As news of Liam Payne’s death at the age of 31 reverberates around the world, he leaves behind a seven-year-old son, Bear, whom he shares with singer Cheryl.

But as the Girls Aloud star, 41, grapples with grief for the father of her child, the still murky circumstances in which he died may bring back horrific memories for her.

The former One Direction star fell from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires yesterday before medics confirmed his death.

Wolverhampton-born Payne is said to have been ‘acting erratically’ and police in Argentina were contacted by a member of hotel staff who reported ‘an aggressive man who may have been under the effects of drugs and alcohol’.

As controversial photos of Payne’s body emerge online, they hark back to a harrowing image of one of Cheryl’s childhood friends, budding footballer John Courtney, who passed away from a heroin overdose in 2005.

It was a photo that shocked the nation – talented footballer Courtney lay dead on the floor. The image was released by the 21-year-old’s family to warn others off drugs.

The Newcastle youth was one of Cheryl’s closest friends and his death turned her into a staunch anti-drugs crusader.

The former X Factor star said: ‘It put me off drugs for life. That nightmare devastated all John’s family and friends.’ 

Cheryl met Courtney at school when they were teenagers. The talented footballer was at 17 tipped to follow in the footsteps of Newcastle hero Alan Shearer, but his dreams collapsed when he first tried heroin.

He soon developed a £90-a-day habit that led to his imprisonment for stealing.

Cheryl, already a member of Girls Aloud, visited his home and pleaded with him to kick the drugs.

In the book Cheryl Cole: The Unauthorised Biography, John’s mother Angie revealed that the former pop star wrote him a letter begging him not to destroy his life.

‘He kept the note on the wall to remind him he had to keep battling,’ she said.

But on April 2, 2005, John’s body was found curled up on the floor. He had passed away. Cheryl, who has always been anti-drugs, sent flowers to his family, who released the photo, taken by police, to warn others about the dangers of taking heroin.

‘Cheryl’s were among the first to arrive. This just shows how down to earth she is and how she’ll never forget her roots,’ said Mrs Courtney.

But footballer Courtney’s tragic death wasn’t the first time Cheryl saw someone suffer at the hands of drugs.

She is believed to have dated furniture salesman Jason Mack for 18 months from 2000 to 2002, before she was picked to be part of Girls Aloud.

Jason, who was 27 at the time, has previously confessed that he put his then girlfriend ‘through hell’ due to his drug addictions.

‘When I first met her I was doing a lot of cocaine,’ he told the Daily Mirror. ‘Some days I’d blow £200 on the stuff, and I’d be drinking bottles of Bud from 8am until I crashed out at God knows when.’

The tragedy of Payne’s death comes after Cheryl’s Girls Aloud bandmate Sarah Harding passed away from breast cancer.

Speaking in a special two-hour show for Radio 2 in May 2024, Cheryl opened up about missing her friend.

She said: ‘There are little moments that you would share with her individually on stage on tour. Where there’s no more Sarah than in that moment and I can’t describe… like, nobody else would know her that way, other than us four.’

The girl band, which now consists of Cheryl, Kimberley Walsh, Nadine Coyle and Nicola Roberts – returned for a tour this year for the first time since 2013 and, during each show, they paid tribute to their dear friend Sarah.

Sarah passed away from breast cancer in 2021, and the remaining four singers decided to reunite and go on tour in a bid to pay tribute to their late friend, admitting they are ‘doing it for Sarah’. 

Girls Aloud catapulted to fame in 2002 when they took part in the ITV reality show Popstars: The Rivals.

They competed for a place in a girl band and were then pitted against a boy band from the show named One True Voice in the hope that their song would become Christmas number one.

Girls Aloud won with their single Sound Of The Underground and they went on to have three more number ones and 20 top ten hits. Sarah also won Celebrity Big Brother in 2017.