Liam Payne
Liam James Payne,[24] born 29 August 1993 , is from Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England.[1] Born three weeks early, to Karen and Geoff Payne,[1][25] he has two older sisters, Ruth and Nicola.[4] Until the age of four, Payne had regular tests done in hospital as doctors noticed one of his kidneys was scarred and dysfunctional.[25] To help cope with the pain, he had 32 injections in his arm in the morning and evening as a child.[25] As a student, Payne was heavily involved in sports.[7] Payne was bullied in secondary school and took up boxing lessons at the age of 12.[7] He was a music technology student at City of Wolverhampton College.[26]
Payne had once performed in front of a crowd of 26,000 at a Wolverhampton Wanderers football match.[5][6] Payne first auditioned in 2008 to The X Factor's fifth series when he was fourteen.[26] He made it to the judges' houses, but Cowell thought he was not ready for the competition and asked him to come back in two years.[26] Payne cites Justin Timberlake as one of his biggest influences.[27] He also said that he draws inspiration from Take That member Gary Barlow when performing.[27]
Payne is currently in a relationship with model Sophia Smith, from Wolverhampton[28]
