Liam Payne revealed why former X Factor judge, Cheryl, did not give him a standing ovation when he performed on the show a decade ago.

The "Strip That Down" singer celebrated One Direction's tenth anniversary on Thursday (July 23). He spoke about his time on The X Factor in an interview with Capital FM's Roman Kemp.

Payne was 16 years old at his 2010 audition for the singing competition show. His performance of "Cry Me A River" earned him a standing ovation from the audience and most of the judges—except for Cheryl. (Ironically, Cheryl later dated Payne and is the mother to their son, Bear.)

“It was a real different competition that year," Payne said, looking back at his audition. "When I went on in 2008 I just showed up seeing what would happen, not expecting anything at all. I got really really far at such a young age and then it just became my whole life."

“So when I went back the second time it was a lot of people looking at me as competition and everybody knew who I was," he continued. "It was the weirdest thing, everyone’s expecting you to be really good when you turn up.”

Payne revealed that his father helped choreograph his performance and that he was initially confused about why Cheryl didn't give him a standing ovation like the rest of the judges—and the audience—did.

“I’d practiced this audition with my dad, cause my dad likes to think he’s a bit of a Simon Cowell which is hilarious ... that whole thing was choreographed by my Dad," he confessed. "It went really well, I think I got a standing ovation from all the judges – except from Cheryl, funnily enough."

But Payne revealed that her action was not aimed at him, but rather at one of her fellow judges.

“We spoke about it and there was another act earlier in the day Simon didn’t stand up for, so she didn’t stand up [to make a point[ and I thought ‘well...'" he explained, laughing.

Watch the full interview, below.

One Direction Through the Years

 

 

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