Payne had spoken about his struggles with alcoholism since the peak of One Direction’s success. More specifically, he mentioned being locked in hotel rooms with a mini-bar between gigs.In May 2023, Payne mentioned being sober for over three months. That July, he shared a video expanding on this, and discussed spending 100 days in a rehab facility in Louisiana. In August 2023, Payne was hospitalised with a kidney infection.
On 1 June 2022, he was intoxicated while being interviewed by Logan Paul for his podcast series. Payne said that One Direction originated with a promise that Simon Cowell had made to him; Payne had previously appeared on the show and Cowell purportedly pledged to “make it work” should he return. He also discussed former fellow member Zayn Malik’s family life and said, “There’s many reasons why I dislike Zayn and there’s many reasons why I’ll always, always be on his side”.[174] He later clarified his remarks on Malik and apologised.
