Nicole Scherzinger says she will ‘cherish and treasure’ their time together as she pays an emotional tribute to Liam Payne as its revealed they were texting on the day he died

Nicole Scherzinger has paid tribute to the late Liam Payne as she wrote she will ‘forever cherish and treasure’ the time they had together. 

The singer, 47, was integral in putting One Direction together when she appeared as a judge on the X Factor in 2010 and has now admitted the pair were texting on the day he died. 

Liam, 31, died last week after plunging 45ft from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, leaving fans of the band from all around the world distraught. 

And taking to Instagram with a beaming picture of herself, Liam and Kelly Rowland, Nicole penned: ‘Dear Liam, I will forever cherish and treasure the time we shared together, from fifteen years ago when One Direction was born, right up until just a few weeks ago.’

The threesome had wrapped filming for new Netflix show Building The Band just two months before his tragic death in Argentina.

 Liam, Kelly Rowland and Nicole (pictured) had wrapped their new Netflix show Building The Band just two months before his tragic death in Argentina last week 

She continued in her post: ‘It was such a blessing to get to work with you recently. We shared the same love and passion for music and I will forever remember the meaningful and joyful conversations we had.

‘It’s been so hard to process that you’re no longer here, but I am grateful to have known your kind heart, sweet soul and character.

‘You brought so much joy, light, and laughter to the lives of those that truly knew you. I will “miss you” my friend and carry you in my heart. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.’

Meanwhile Nicole has been praised by theatre guru Andrew Lloyd Webber for retaining her composure and still making it on stage for the press night of Sunset Blvd on New York’s Broadway just hours after she heard Liam had fatally fallen from his hotel balcony.

Andrew told Billboard magazine: ‘One thing about Nicole is that once she’s committed to something, she is the most incredible company member and leader of any performer I know.

‘And do you know what? I suppose something that hasn’t been said, and I suppose I could say, is that of course she mentored Liam, from One Direction.

‘On the Wednesday when he died, she was still texting him that day, and [that evening] the reviewers came in [to Sunset], she’d just heard that he died.

‘And the fact that she even did the show at all is extraordinary. I mean she is an amazing, amazing woman.

She wrote: ‘It’s been so hard to process that you’re no longer here, but I am grateful to have known your kind heart, sweet soul and character’

‘She is without any question one of the finest performers I’ve ever worked with.’

The theatre boss, 76, praised the former Pussycat Dolls singer as ‘absolutely extraordinary’ and a unique talent who he’d love to work with more in the future.

He said: ‘I’ve known that she’s one of a kind. I don’t think there’s any singer I know who can interpret and act through music in the way that she can. I mean, I’ve known some very, very great ones, but she’s absolutely extraordinary.’