "I shouldn’t have been able to do as many shows as we did, if I’m honest about it".
Liam revealed that although the reason behind the cancelled 1D gig in Belfast in 2015 was explained as him being "taken suddenly ill", there was more to it.
It was around the time he split with girlfriend Sophia Smith, and he says “going out and putting that happy smile on my face and singing the songs, honestly, sometimes it was like putting on one of those costumes, going out there and, underneath the costume, people don’t really see what’s going on.”
Liam continued “And unfortunately I was going through a rough time and I let it get to me a little bit too much. That was it."
He revealed that the touring schedule which brought them around the world doing hundreds of shows was tough.
“The more we did, I just don’t think we stopped and celebrated enough how great things were and I think that’s what got on top of us in the end", Liam said.
He says the hiatus has actually been a good thing too.
"Even though I know fans are not mad about [One Direction's hiatus]... we needed it. We needed a little bit of time away from each other. We needed a realisation point to find the love for it again, rather than it just becoming a job".
