'Cabin fever sent me a bit AWOL': Liam Payne talks about One Direction struggle

Liam Payne has opened up about his time in One Direction. The Strip That Down singer has said that he struggled when he was with the band, which was created by music mogul Simon Cowell during the audition stages of The X Factor in 2010.

Speaking to Daily Telegraph, the 24-year-old singer revealed that his time with the band wasn't fun as he and his bandmates - Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik - could rarely leave their hotels while touring.

"Cabin fever. It sent me a bit AWOL at one point, if I'm honest," Cheryl Tweedy's partner said.

"I can remember when there were 10,000 people outside our hotel."

"We couldn't go anywhere. It was just gig to hotel, gig to hotel. And you couldn't sleep, because they'd still be outside," he said.

"People were speaking to me about mental health in music the other day, and that's a big issue. Sometimes you just need some sun, or a walk."

Payne said the problem to being in a successful band was that he and his bandmates "never stopped to celebrate' what they had achieved.

"I remember us winning loads of American Music Awards and then having to get on a plane straight away," he said.

"It got to the point where success was so fluid. I don't even know what happened to our songs, we just sang them, then sang some more. It was like a proper, hard job. Non-stop. I can concentrate a lot more now."

Speaking about the time when the band called it quits, Payne said he "felt a bit stranded".

"It took time, but I know as an artist I am starting fresh now. This is Moment One. It's the start line."