Simon Cowell has paid tribute to former One Direction member Liam Payne, following his death at the age of 31.

Local police said the singer fell from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel on Wednesday (October 16) in the Palermo neighbourhood of Argentina’s capital, before medics confirmed his death.

Simon played a huge role in the success of One Direction as he formed the band on The X Factor in 2010.

Originally auditioning as solo acts, Liam, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson were hand-picked by Cowell to form the band.

The five boys made history around the world until they announced their split in 2016.

Simon Cowell pays tribute to Liam Payne

Cowell, who is currently a judge on Britain’s Got Talent, is the latest to pay tribute to Payne following his death.

On Friday, according to Sky News, he said: “You never really know how you feel about someone until a moment like this happens," says Cowell.

"Liam, I am devastated. Heartbroken. And I feel empty. And I want you to know how much love and respect and I have for you. Every tear I have shed is a memory for you."

Cowell said he had met Payne last year "just to sit and talk" and reminisce "about all the fun times we had together".

"After you left, I was reminded that you were still the sweet, kind boy I had met all those years ago," he added.

X Factor host Dermot O’Leary has also paid tribute to Liam who recalled the singer auditioning for the first time on the ITV show as a 14-year-old boy in 2008.

O’Leary shared a photograph of the pair on stage, captioning the Instagram post: “The worst news”.

“I remember him as a 14-year-old turning up to audition on The X Factor, and blowing us away singing Sinatra. He just loved to sing,” he wrote.

“He was always a joy, had time for everyone, polite, grateful, and was always humble.”

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Singer Olly Murs, who starred on The X Factor a year before One Direction, said on Instagram that he was “lost for words”, describing Payne’s death as “devastating”.

“We always had a good laugh when we saw each other, sometimes the catch ups were only short and sweet but when we did it was mostly about how annoyingly good his hair always looked, or our love for Becks, the old XF (X Factor) days and the tour we shared together,” Murs wrote beside a picture of the pair.

“Liam shared the same passions as me, the same dreams so to see his life now end so young hits hard, I’m truly gutted and devastated for his family and of course his son Bear losing a dad.”