Liam Payne's final words to his close pal and teacher before tragic death

Former One Direction singer Liam Payne texted his close friend and former teacher that he was having a 'chilled-out morning' just hours before his shocking death

Liam Payne's close friend and old performing arts teacher, Jodie Richards, exchanged texts with the singer hours before he died.

The 31-year-old singer's death sent shockwaves around the world, with fans, friends and family paying tribute to the much-loved star. Liam was holidaying in Buenos Aires, Argentina, when he plunged to his death from a third-floor balcony at the Casa Sur Hotel on Wednesday evening.

Just hours before his death, he told Jodie - who was his former performing arts teacher at Pink Productions - that he was having a "chilled-out morning" and showed "no cause for concern". She spoke to the "one-of-a-kind" star on Wednesday and initially thought news reports of his death were "fake".

The 41-year-old had been exchanging text messages with Liam hours earlier and said she then desperately tried to call and message him. She said: "He was looking forward to his day, he said he was having a chill, nothing seemed out of the ordinary", Jodie explained. "He's always somewhere more glamorous than we are so LA, Argentina, I have to look at the time difference to see where he is, he usually texts me and it's the middle of our night.

"He seemed fine, he looked happy, he looked healthy - no reason for any kind of concern and then obviously I heard it on the news." Speaking to Sky News, she added: "I thought it was fake news, I tried to phone him. Obviously he wasn't answering. I tried to text him, it wasn't going to a 'read' message - normally it does quite quickly, then as I turned the telly on it was getting more and more apparent it wasn't fake."

It comes after Liam's sister Ruth took to Instagram to pay tribute to the star. She said she was struggling to comprehend the week's tragic events and all she wanted to do was 'drive to her brother's house and speak to him'. "One last time I need you to know, I'm here if you need anything. I'd drive to the end of the universe to bring you back," she shared.

Writing in an open letter to Liam, Ruth said she knew that the singer 'never believed he was good enough.' Ruth said all Liam wanted was to be loved and make people happy with his music. "You've had to try really hard to overcome all that was being aimed at you," she said in the heartbreaking post.

Liam had a close-knit bond with his family, and fondly spoke of sisters Ruth and Nicola being his 'friends for life.'

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