Liam Payne's sister has remembered the late singer as an "angel" who "lived for making people smile".

The former One Direction singer passed away last Wednesday (16.10.24) after falling from his hotel room balcony in Argentina, and his older sibling, Nicola Payne, has paid a touching tribute to the star while suggesting she only found out about his tragic death via a news alert.

She wrote on Instagram along with a series of family photos: "I have posted about Liam and his achievements over the years with a proud sister alert and that has stood then, now and always!!!

“When I saw the news pop up on my phone that you had left us I went cold, I wanted so much for this to be untrue.

“I have spent days hoping that it was a mistake and somebody has got it wrong.

“You were truly too good for this earth, you are an angel who just lived for making people smile and happy.

“You have always shown kindness to everyone you met and it shows with just how many people have confirmed what we always knew!

“We don’t have many pictures together as we never really did that as a family, we never wanted you to feel like you were in a room of fans, but we were your biggest fans always and forever.

“Your talent alone puts you miles ahead, but also you being you."

Nicola reflected on family life with Liam - who was dad to seven-year-old Bear, his son with former partner Cheryl Tweedy - and how "excited" he was to be an uncle to her daughter Ffion.

She continued: "I have been looking back at the messages from the night I had Ffion, how excited you were to meet her, the jokes we all shared and the laughter that you knew we all needed.

“You led your life with a motto of why bother doing something unless you are brilliant at it, and Liam you were certainly brilliant at everything you did!!

“Unfortunately this cruel world is always quick to judge someone from a few 5 second clips, they then think it entitles them to be able to speak like they know you.

“We knew you and we loved you."

Nicola ended her emotional statement asking her brother to "look after" their family and in return they would tell his son as much as possible about Liam.

She concluded: "I hope you have finally found peace up there and that you’ll continue to look after us all as you have done in life.

“We will make sure Bear knows all about his daddy and how much you loved him, we promise this.

“See you soon Liam, Love You xx”