The Project hosts heartbreakingly pay tribute to Liam Payne as the live studio audience is reduced to tears after the singer’s tragic death aged 31

The Project presenters have paid tribute to Liam Payne following his tragic death at the age of 31.

The singer died instantly from injuries, including a skull fracture, when he fell from a third-floor balcony at the Casa Sur Hotel in Argentina on Wednesday.

Buenos Aires emergency services chief Alberto Crescenti said Liam suffered a “cranial fracture and extremely serious injuries that led to his immediate death.”

Tributes have poured in for the former One Direction star since his death, with Australian panel show The Project sharing a heartfelt message on Thursday evening.

The Channel Ten show aired a lengthy tribute showcasing highlights from Liam’s successful music career before returning to the emotional hosts in the studio.

Georgie Tunny revealed the live studio audience was reduced to tears as they all shared their heartbreak over his tragic death.

“You can see in our audience there are people crying: I’m with you, I see you,” Georgie said.

‘There’s just a big gaping hole now, it was someone who was truly loved.’

Her co-host Kate Langbroek then announced this the first concert she ever took her daughter to on Sunday the 18th was a One Direction performance.

“This morning at my house my daughter told me, that was the first concert I took her to,” she said.

Kate, 59, described their experience at the concert as ‘magnificent’ as she shared her heartbreak over Liam’s death.

Liam rose to fame at the age of 16 on The X Factor, when he was put into a band with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson in what would become One Direction.

He had initially auditioned for The X Factor in 2008, when he was 14, and impressed the judges with his own version of Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me To The Moon, and auditioned again in 2010.

One Direction went on to gain worldwide fame and capture the hearts of thousands of adoring teenage fans, selling more than 70 million records worldwide and becoming one of the most successful boy bands ever.

After Zayn announced his departure from One Direction in 2015, the band went their separate ways.

After releasing five albums with one of the biggest boy bands of all time, Liam released his first solo album in 2019, titled LP1.

His singles Strip That Down, co-written with Ed Sheeran, climbed to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that same year.

Over the course of his music career, the pop star has collaborated with J Balvin, French Montana, Dixie D’Amelio and A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, among others.

He previously dated British pop sensation Cheryl Cole and the couple welcomed their son Bear Gray on March 22, 2017.

It comes as:

Fans around the world are heartbroken after Liam reportedly fell from a hotel balcony in Buenos, Argentina around 5pm on Wednesday (ART).

He threw himself from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Argentine capital before medics confirmed his death.

A post-mortem revealed Payne died from “multiple trauma” that caused “internal and external bleeding”, according to local media reports.

On Thursday, Liam’s family announced they were “heartbroken” by his death, adding that the talented singer would “live on in our hearts forever.”

A family statement said: ‘We are heartbroken. Liam will live on in our hearts forever and we will remember him for his kind, funny and courageous soul. We support each other as a family as best we can and ask for privacy and space during this terrible time.’

Payne’s uncle Roger Harris also told MailOnline this afternoon: ‘We are all deeply saddened and trying to come to terms with it. I just hope everyone actually gives them some privacy and allows them to come to terms with it. That’s all I can say.’

Crowds of emotional fans have since gathered to pay their respects to the pop star outside the hotel.

Police in Buenos Aires said they initially responded to a 911 call “of an aggressive male who was possibly under the influence of drugs and alcohol.”

Officials heard a loud noise in the courtyard before discovering his body just after 5 p.m., the BBC reported.

According to TMZ, Liam had “behaved erratically in the hotel lobby and destroyed his laptop” before having to be “carried back to his room.”

Police had received a call from a hotel employee requesting urgent assistance for a drunken guest, according to audio material on the case obtained from Buenos Aires’ Ministry of Security.

“If he’s conscious, he’ll destroy the whole room and we’ll have to send someone,” the worker said.

City ambulance spokesman Alberto Crescenti said Liam had fallen about 40 meters and suffered “serious injuries incompatible with life.”

He said: ‘At 5.04pm local time the alarm was raised due to a person lying on an internal patio of Casa Sur. An ambulance arrived at 5.11pm and the man was pronounced dead.

‘Afterwards we found out that he had been a famous singer. Unfortunately, the injuries he sustained as a result of the fall proved fatal. There was no way to resuscitate him.”

Liam had arrived in Argentina earlier this month for his ex-bandmate Niall Horan’s concert with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, who left two days ago while he stayed put.

Liam posted his last message on social media in May, posting a photo of One Direction with American filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who died on May 23, and thanking him for directing the 1D This Is Us documentary.

The star’s loyal fan base had raised concerns about the troubled star, following a series of disturbing displays, including an erratic red carpet appearance, a shock hospital stay due to a kidney infection, canceled appearances and extended videos.