'There was another side to Liam Payne people didn't see, and it was just like George Michael'

Liam Payne was at one time one of the most famous and visible people in the world. But there was another side to him that few knew about.

The Mirror's Head of Showbiz got to chat to the former One Direction star one-on-one back in 2020, when he spent the day volunteering at a London food bank in the midst of the first COVID lockdown.

He had just donated the equivalent of 360,000 food parcels to the Trussell Trust, who was at the time undergoing its busiest ever period. While pushing trolleys and stacking cans of beans, Liam opened up about his personal life, including his childhood in Wolverhampton, his appreciation for the NHS and how he was coping with the isolation of the pandemic and being apart from his son.

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Now, in the wake of Liam's tragic death in Buenos Aires on Wednesday aged just 31, the Mirror's Head of Showbiz Tom Bryant has shared his reflections on the chats he'd had with the singer - and the surprising humility he discovered.

The woman lining up in the queue for the food bank that morning couldn’t believe her eyes.

There in front of her was superstar Liam Payne diligently stacking tins of baked beans on the shelves….and her jaw dropped.

I remember Liam heartily laughing as he told me the story about his volunteering at a food bank, in London’s Euston.

For a man who - on the face of it at least - had everything, I was struck by how generous-spirited it was giving his time for free to help others.

But his passion for social justice ran deep, and was a constant theme whenever our paths crossed over the last 14 years.

He was acutely aware of the global platform he had, and the responsibility