When Liam Payne won his place in One Direction on the X Factor aged just 16, it’s not hard to imagine the reaction from his family and friends.
One day, a school kid mucking about in maths, the next a global superstar.
His parents Karen, an infant nurse and Geoff, a fitter, would have felt a combustible sense of pride and excitement for their boy’s future, beating the odds to live a life less ordinary.
Liam’s friends would have felt a mix of emotions – delight, envy, bewilderment. From Wolverhampton to selling out Wembley.
He’d won the golden ticket, not for a lifetime supply of chocolate, but of riches, red carpets, sell-out arena tours and adoring fans – every bit as much of a fairytale.
Doubtless, however, anyone was downcast about the triumph; that anyone in his circle was wringing their hands or chewing their lips, worrying that 16 was no age at all to take on board the juggernaut of fame.
In my decade as a showbiz interviewer, it was a recurring theme.
Not every teenage star struggled – but those who kept their humility and sense of perspective when their old pals were enjoying Freshers Weeks or apprenticeships, were the minority.
I interviewed KT Tunstall at the height of her fame. She was two years above me at school in Dundee.
It was around 2006 and her album Eye To The Telescope had peaked at number three in the charts the year before and spent an astonishing 73 weeks in the UK charts, with international success too.
I was in awe and she gave me a brilliant interview.
One thing she said will always stick – that she was grateful she hadn’t found fame like this until she was 30.
“Can you imagine it happening when you were, like 16?” she said.
She was sure she’d never have been able to handle it when still trying to figure out who she was.
And if the teen handed overnight adulation has a predisposition to addiction or anxiety, how can fame ever help?
For Liam, you could argue that whether he’d been famous or not, he might have had a similar story – he could have fathered a child and broken up with the mother (the fact it was Cheryl Cole was undeniably because of his fame), that he’d have another ex (in this case Maya Henry) who’d called in lawyers accusing him of repeatedly messaging her, her friends and her mum.
But what is certain is that without fame, we wouldn’t have known about any of the above.
His ex (Henry, an influencer) would not have posted of his behaviour to her thousands of followers, news of lawyers wouldn’t have made headlines this week and she wouldn’t have landed a book deal for a novel about a toxic relationship with a pop star.
Without fame, she wouldn’t have been trolled by Liam’s millions of devoted fans about their break-up and goodness knows what online abuse lies ahead for her now.
Harassment should always be called out to the correct authorities but is the toxic world of social media any place to broadcast the news? To what end?
And yet, Henry is just following the rules for the new world in which we live – where the good or bad times only seem to really exist if snapped and posted for likes and new followers.
Fame changed Liam Payne’s life at early age
You could also argue that whether a plasterer, pop star or plumber, any path would have led to Liam’s untimely death aged 31 – whether tragic accident or suicide, falling from his hotel balcony in Argentina.
If reports he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs are true – you could argue he’d have chosen that too.
And you could argue the case both ways for any number of stars taken too soon – each one of them somebody’s son; somebody’s daughter. And in this case, also a dad to a seven-year-old boy called Bear.
The members of One Direction have surely suffered a disproportionate amount of trauma or troubles compared to your average five young men – from eating disorders to stories of drug and alcohol misuse, acrimonious break-ups and tragic losses.
Now, with three sons, the eldest just five years younger than Liam was when his life changed so profoundly, my first thought was as a mum – wondering how Liam’s mother ever gets through this.
If your boy is handed his dreams (and often if we’re really honest, it’s tied with parents’ own dreams) aged 16 – whether that be a record deal with Simon Cowell, a place at Dundee or Dundee United football academy, at a prestigious tennis school or rugby squad – would you advise him to turn it down?
Hand on heart, I wouldn’t – not if they wanted it.
And yet, the very thing we push for and dream of – when fame is attached and brought into – can be what has the power to destroy.
And you’d swap it all in a heartbeat just to have your beautiful boy here.
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