Louis Tomlinson has told how his late friend - who tragically died in October 2024, aged 31, after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina - had been "campaigning" for the Best Song Ever hit makers to reunite, but Tomlinson does not think it would be right following his pal's passing.
"Never say never, right, but I'm just not sure it would be right to (Payne)," he told Steven Bartlett's The Diary of a CEO podcast.
"Say for the sake of argument, 25 year's time ... they offer us an arm and a leg, and they're like, 'Come back and do this many shows', I don't know.
"It's just completely put a pin in all of that.
"And the irony is, there was no one campaigning for One Direction to get back more than Liam. I would say I came in a close second."
Tomlinson, 33, has told how he and his fellow band members - Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik - looked up to Payne "massively".
"When I put up my post about him, I really wanted him to be remembered the way that he should be remembered," Tomlinson said.
"I could just go on and talk all day about how amazing he was, but I think we all looked up to him.
Tomlinson recently admitted the group's 15th anniversary, which was in July, felt "really uncomfortable" following Liam's passing.
Speaking to Rolling Stone UK magazine, he said: "It was really uncomfortable, actually, the 15th anniversary, because the (collective) feeling to celebrate is as important, if not more important than ever, on behalf of Liam.
"You know, there's still a level in my head (where it feels) unjust and frustrating that he's not with us any more.
"So, it just brought up those feelings, although I'm still living with them anyway."
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