Xtra Factor host addresses 'pressure' on Liam Payne ahead of his tragic death

In a shocking turn of events reported last night (Wednesday October 17), Liam Payne, the former star, is said to have died at the age of 31 following a fall from his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The police are yet to release more information on the incident.

Konnie Huq, who worked with Liam Payne during his early days in the music industry back in 2010 on the Xtra Factor, paid her respects on Breakfast and shared her memories of him.

BBC Breakfast host introduced the segment, saying: "Konnie good morning, you know obviously fans are waking up to this news, we heard around 10:30pm yesterday evening and there's a lot to digest. I know you would have been in contact with him when he was on the ?"

Konnie reminisced about a memorable time on the show and later spoke of Liam as one of the "mature" members of One Direction, recalling the period when he and both featured on the programme sporting similar hairstyles.

Konnie reflected on how she always believed that the band which also included , Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson was destined for stardom, despite finishing third on Simon Cowell's talent competition, reports .

She candidly disclosed to the BBC presenters how being in the spotlight had put "a lot of pressure" on "young people". Reflecting on a life in the public eye, she noted: "If you think that he started his journey when he was 14 and he was only 31 and really the majority of his life had been through this lens, it's a lot of pressure."

The star then remarked to hosts Ben Thompson and Naga that "especially with social media and modern living it sort of heightens that pressure."

Ben interjected asking: "And Konnie obviously there will be questions raised about the duty of care in the music industry when it takes young people, as you said just 14, they have that meteoric rise to fame.

"We were hearing earlier how he wasn't allowed to leave his hotel room because of fans outside, trying to get a look or a touch even of these people that they were huge fans of. Its really difficult isn't it and I wonder if the music industry will look this morning at how it looks after its young stars? "

Although Konnie didn't speculate on the music industry's next moves after Liam's tragic passing, she did criticise "modern living" for exacerbating the hardships of fame in today's , indicating that once caught up in celebrity status, escape becomes virtually impossible.

She explained the high price of fame, saying: "It's so tough because no matter what you do at that level you really cannot opt out at all, there's no resemblance of living a relatively normal lifestyle and the only way to do that is kind of to opt out."

She went on to reflect on the pressures of modern celebrity culture: "But this global world that we live in now, it's tougher and tougher. Young famous stars having this rock n roll lifestyle and dying young, goes back to, I don't know, maybe even James Dean but like I say with things like social media and the prevalence of the fast consumer culture that we live in, I think the problem only exacerbates."

BBC Breakfast airs on BBC One, everyday, from 6am.