Liam Payne's ex-fiancée Maya Henry has identified the One Direction bandmate who allegedly threw him against a wall.
In 2022, the British star revealed he had a physical altercation with one of his bandmates during a heated exchange, though he chose not to reveal who it was.
Speaking on Logan Paul's Impaulsive podcast at the time, he talked about his reputation for “not taking s**t”, which sometimes led to tension.
He shared: ‘There was an argument backstage and one member, in particular, threw me up a wall.
“So I said to him, ‘If you don’t remove those hands, there’s a high likelihood you’ll never use them again’.”
Fans have long speculated whether the bandmate involved was Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, or Harry Styles. Now, Payne’s ex-girlfriend has claimed it was Malik.
Henry, who dated the pop star for four years, made the revelation in response to a TikTok user who speculated, "You can't convince me it wasn't Louis."
The 23-year-old said she "could not hold this information any more," adding: “I see this all the time, everywhere, I've heard this insufferable story so many times… he told me it was Zayn, so...”
The alleged altercation was just one of several controversial remarks the Wolverhampton native made about his former bandmates on the podcast. He also hinted that he and Louis Tomlinson "hated" each other during their One Direction days.
Speaking about Malik, he added: “There are many reasons why I dislike Zayn, but there are also many reasons why I’ll always be on his side.”
Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam, Niall, and Zayn were all placed into One Direction after auditioning as solo artists on The X Factor in 2010. The band went on to become one of the best-selling boy groups of all time before announcing an indefinite hiatus in 2016.
The pop star was first linked with Henry in 2018, but their relationship ended abruptly in May 2022. This split came less than 18 months after he proposed with a £3 million ring in August 2020.
Since their break-up, Maya has announced her upcoming book, Looking Forward, which draws from her experiences during the pandemic and was inspired by "a period in my life filled with a lot of pain."
Payne, meanwhile, is now dating American travel influencer Kate Cassidy, 25.
The Standard has approached Liam Payne and Zayn Malik’s representatives for comment.
